Hi Everyone -
Please join us for the next in our regular monthly series of free Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lectures, entitled "Creating a Sacred American Space: Battlefield Protection at Gettysburg" on Tuesday, November 19th from 1:00 - 1:45 pm in the Department of the Interior Library.
Just three weeks after the Union victory at Gettysburg, local Pennsylvanians sought to transform sites marked by visible evidence of combat into “the most eloquent memorials of glorious struggles and triumphs of the Union army.” Loyal states sponsored development of a Soldiers’ National Cemetery in which to rebury fallen Federals following their disinterment from temporary battlefield graves. Over time, veterans’ organizations, the U.S. War Department, and the National Park Service successively assumed responsibility for ensuring preservation of the Gettysburg battlefield as a place of pilgrimage for both northerners and southerners alike. These grounds now attract more than one million annual visitors who come to ponder, honor and reflect on the past as they seek to discover what defines us as Americans.
We invite you to join Park Ranger Michael T. Kelly as he discusses the creation of Gettysburg National Military Park as our nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address..