(1) West Virginia Visitor Center Moves to Cedar-Sided Chalet - Hagerstown Herald Mail
(2) Pennsylvania Announces Statewide Civil War Commemoration - Pennsylvania Civil War 150
(3) Opinion: Feckless Leaders Inflicted Major Casualties - Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
(4) Richmond Leaders Talk about How to Commemorate the Civil War - Richmond Times Dispatch
(5) Chickamauga Names Road to Honor Union Troops - Chattanooga Times Free-Press
(6) Abolitionist John Brown's Ties to Northeast Ohio Recalled - Cleveland Plain Dealer
(7) Groups Rallying to Save Historic Civil War Cannon - Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
(8) Civil War Museum's Artifacts to Be Displayed Elsewhere - Philadelphia Inquirer
(9) Orange Vows to Fight Lawsuit against Walmart - Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
(10) Civil War Preservation Trust to Honor State Historian - State Journal-Register
(11) Virginia SCC Limits Arguments at Wind Hearing - Pocahontas Times
(12) Park Service Events Help Usher in Civil War Commemoration - Arlington Sun Gazette
--(1) West Virginia Visitor Center Moves to Cedar-Sided
Chalet -----------------------------------------------------
West Virginia Visitor Center Moves to Cedar-Sided Chalet
By Richard F. Belisle
10/1/2009
Hagerstown Herald Mail (MD)
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=231561&format=html
After serving for seven years as the Jefferson County Convention
and Visitors Bureau, a small trailer that sat off U.S. 340 that
bureau officials said created a poor image for West Virginia,
will be hauled away in a few days, the head of the agency said
Tuesday.
Paulette Sprinkle, executive director of the CVB, said the bureau
last month realized a long-held dream when it moved into a two-story
cedar log building behind the trailer on Washington Court.
"We're just thrilled with the move," Sprinkle said.
"That trailer was the worst possible image for West Virginia."
The bureau bought the cedar-sided chalet from Vickie Drumheller
for $90,000, Sprinkle said. The agency had accumulated about $60,000
from grants and other sources over the years. The Jefferson County
Commission put up the $30,000 needed to make the purchase, Sprinkle
said.
The property settlement was completed Sept. 15.
Renovations included a second restroom, storage space and some
new windows.
The extra space will enable the welcome center to put up bigger
displays that promote the area, including the Washington Heritage
Trail and large framed prints of area attractions.
An open house and ribbon cutting with West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin
is set for Oct. 14 at 4:30 p.m.
Until 2002, the CVB ran its visitors center on the first floor
of the chalet through a lease with Drumheller, while she ran her
business from the second floor. The building served as Drumheller's
model home.
The CVB moved into the trailer when Drumheller was ordered to
move her building because it was sitting on West Virginia Division
of Highway land. The case ended up in Jefferson County Circuit
Court where a judge ordered Drumheller to comply with the highway
department's order.
The CVB has an arrangement with the state to leave the building
where it is.
The move to the chalet is especially welcome by CVB officials
this year, the start of a major celebration of the Civil War beginning
with the 150th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown's raid on
Harpers Ferry in 1859. Thousands of tourists and historians are
expected to descend on the Harpers Ferry area in the next few
weeks.
The CVB, a private, nonprofit agency, was created in 1988 to promote
the area by a group of local hotel, inn and restaurant owners.
Its annual budget, around $250,000, comes from hotel/motel taxes.
--(2) Pennsylvania Announces Statewide Civil War Commemoration
-----------------------------------------------------
Pennsylvania Announces Statewide Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary
of the Civil War
9/30/2009
Pennsylvania Civil War 150
http://www.pitchengine.com/pennsylvania-announces-statewide-commemoration-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-civil-war/27128/
On Tuesday, October 6, Pennsylvania will announce its commemoration
of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, highlighting the Commonwealth's
paramount role in the war through traveling exhibits, special
events and a content-rich Web site, which will extend from 2011
to 2015 and beyond.
Convened at the request of Governor Edward G. Rendell, Pennsylvania
Civil War 150 is a unified, statewide alliance that will both
attract visitors and enrich their experience county by county
in Pennsylvania through remarkable programming for the sesquicentennial
commemoration.
"Nearly 150 years later, the role of the Keystone State in
the war that redefined this nation has new meaning for a new generation,"
said Barbara Franco, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission.
"The Pennsylvania Civil War 150 commemoration is far more
than a formal remembrance. It is a collection of stories brought
to life that are as epic as the fields at Gettysburg or as small
as the struggles of a soldier's wife working to survive her husband's
absence on a Pennsylvania farm. Through these stories, Pennsylvania
Civil War 150 will renew interest and engagement in our state's
heritage."
The PA Civil War 150 launch will preview key initiatives for the
commemoration that will provide localized, unique experiences
throughout the state:
PACivilWar150.com, a dynamic Web site that unlocks the incredible
personal stories of Pennsylvanians both on the battlefield and
at the home front, the vast Civil War collections of the state's
museums and historical societies, and the state's numerous heritage
tourism attractions and trip-planning resources.
Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show, a traveling museum experience
based in a 53-foot tractor trailer that will bring interactive
exhibits and unique programming to all 67 counties in the state
from 2011 to 2015. The Road Show will encourage residents and
organizations in each locality to share their stories and artifacts
in conjunction with the traveling exhibition.
Additional initiatives include a digitization project under the
direction of Penn State University that aims to unearth and organize
Civil War collections in an online format to preserve primary
source materials and make them accessible to the public and to
scholars. The Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh will also coordinate
the publication of two books: Pennsylvania Civil War in Photographs,
a collection of rarely seen photos from the Civil War era, and
Pennsylvania African Americans in the Civil War Era, an account
of the African American experience during the same time period.
"Pennsylvania Civil War 150 is fortunate to have a strong
alliance of partner organizations to expertly coordinate statewide
initiatives that will positively impact Pennsylvania far beyond
the four-year anniversary period," Franco said. Lead partners
include the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania
Heritage Society, Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Senator
John Heinz History Center.
--(3) Opinion: Feckless Leaders Inflicted Major
Casualties -----------------------------------------------------
Opinion: Feckless Leaders Inflicted Major Casualties
By John and Carla Bangs
9/29/2009
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/092009/09292009/495688/index_html?page=1
The second Battle of the Wilderness has been fought and won by
the invading forces from Bentonville. This letter is not about
the outcome, but the process that was used to reach it.
Here is a summary of significant events. Prior to any type of
public hearing, and before Walmart filed for a special-use permit,
three of the five members of the Board of Supervisors came out
in favor of Walmart building a supercenter on a portion of the
Wilderness battlefield, the eastern State Route 3/Route 20 "gateway"
into Orange County.
Despite the fact that the county was offered a no-cost study of
this corridor to determine suitability of the store and the three
other retail pad sites, the proposal was flatly rejected on more
than one occasion by the board, which also turned down help from
the state. In fact, the board refused all offers of help except
for that provided by Walmart. One of the reasons given for firing
the county administrator was his suggestion that Walmart move
farther down Route 3, away from the battlefield. He was the first
casualty.
Notable casualties of this conflict included the integrity of
both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors--what
little they had left.
On June 25, the Planning Commission voted 5 to 4 in favor of Bentonville.
This vote was a true representation of the members of the Planning
Commission. However, due to an administrative error, the commission
had to conduct a "redo" on Aug. 20. On that fateful
evening, much to the chagrin of the chairman--all of his men were
not in place--the vote was taken and the result was 4 to 4. This
better reflected public sentiment: 50 percent for, 50 percent
against. The meeting was adjourned with no motion to rescind the
vote. It was clear to all those in attendance that night and to
those who read the next morning's paper that the matter was settled.
The evening of Aug. 21 had been set aside for a second meeting
if needed, but it turned out it was not: The vote had been taken
and the matter was settled. Or was it? Late in the afternoon of
Aug. 21, the chairman of the Planning Commission pulled a sneak
attack, calling for a meeting that evening to take another vote.
This, in our mind, was unethical, if not illegal. The matter had
been settled the night before with no motion to rescind, so there
was no basis for a revote. We don't believe that even in Orange
County the chairman has the right to keep calling for a vote until
he gets the results that he and the chairman of the Board of Supervisors
want.
The third vote, which was taken that Friday night, was 5 to 1
in favor of Walmart, which truly did not reflect either the commission
members' or the residents' point of view, but it worked well for
the forces from Bentonville, who used it to tout "overwhelming
community support" at the board meeting on Aug. 24.
By taking this vote on Aug. 21, the members of the Planning Commission
in attendance disenfranchised the two members from District Four,
who could not attend the meeting, the residents of District Four,
where the Walmart will reside, plus all of the residents of Orange
County on both sides of the issue who had taken the time to involve
themselves in the process. We had spent many hours during this
process seated in Planning Commission meetings, yet the media
were informed of the meeting at the last minute. No effort was
made to inform concerned residents. Bentonville was fortunate
to have allies like the Planning Commission, and especially the
six who attended the Friday night meeting.
And, how about Bentonville's main allies on the board--Burkett,
Goodwin, and Johnson--who came out for Bentonville in the early
stages of the conflict? Because of this, the county held no cards
in the negotiations. Burkett called members of Civil War groups
either liars or misinformed, and he implied that the state had
conspired against Walmart by a last-minute altering of official
battlefield maps. His statement about Yankee deserters, and Johnson's
statement ("I'm disgusted with the putrid dishonesty of 80
percent of the preservationists"), showed the true colors
of these two board members. We find that when individuals revert
to name-calling, it's because they can't come up with a legitimate
argument.
Through it all we noticed that only those who had the gall to
question Bentonville's doctrine and the motives of our officials
were called to task. Those whose comments favored the victor got
a free pass, no matter how outrageous. It is interesting that
no official questioned any of the content of the doctrine: If
it came from Walmart, it must be true.
But what if it isn't?
--(4) Richmond Leaders Talk about How to Commemorate
the Civil War -----------------------------------------------------
Richmond Leaders Talk about How to Commemorate the Civil War
By Karin Kapisdelis
9/30/2009
Richmond Times Dispatch (VA)
http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=107640814
The sesquicentennial of the Civil War will put Richmond center
stage nationally with both the opportunity and the obligation
to tell the story of what happened here honestly.
That was the message of "The Future of Richmond's Past,"
a forum that drew about 160 people to the University of Richmond
yesterday for the start of a series of discussions on how to commemorate
the 150th anniversary of the war.
Leaders from Richmond historic and civic organizations discussed
the need to develop a cohesive plan for visitors drawn to the
capital of the Confederacy for four years of events beginning
in 2011.
The sesquicentennial will be a twin commemoration that also will
mark the end of slavery, said UR President Edward L. Ayers.
Many people, he said, "have been working for decades to prepare
for a time when we can tell the story of Richmond whole, when
we can tell the story of Richmond honestly, when we can tell the
story of Richmond to the nation and to the world."
Visitors will be watching to see how Richmond, which was a major
slave market, will interpret a past with "so many layers
one on top of the other, so many meanings, so much richness,"
he said.
In April, Ayers was host of "America on the Eve of the Civil
War," the first event of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of
the American Civil War Commission.
He said he was approached after that conference and asked to initiate
conversations about how Richmond's various historic sites can
collaborate on the sesquicentennial.
Virginia Union University President Claude G. Perkins and Virginia
Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, who both spoke
at yesterday's event, said their schools will host follow-up discussions.
Virginia is better prepared now for the influx of visitors the
commemoration will bring than it was in 1990 when Ken Burns' documentary
series "The Civil War" aired, said John F. "Jack"
Berry Jr., president and CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention
& Visitors Bureau.
That film brought a 25 percent increase in tourism and "we
weren't ready," he said.
S. Waite Rawls III, president and CEO of The Museum of The Confederacy,
noted that the first post-Civil War tourist to Richmond was Abraham
Lincoln, and the place he wanted to visit first was the White
House of the Confederacy.
Yet the museum does not get adequate support from the city for
signage, parking and interpretive markers, he said.
Richmond tends to think in terms "of blue and gray or black
and white, and we have forgotten green, the color of money,"
he said.
The city's history is perhaps its greatest financial asset, "but
that history sits before us without us reaching out to capitalize
on it," he said.
"The twin sesquicentennial offers us that chance, and it
will not repeat itself in my lifetime," he said.
Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, chairwoman of the Slave Trail
Commission, said part of her group's mission is to "contribute
to the healing of Richmond's racial past."
She hopes to see the city become an international destination
for education about slavery.
"Richmond is ready for it," she said. "It's time
for us to move forward."
--(5) Chickamauga Names Road to Honor Union Troops
-----------------------------------------------------
Chickamauga Names Road to Honor Union Troops
By Andy Johns
9/28/2009
Chattanooga Times Free-Press (TN)
http://www.tfponline.com/news/2009/sep/28/chickamauga-names-road-honor-union-troops/
Highway 341 in Chickamauga is now the U.S. Army of the Cumberland
Highway after an official naming ceremony earlier this month.
Chickamauga City Manager and Georgia Civil War Commission Chairman
John Culpepper said the highway traces the route Union forces
took to the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.
"Most people don't key in to all of the paths and the mountains
the men had to march over," he said. "They were everywhere."
The new designation applies to a section of the highway from its
intersection with Highway 193 northward to its intersection with
Gordon Street downtown.
Mr. Culpepper said naming this street, along with other designations
across North Georgia and Southeast Tennessee, can help give people
a better idea of the troop movements.
"This is telling the whole story of the whole campaign in
all of these counties," he said.
Richard Barclift, Chickamauga tourism director, said having the
route named in time for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War
in 2011 could help draw tourists.
"The 150th is going to be the major celeb throughout the
country," he said. "For us, (naming the highway) may
not be that big of a deal, but for descendants of the veterans
who fought in the battle from Indiana and Ohio, I think it's a
pretty big deal."
Mr. Culpepper said the route's designation could bring a few visitors
south from Chickamauga National Battlefield.
"We want to be part of their battlefield experience,"
he said.
Next, Mr. Culpepper said he wants to get a section of U.S. Highway
27 renamed CSA Army of the Tennessee Highway because the Confederate
army used a similar route to where the highway lies. Like Highway
341, the road's name change would have to be voted on by the Legislature.
He said the more historic routes that can honor an area's history,
the better.
"It all has connections," he said. "It all brings
history back to life."
--(6) Abolitionist John Brown's Ties to Northeast
Ohio Recalled -----------------------------------------------------
Abolitionist John Brown's Ties to Northeast Ohio Recalled
By Grant Segall
9/27/2009
Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH)
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/abolitionist_john_brown_had_no.html
In 1836, John Brown stood near the front of what's now Kent United
Church of Christ and denounced it for putting black worshippers
in the rear.
Then he and his family swapped seats with some of them.
The next day, deacons scolded Brown at his home. That night, the
relentless abolitionist swapped seats again.
John Brown's name is linked forever with Harpers Ferry, where
he stormed a leading U.S. arsenal 150 years ago on Oct. 16. Before
then, he had been known as Osawatomie Brown for killing slavery
supporters near a Kansas settlement by that name.
But for about 35 of his 59 wandering years, slavery's most famous
foe was based in Northeast Ohio -- Akron, Hudson, Richfield Township
and Franklin Mills (now Kent). He was a son of a local official
and a colleague of other leading locals.
Historians say Brown and the Western Reserve whetted each other's
hunger for emancipation. Many locals hid slaves and fought slave-catchers.
Many gave Brown money, weapons and places to hide them. Three
black Oberliners followed him to Harpers Ferry.
Then and now, the community and the world have been torn about
the man who declared, "The crimes of this guilty land will
never be purged away but with blood." Was he a murderer,
martyr, madman or all of the above?
President Abraham Lincoln clucked, "An enthusiast broods
over the oppression of a people 'til he fancies himself commissioned
by Heaven to liberate them."
But Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, former Akron mayor, declared, "Would
to God there were many such crazy men!"
Today, few people defend slavery, but many question Brown's violent
response.
Brown was an intense, domineering man with some unstable relatives
and an unstable life, even by frontier standards. He moved, lost
money and lost relatives remarkably often.
Still, historians hesitate to dismiss him as crazy.
"He was passionate, he was eccentric, and probably profoundly
depressed, but so was Abraham Lincoln," said historian Dave
Lieberth, deputy Akron mayor. "Depression often accompanies
this kind of creative spark."
Brown saw himself as fighting back against the daily violence
of slavery, with its beatings, whippings and rapes. He hoped the
raid would inspire many slaves to rebel. None did just then. But
historians say he helped to hasten the Civil War and his ultimate
goal: emancipation.
When Brown was 5, his big family left Torrington, Conn., for the
Western Reserve.
His father, Owen, became a justice of the peace and a commissioner
of Portage County, which included Akron and Hudson at first. Owen
was a staunch abolitionist and an early trustee of the interracial
Western Reserve and Oberlin colleges.
At 8, John lost his mother. Soon a stepmother followed, admired
but not loved. The boy grew studious and stern, correcting neighbors'
scriptural misquotes.
John helped his father tan hides, delivered family cows to the
Army for the War of 1812 and started hiding slaves. He briefly
attended Eastern schools but ran short of money.
At about age 20, Brown married Dianthe Lusk, calling her "a
remarkably plain but neat, industrious and economical girl of
excellent character." In 12 years, she bore seven children,
but two died young, including a newborn boy she followed to the
grave.
The next year, Brown married Mary Ann Day, 17, big and strong.
Thirteen more children followed, but seven died young, including
a girl accidentally scalded by a sister.
For a few years, the father prospered in Crawford County, Pa.,
farming, surveying, serving as postmaster and running a tannery.
But he returned to Ohio in debt in 1835.
He helped Zenas Kent raise a tannery and a canal in the town later
named for the tycoon's son. Borrowing heavily, Brown also opened
a hotel, raised racehorses and bought land along the canal's expected
route.
But the canal took another turn, and a nationwide bust in 1837
brought Brown lawsuits and deeper debts.
About then, he pledged his life at a Hudson church to freedom.
He took in a black collegiate boarder. He also visited Cleveland
and helped there to petition against the state's discriminatory
"black laws."
In 1842, the sheriff hauled Brown and two of his sons to jail
for refusing to yield their Hudson farm to a creditor. Brown declared
bankruptcy but kept trying to pay his debts.
For two years, he flitted among three homes in Richfield. In 1844,
he leased a two-room house next door to landlord Simon Perkins
Jr.'s mansion and began raising sheep as Perkins' partner.
Wrote Brown, "I think this is the most comfortable and the
most favorable arrangement of my worldly concerns that I have
ever had."
But Perkins' wife, Grace, complained about his rowdy boys. They
retaliated with itching powder in her outhouse.
Soon Brown bought land in North Elba, N.Y., to help a local build
a colony for freedmen. But few freedmen came.
Brown also opened a wool warehouse in Springfield, Mass. But prices
plunged in the United States and in London, where he tried selling.
He had to return to Akron and work for Perkins on harder terms
than before.
In 1855, Brown joined five sons in the violent Kansas Territory.
The next year, he led nocturnal raiders in dragging five slavery
supporters from their homes and hacking them to death with swords.
Soon his band captured 27 Missouri militiamen.
He spent the next couple of years raising money and stashing weapons
around the country. He stayed with famed abolitionist Frederick
Douglass in Rochester, N.Y., writing a provisional constitution
for a nation of freed slaves and ignoring his host's pleas to
scrap the raid.
Brown finally slipped through the hills toward Harpers Ferry,
then in Virginia, now West Virginia. Twenty-two comrades joined
him, including three sons and the three Oberliners, John Copeland,
Shields Green and Lewis Leary.
The invaders seized the arsenal and took prisoners but were quickly
surrounded. After three days, the raiders were captured, partly
by Col. Robert E. Lee and Lt. J.E.B. Stuart.
The clashes killed the mayor, three other locals, a Marine, two
of Brown's sons and eight other raiders. Brown was among several
people wounded. Five raiders escaped for good, including a third
son.
Soon, federal marshals came to Jefferson, Ohio, for John Brown
Jr., who had hidden weapons in coffins there but not followed
them into the raid. Hundreds of neighbors alerted Junior and helped
him elude detection.
Seven raiders were tried. Brown attended on a stretcher and refused
an insanity plea. The defendants were convicted of treason, murder
and more.
On Dec. 2, Brown calmly rode on his coffin through a throng to
the gallows. Crowds in Ohio towns marked the moment with speeches,
silences and church bells.
Soon his famously moldering body passed through Hudson en route
to burial in North Elba.
Today, no Brown descendants are known to live in the Western Reserve,
but some collateral relatives do. Two of them disagree about their
kinsman.
"He didn't use good sense," said Martha Marsh of Hudson.
"He was way ahead of his time," said Nancy Yankulov
of Uniontown.
Local leaders are torn, too.
"I have two people on my board who think John Brown is a
murderous, onerous idiot," said playwright Sandra Perlman
Halem, who leads the Kent Historical Society. "As a Jew,
I think of course you're supposed to free other people."
"He struck a blow against slavery," said Edmund Timothy
Moore, associate dean and Pan-African professor at Kent State
University. "He has to be looked at as a hero."
--(7) Groups Rallying to Save Historic Civil War Cannon
-----------------------------------------------------
Groups Rallying to Save Historic Civil War Cannon
By Joe Giessler
9/27/2009
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (PA)
http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20090927/NEWS01/909270304/-1/newsfront2/Groups-rallying-to-save-historic-Civil-War-cannon
Residents soon will have an opportunity to experience a little
piece of Civil War history as part of an effort to restore one
of the city's treasured artifacts.
Advertisement
The Civil War Encampment, scheduled for Oct. 4, kicks off an effort
by two local organizations to restore Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's
Cannon.
The event will feature an "1861" bake sale, musket and
cannon fire, flag ceremony and Lancaster-native Sherman himself.
The cannon, which is on display at the corner of North Broad and
West Main streets, needs a new carriage to replace a decades-old,
rotting wooden one.
Women's Auxiliary 77 Officer in Charge of the Save the Cannon
Alice Stevens said restoring the historic cannon ensures people
never forget those who served during the war.
"I think people have forgotten so much of their Civil War
heritage. Not just Gen. Sherman, but over 3,000 soldiers from
Fairfield County. I have come to look at it as their cannon,"
Stevens said. "We need to preserve it, to remind us of all
the men that served in that war from here."
Stevens said they need to raise about $13,500 to replace the wooden
carriage of the cannon with a new aluminum frame, which can better
withstand the elements.
She doesn't expect to raise all the money at the event. She said
more fundraisers will be conducted within the next several months
to help pay for the cannon's restoration.
Main Street Lancaster Director Karen Rotkis said the cannon is
just another example of residents preserving local history.
"Groups are showing they really understand the importance
of historic preservation, whether it's the Old Grandstand, Rockmill,
buildings downtown or historical churches," Rotkis said.
"All these places are entering into that 150 to 200 year
timeframe and we need to take care of them."
Rotkis said such focus on local heritage helps with economic development
and will bring more visitors to the city.
The other group sponsoring the restoration of the cannon is local
Camp 21 of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. A requirement
of membership is to be a decedent of a member of the union army.
Camp 21 Commander Dan Starkey said his great-great-grandfather
was a private in the Seventh West Virginia Volunteer Infantry.
He said the event is about promoting historical awareness about
America's deadliest war.
Starkey said some of the members will practice civil war drills
at the event and residents can ask them questions or even get
their picture with the Civil War soldiers.
Starkey, who is a 20-year veteran of the Air Force, encouraged
people to come learn about the Civil War and pay tribute to veterans
of the past.
"Americans have always had a soft spot in their hearts for
veterans and we don't like to forget them -- even those who have
been gone for 100 years," he said.
--(8) Civil War Museum's Artifacts to Be Displayed
Elsewhere -----------------------------------------------------
Civil War Museum's Artifacts to Be Displayed Elsewhere
By Edward Collimore
9/26/2009
Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/20090926_Civil_War_museum_s_artifacts_to_be_displayed_elsewhere.html
They're stored in crates, bubble wrap, and archival boxes, locked
away and awaiting their fate at an undisclosed Philadelphia storage
facility.
Under the packaging are wool uniforms and glistening swords worn
by great generals of the Civil War, men who helped preserve the
Union.
Next to them are muskets, sidearms, and flags carried into desperate
battles that determined the nation's fate.
Since the closing of the Civil War Museum on Pine Street more
than a year ago, at least 3,000 artifacts have been unseen by
the public.
Now come plans to put them on display again at other institutions
in Philadelphia and Gettysburg while the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia
seeks funding for a new home in the city, museum president and
chief executive officer Sharon Smith said.
The collection would be exhibited and cared for over the next
three years at the Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center, the
National Constitution Center, and the African American Museum
in Philadelphia, according to an interim plan.
Some of the historic treasures also would be in a traveling exhibit
visiting sites in Pennsylvania and across the country during the
150th anniversary of the war.
With no money for a building and no desire to leave Philadelphia,
museum officials proposed the plan, which is expected to be approved
in an order issued soon by Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge
Anne E. Lazarus.
"This is the best 'plan B' we could imagine because the collection
will be taken care of and seen in different venues, and the museum
board can concentrate on building a museum in Philadelphia,"
Smith said.
The board set the goal of opening the new museum by 2014, "but
that's the outer edge," she added. "We hope to have
it before then."
Smith said the board would spend the next six to eight months
revising its plans to increase public and private support for
the museum and would identify a new location in an existing building
in Philadelphia.
The Civil War institution's move follows the Rendell administration's
refusal to provide $8 million to $10 million in promised capital
funding. That prompted the loss of the museum's planned new location
at the historic First Bank of the United States in the heart of
Independence National Historical Park.
Museum officials sought funding from the legislature, but with
so many competing interests across the state, their pleas didn't
receive the needed support.
By July, Smith spoke of being forced to make preparations to move
the collection within weeks if financial support couldn't be found.
"Since we couldn't get funding to build a museum and we lost
the First Bank," Smith said, "a new plan was needed
if we are going to reach our ultimate goal."
Given all the possibilities, "the dissolution of the collection
or permanent relocation outside of the city or state, this keeps
the dream alive for a Civil War museum in Philadelphia,"
said Gary Steuer, the city's chief cultural officer.
"This is an interim step that allows the collection to be
kept intact and conserved to the highest standards with strong
partners that have the capacity to place some of the collection
in front of the public."
Steuer, who also serves as director of the city's office of arts,
culture, and the creative economy, said the museum must now look
for a combination of public and private financial support while
waiting for the economy to pick up.
The plan "is not my first choice," said State Rep. James
R. Roebuck Jr. (D., Phila.) of West Philadelphia. "But it
is a reasonable choice given the circumstances we find ourselves
in.
"Everyone was influenced by the downturn in the economy,"
he added, while laying much of the blame on Harrisburg. "It's
frustrating that the political leadership is lacking. I do very
much put that responsibility on the governor . . . possibly a
new governor might help."
In the meantime, "the collection will go to Gettysburg for
care in their state-of-the-art facility and for exhibition,"
Smith said. "Artifacts related to abolition and the U.S.
Colored Troops will be exhibited at the African American Museum
in a new exhibit they will develop."
Artifacts from the collection also "will be used by the National
Constitution Center for a 150th anniversary exhibit that will
open here in Philadelphia and then travel in the commonwealth
and nationally."
The Civil War Museum will work with the Gettysburg Foundation,
which operates the Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center, and
the National Constitution Center to choose the artifacts to be
displayed in the center's exhibition as well as its traveling
exhibition.
"For us, the [Philadelphia Civil War Museum's] 'plan B' is
our 'plan A,' " said Steve Frank, vice president of education
and exhibits at the Constitution Center. "We're able to collaborate
to develop a world-class exhibition."
That exhibition will remain in Philadelphia for at least nine
months before traveling," Smith said.
Dru Neil, a spokeswoman at the Gettysburg Foundation, said the
organization would talk with the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia
"about potential arrangements" for the collection. Nothing
definite has been planned.
An official at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, who
declined to be named, said the museum "is happy to help in
any way we can" but no arrangements have been made so far
to receive artifacts.
Former Union officers established the Civil War Museum in 1888,
and with their families donated artifacts and memorabilia over
the years until a house was bought in 1922 in the 1800 block of
Pine Street to display the collection.
The collection, now in storage, includes items connected with
the great heroes of the war along with others specifically connected
to Philadelphia.
There are blue wool frocks once worn by generals including Ulysses
S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and George Gordon Meade; Confederate
President Jefferson Davis' ornate smoking jacket, taken when he
was captured in 1865; and plaster casts of Abraham Lincoln's face
and hands.
"This collection begs for display, interpretation, and public
scrutiny," said Andy Waskie, a Civil War historian, author,
and Temple University professor who serves on the board of the
Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum and Library in the
city's Frankford section.
"Given the fast-approaching sesquicentennial of the Civil
War era, it is even more essential that this museum be preserved
and open to the public and its collections available to inspire
and educate."
Philadelphia has "a unique opportunity" to tell the
story of America, Roebuck said. "We tend to focus on the
Revolution, but the Revolution became a reality when the principles
were affirmed by the Civil War," he said.
"We can tell both of those stories in Philadelphia. There
are few other places like that."
--(9) Orange Vows to Fight Lawsuit against Walmart
-----------------------------------------------------
Orange Vows to Fight Lawsuit against Walmart
By Robin Knepper
9/25/2009
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/092009/09252009/496330
The Orange County Board of Supervisors will ask a judge to dismiss
a lawsuit challenging its approval of a Walmart Supercenter in
the Wilderness Battlefield area, the county's attorney said yesterday.
The lawsuit--filed Wednesday in Orange County Circuit Court by
the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of the Wilderness
Battlefield and six local residents--claims the supervisors' approval
of a special-use permit for the 138,000-square foot store and
surrounding retail center was "flawed in numerous respects."
County Attorney Sharon Pandak released a statement yesterday afternoon
saying the board "will vigorously defend its land-use decision-making."
"Plaintiffs want to prevent use of land which they do not
own," she wrote.
The Supercenter would anchor a 240,000-square-foot retail center
on a 51.5-acre parcel northwest of the intersection of State Routes
3 and 20 and a quarter-mile from the entrance to Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
The lawsuit claims supervisors "brushed aside" mounting
concerns about the negative impacts the store would have on the
park and Civil War battlefield where Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and
Robert E. Lee first clashed 145 years ago.
It asks the court to invalidate the special-use permit and to
prevent the county from approving any similar projects until it
adds protection of historic resources into its zoning ordinance.
"The Board respects the Plaintiffs' difference of opinion
on this policy matter," Pandak wrote. "However, the
land subject to the permit issued to Walmart has not been shown
to be land on which a battle was fought. Nor have the federal
or state governments prohibited development on this private property."
Among the suit's claims:
The board failed to comply with the county's comprehensive plan,
which calls for preservation and protection of historic resources.
The county's zoning ordinance is invalid because it fails to comply
with state laws that require such ordinances to provide protections
for historic sites.
There were procedural defects in the Planning Commission's three
separate votes on the landowners' permit request. As a result,
the commission did not make a valid recommendation, as required
by law.
In her statement, Pandak wrote, "The Board of Supervisors
met procedural requirements and gave substantial opportunities
for public input and received opinions for and against the proposed
development. The Board complied with legal requirements in approving
the special-use permit request."
County supervisors contacted yesterday declined to comment directly
on the lawsuit, saying Pandak's statement would stand as the county's
response for now. But Supervisor Teel Goodwin said he was not
surprised by the legal action.
"I told people that we weren't finished with Walmart yet,
that there would be a lawsuit," he said.
Opponents have said they do not oppose a Walmart in Orange County,
just the site chosen.
"We regret that it's come to this," Russ Smith, superintendent
of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, said
of the lawsuit. "I hope a reasonable solution can still be
worked out, that Walmart will move down the road to a location
farther from the battlefield. That's what we've been asking all
along."
--(10) Civil War Preservation Trust to Honor State
Historian -----------------------------------------------------
Civil War Preservation Trust to Honor State Historian
Staff Reports
9/24/2009
State Journal-Register (IL)
http://www.sj-r.com/news/x593053400/Civil-War-trust-to-honor-state-historian
Illinois State Historian Tom Schwartz will be honored today by
the Civil War Preservation Trust during a ceremony at the Springfield
Hilton.
CWPT describes itself as the "largest nonprofit battlefield
preservation agency" in the country. Officials of the trust
will be in Springfield through Sunday for a board meeting and
thanking donors.
Schwartz will be among honorees receiving the organization's first
Chairman's Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation.
"Anytime a group of colleagues singles you out for recognition,
it is a special event," said Schwartz, who is being recognized
for his "lasting contributions to the study of Abraham Lincoln
and the interpretation of the Civil War."
Schwartz works at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, was
a key authority in the formation of the Lincoln Presidential Museum
and is a top Lincoln scholar.
--(11) Virginia SCC Limits Arguments at Wind Hearing
-----------------------------------------------------
Virginia SCC Limits Arguments at Wind Hearing
By Pamela Pritt
9/23/2009
Pocahontas Times (WV)
http://www.pocahontastimes.com/index.php?id=964
The Virginia State Corporation Commission has limited arguments
in a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, excluding
any arguments dealing with viewshed, including the visual impact
on Camp Allegheny in Pocahontas County.
Attorneys for Henry McBride, owner of Highland New Wind Development,
argued that viewshed issues have been properly settled by the
Highland Board of Supervisors.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources had planned to present
evidence and testimony pertaining to the project's effect on Camp
Allegheny.
The SCC's rulings notwithstanding, the Pocahontas County Commission
voted 2-1 Tuesday to send a letter to Virginia's assistant attorney
general, Steven Owens, in support of the DHR's argument.
"Camp Allegheny Battlefield, despite the DHR's recommendation
to include it, is not counted by HNWD as a 'reported site,'"
the letter says. "It should be noted that, due to the status
of this project, the Civil War Preservation Trust has listed Camp
Allegheny among its most 'at risk' sites."
Commissioner David Fleming drafted the letter before the SCC's
Monday ruling; commission president Martin Saffer said the letter
was not "germane to the issue tomorrow (Wednesday)."
Commissioner Reta Griffith, who voted against the motion to send
the letter, said the Highland Board of Supervisors had indeed
been apprised of the juxtaposition of the wind turbines to Camp
Allegheny, as had the Pocahontas County Commission several years
ago. Two commissioners attended a hearing on the issue in Highland
County, she said.
"We didn't have an issue with wind energy at that time,"
she said.
Griffith said that at least one company had looked at Pocahontas
County as a possible venue for wind turbines a few years ago,
but with the "best" ridges belonging to Snowshoe Mountain
Resort, the U. S. Forest Service had determined that no wind turbines
could be built on federal property until all private resources
had been exhausted.
Griffith said she wished Camp Allegheny had been included in the
initial list.
Saffer said the letter is "still an important discussion
about what we want this place to be like in future generations."
Pocahontas County Historical Society treasurer Bill McNeel said
his organization met Monday night and, while the organization
is not willing to dismiss wind energy altogether, it is aware
of the importance of Camp Allegheny being kept in its relatively
unchanged state.
McNeel noted that a Civil War soldier resurrected today would
find Camp Allegheny as "close as it could possibly be to
1861."
"We are deeply concerned about the visual impact [of the
wind turbines]," he said.
--(12) Park Service Events Help Usher in Civil War
Commemoration -----------------------------------------------------
Park Service Events Help Usher in Civil War Commemoration
By Scott McCaffrey
9/20/2009
Arlington Sun Gazette (VA)
http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2009/09/20/arlington/news/nw422.txt
Arlington County's commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the
Civil War will unofficially begin on Oct. 10 with an event at
Arlington House, the Custis-Lee Mansion.
From 7 to 10 p.m. that night, the National Park Service will present
a program detailing John Brown's Raid, an event that helped to
light the fuse for what, less than two years later, would tear
the nation apart.
Fergus Bordewich, author of "Bound for Canaan: The Underground
Railroad and the War for the Soul of America," will speak
on the life of Brown, an abolitionist who On Oct. 16-18, 1859,
led a group that tried to seize control of the federal armory
at Harpers Ferry, then in Virginia and now in West Virginia.
Their goal was to spark a slave revolt in Virginia and surrounding
areas.
The assault was put down by a detachment of U.S. Marines, who
were led by Col. Robert E. Lee. Lee married into the Custis family,
which owned the Arlington House plantation where the Oct. 10 program
will take place.
After being charged with treason against Virginia, Brown was hanged
in December 1859 and several other participants later went to
the gallows. But their actions helped to further inflame passions
over slavery. The Civil War began in April 1861.
Both the state and county governments have assembled task forces
to plan and lead commemorative events related to the Civil War.
The Arlington group, appointed by the County Board, has been meeting
since early March. Warren Nelson is serving as chairman.
Arlington - which then was known as Alexandria County - had several
key roles in Civil War history.
It was from Arlington House that Lee made his decision not to
accept command of Union troops, but rather to command Virginia
troops that soon would be in rebellion against the federal government.
At the outbreak of hostilities, federal troops marched across
Potomac River bridges to occupy the mostly rural county for the
duration of the war. Federal officials seized the Arlington House
plantation, an action later ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme
Court, and began the first burials at what would become Arlington
National Cemetery.
Federal officials also hurriedly constructed a ring of forts in
the area, to protect the nation's capital from attack. Remnants
of a number of the forts remain, and the modern-day Fort Myer
garrison traces its roots to one of the Civil War forts.
After the war, Lee never returned to Arlington House; his wife,
Mary Custis Lee, who had inherited the plantation from her father
in 1857, returned once but was too distraught to leave her carriage.
During and after the war, freed slaves were housed at Freedman's
Village for several decades. Several of today's most prominent
African-American Arlington families can trace their lineage back
to Arlington House, and efforts are underway to create a museum
dedicated to the achievements of local African-Americans both
during slavery and after.
By the 20th century, a spirit of reconciliation had taken hold,
at least among some. In 1920, Alexandria County was renamed "Arlington"
in part to honor Lee, and Arlington House in 1955 was designated
by Congress as the nation's memorial to the general.
Nelson said local commemorative events will run through at least
2015, the 150th anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox,
the event that effectively ended the war. But they could run longer,
as far out as January 2020, the 150th anniversary of Virginia's
readmittance to the Union.
The Oct. 10 event at Arlington House also will include a series
of tours and exhibits exploring radical abolitionism, and a performance
by the Victorian Dance Emsemble. Special activities for children
will be available.
Because Arlington House is rarely open to the public at night,
the event offers a chance to tour the house and view the Washington
skyline from a seldom-seen vantage point, National Park Service
officials said.
Entry times are available on the half-hour from 7 to 9 p.m., with
lectures by Bordewich conducted at 8 and 9 p.m. Reservations are
required, and parking will only be available for those with reservations.
For reservations, call (703) 235-1530. For information, see the
Web site at www.nps.gov/arho.