Very thoughtful piece. I've only been to Gettysburg once and found all the monuments distracting as I tried to visualize the battle. It would be very interesting to go again and focus on the monuments and post-1863 history of the site.
Thanks for the photo of the newspaper; it's nice to know the US has progressed far enough that reputable news sources don't celebrate visits from the KKK and KKK officers aren't keen for the faces and names to be publicized.
I grew up halfway between Richmond and DC, couldn’t go anywhere without passing thru a battlefield. And there were no monuments. So I agree - my first visit to Gettysburg as a high schooler I was very distracted.
Whoa, the Klan gathered at Gettysburg? I had no idea. I've vlisited Gettysburg at least a dozen times, starting in childhood in the 1950s.
My dad was what was then called a "Civil War buff." We had relatives not far from Gettysburg and often went to the battlefield whole visiting them. As an adult, I took both my first and second husbands there, and last visited briefly 3 years ago at Thanksgiving. Every time we felt profoundly moved.
I've also read quite a bit about the battle. Never have I seen a thing about the Klan there. How depressing that the town newspaper welcomed them.
I look forward to seeing a monument or some acknowledgment of this event next time I visit.
Very thoughtful piece. I've only been to Gettysburg once and found all the monuments distracting as I tried to visualize the battle. It would be very interesting to go again and focus on the monuments and post-1863 history of the site.
Thanks for the photo of the newspaper; it's nice to know the US has progressed far enough that reputable news sources don't celebrate visits from the KKK and KKK officers aren't keen for the faces and names to be publicized.
I grew up halfway between Richmond and DC, couldn’t go anywhere without passing thru a battlefield. And there were no monuments. So I agree - my first visit to Gettysburg as a high schooler I was very distracted.
Whoa, the Klan gathered at Gettysburg? I had no idea. I've vlisited Gettysburg at least a dozen times, starting in childhood in the 1950s.
My dad was what was then called a "Civil War buff." We had relatives not far from Gettysburg and often went to the battlefield whole visiting them. As an adult, I took both my first and second husbands there, and last visited briefly 3 years ago at Thanksgiving. Every time we felt profoundly moved.
I've also read quite a bit about the battle. Never have I seen a thing about the Klan there. How depressing that the town newspaper welcomed them.
I look forward to seeing a monument or some acknowledgment of this event next time I visit.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Cheryl. You are far from alone.
Well taught, as always. Will we have access to your essay about “interpreting slavery and race at Civil War battlefields” here on Substack?
Thanks for your interest, Suzanne. This essay is going to be published in a volume on Civil War Memory during the Trump years. Should be out in 2024.