Monthly Archives: March 2011

“Facts bend under pressure.”

18 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in Museums, National Park Service

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The always worthwhile Edward Rothstein has spent the past week visiting various museums, plantations, and other sites in South Carolina.  In his latest piece he explains the evolving missions of institutions like Charleston’s Confederate Museum and says some are doing better than others at keeping current.  The most moving thing to me was the slave’s embroidered sack in the slide show.  I visited Arlington House last week and can attest that similar efforts are underway there as well.  The Park Service is doing great work telling the wider, more complicated history of the Lee-Custis estate and giving voice to the previously voiceless.

An earlier Rothstein piece, “Emancipating History,” is worth your time as well.

For heaven sakes read them now before the Times makes them part of its Digital Subscription Plan.

Rare performance at Ellis Island

18 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in Ellis Island

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After the slower months of January and February things start picking up at Ellis Island in March.  One reason is that many high school groups travel to New York City for spring break and visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  I always enjoy seeing younger people at Ellis and other historical sites.  In case you happen to be visiting tomorrow be sure to check out the Staley High School Falcon Chorale performing in the Great Hall.  Choir director Tracy Resseguie will lead his students through a performance of a piece Mr. Resseguie commissioned to honor his great-grandfather, Peter Mandius Nerland, who passed through the immigration station 111 years ago.  After spending a few days in New York the group will travel to Norway for the rest of spring break, where among other things they will play the same piece in the church in which Nerland was baptized.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

17 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in Gettysburg

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Neither of us has a drop of Celtic blood but the Irish Brigade monument near the Wheatfield in Gettysburg is a special place for me and my wife.  One summer evening in July 2009 we were heading back to our hotel after a long day in the field when yours truly took a wrong turn.  Completely lost, with the sun setting, we turned a corner where appeared the Irish Brigade monument, placed in tribute to the men of the 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York regiments on the 25th anniversary in 1888.  The Irish had a complicated relationship with the Civil War.  It was less than two weeks after Gettysburg that a predominantly Irish mob expressed their displeasure with the recent Enrollment Act by looting businesses and government offices, destroying millions of dollars in property, and killing dozens of mostly African-American citizens who they unfairly blamed for causing the war.  There were Irish on both sides of the conflict and, ironically, this monument was built by an Irish Confederate soldier, William R. O’Donovan, who was with the Army of Northern Virginia and thus found himself at Gettysburg that July.  For the most part the men of the Irish Brigade, and the Irish in general, fought well and honorably in the Civil War, whether at Fredericksburg, Antietam’s Bloody Lane, in the Wheatfield, during the siege of Petersburg, or the numerous other places they were engaged.

When we first traveled to Gettysburg we were not yet married and I don’t think my soon-to-be wife knew what to expect.  We had walked Pickett’s Charge, done Culp’s Hill and the Round Tops, and seen the Peace Light Memorial.  She had enjoyed it all, but nothing meant as much to her as this tribute to these brave men from the Empire State tucked away on a quiet road far from the crowds.

“work harder for final victory”

15 Tuesday Mar 2011

Posted by in Museums, Washington, D.C.

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Hey everybody,

The Hayfoot and I went to Washington this past weekend.  We took in part two of the National Archives’ Discovering the Civil War exhibit.  I find primary documents evocative.  They make history more immediate and tangible.  Seeing the kids in the museum gallery I wondered how many will have their imaginations sparked by the sesquicentennial the way so many youngsters did during the 100th anniversary.  If you want to see it you had better hurry; the show ends on April 17th.  We love playing tourist in D.C.   We also went to Arlington National Cemetery.  The Lee Mansion was somewhat disappointing because the house is undergoing extensive renovation and there was not much to see.  Still, the work is necessary and it gives us reason to return in the future.

I have always known of course that the Lee residence is just across the Potomac and close to the capitol, but until standing in the front yard with its panoramic view of the District of Columbia I was not aware of how close.

Walking down the hill we came across Robert Todd Lincoln, who rests within sight of his father’s memorial.

One yankee dollar for the restoration of the Lee estate.

We also watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.  I came across this Universal Newsreel with a brief snippet of the Tomb from Memorial Day 1945, less than a month after V-E Day but with the war against Japan still raging.  The National Cemetery in Brooklyn Ed Herlihy refers to in the second segment is Cypress Hills, one of the first fourteen such burial places created by President Lincoln in July 1862.  I sense a Civil War subway trip coming this spring.

Memorial Day 1945 marked the end of an era; it was the first time no Civil War veteran participated in any of New York City’s numerous Memorial Day parades.  Eighty years after Appomattox only 240 members of the Grand Army of the Republic remained.  Eleven were New Yorkers and their average age was 98, too old and infirm to participate.  In the newsreel’s part three Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia—a former translator at Ellis Island—presides over the parade in Manhattan, which ended at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument at 89th Street and Riverside Drive.  Many mistake this for Grant’s Tomb, which also lies on Riverside Drive but thirty-three blocks north.  The inside of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument is usually closed to the public.  One exception is each October when the public can tour the interior during Open House New York.  I missed it last year but already have it down on the calendar for fall 2011.

We have been to D.C. several times in the past few years and my only regret each visit is that we cannot stay longer.  Another trip is already in the works.

Thanks for checking in.

On writing Ellis Island well

14 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in Ellis Island, Writing

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For several years in the mid-2000s I collaborated with two teachers and a librarian on a writing and research module at a local high school.  The four of us taught the basics of scholarship to a group of Advanced Placement English and History juniors.  The final assignment was a five-six page paper.  I continually stressed the importance of writing clearly and concisely.  We kicked things off each term with a reading and discussion of George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.” One school year, when the budget permitted, we distributed copies of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style to each student that were theirs to keep.  Most students eventually “got it,” but I was always struck by how tenaciously some clung to the belief that pretentious, ornate prose was the way to the teacher’s heart and a good grade.  In his most recent “Zinsser on Friday” posting, the incomparable William Zinsser recounts a challenge once posed to him by an editor: submit a travel piece not to exceed 300 words.  Not wanting to stray too far from home, he selected a certain island “a mere subway and ferry ride away.”  Read the results.

How to visit a Civil War site, part 2

10 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in Memory, National Park Service

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Hey everybody,

This is the second of a two part series on visiting Civil War battlefields.  In case you missed it, part one is here.  There has never been a better time to experience our Civil War sites than today.  I hope you are able to visit at least one during the sesquicentennial.

Rule 6:  Don’t be frustrated by how little you know

The first time I visited Gettysburg, in 2008, I realized just how little I knew of that campaign.  I’m no Harry Pfanz, but my knowledge of events in southern Pennsylvania in June and July 1863 is now considerably greater than it was three ago.  Acquire an awareness of the site before visiting, but realize that most of your learning will take place after you leave.

Rule 7:  It’s not just the battle, it’s the battlefield—and what it means

Visiting a historical site allows us to make a connection to the past in a tangible way.  There are few things more meaningful to me than walking a Civil War battlefield. Ironically, however, I am less interested in the minutiae of the battles than the causes, legacy, and meaning of the war.  Without question, one needs a firm understanding of the military aspects of the conflict to understand how and why it played out the way it did.  It was the slim victory at Antietam that made Lincoln’s release of the Emancipation Proclamation a few days later possible.  If Sherman does not take Atlanta in September 1864, it is possible McClellan wins the White House in November and the Confederate States achieve independence.  Lincoln understood the importance of military affairs as much as anyone.  As he said in the Second Inaugural, “[It is t]he progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends.”  There is still a lot of work to be done to tell the full and true story of the military side of the war.  Just remember that the battle isn’t the whole story.

Civil War historiography has undergone a transformation in the past several decades.  With this change has been the rise of Memory Studies.  How many monographs have you seen in recent years titled The Civil War, [insert subject], and Memory?  I believe this is a good thing.  One of the most revelatory books I’ve read in recent years is Timothy B. Smith’s The Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation: The Decade of the 1890’s and the Establishment of the First Five Military Parks.  Professor Smith, a former ranger at Shiloh National Military Park, traces the preservation and memorialization of the Shiloh, Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg, and Chickamauga/Chattanooga parks in the 1890s.  He explains how Union and Confederate veterans literally built monuments to themselves and why the decisions they made in the late nineteenth century effect how we understand those engagements today in the twenty-first.

The reasons why the veterans and their successors made the decisions they did are, at least to me, as fascinating as the battles themselves.  Especially now during the sesquicentennial, historians, journalists, and rangers are analyzing the parks not only to understand more fully what took place there but to unravel the myths that too often have taken the place of history.  The same is true of Civil War cemeteries, historic structures, and other sites.

Built primarily in the 1880s and 1890s when the soldiers were aging, the monuments functioned to tell the veterans’ story after they were gone.

Rule 8:  Visit when you can

Shelby Foote advised that one should visit during the time of year the battle took place.  For instance, one would ideally visit Fredericksburg in December to experience the cold and note the lack of foliage on the winter trees.  The key word is ideally.  The reality is that it may not be possible to do so.  Visit when you can.  Research the trip to see if any events are happening that you would like to see—or avoid.  It was only luck that helped me miss Noise Week in Gettysburg during my first visit.  Personally, I avoid anniversary time because it tends to be busy.  Note too that many worthwhile events, such as the Antietam Illumination, take place at different times of the year than the battle anniversary.

Rule 9:  Avoid the crowds

Little Round Top at 3:00 pm on a Saturday is not the best idea.  As I said in part one, visitation is currently at record levels across the Civil War national parks.  Nonetheless, quiet places are there to be had by those adventurous enough to stray off the beaten path.

Rule 10:  Have fun

Life is too short not to stop for an Italian ice.

Ulysses S. Grant V

10 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in Ulysses S. Grant (General and President)

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…died last week.  The general’s great-grandson was born in 1920 and had become the guardian of the family legacy.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the artifacts mentioned in this brief piece.

Last great-grandson of Ulysses S. Grant dies

By Heather Hollingsworth

The Associated Press

The last surviving great-grandson of Ulysses S. Grant has died in a southwest Missouri home brimming with artifacts from the nation’s 18th president and commander of the Union forces in the Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant V spent part of his youth in the home of his grandfather, Jesse Grant, who was the late president’s youngest son. Jesse Grant’s wife, Elizabeth, is credited with helping to save the artifacts.

As an adult, Grant V became a custodian to the items — including his famous relative’s letters, his will, his China and even the flag said to have flown over the Appomattox Court House when Robert E. Lee surrendered. Some of the items have been sold in recent years.

“It was everywhere growing up,” said Grant V’s grandson, Ulysses S. Grant VI. “It was an everyday part of our life.”

Grant VI said his grandfather died Wednesday at age 90 at his home near the Springfield-area town of Battlefield, which received its name for its proximity to a Civil War clash. He had suffered a stroke previously.

Grant VI said Grant V was “proud of his heritage” and “the smartest man I ever met.” He said they had a special relationship because he was born on his grandfather’s 50th birthday.

Grant V called him Sam — a nickname the late president’s West Point classmates gave him because his initials, “U.S.,” reminded them of “Uncle Sam.” In reality, the general was actually born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but the congressman who submitted his name to West Point mixed it up. Grant adopted the new name.

His great-grandson, Grant V, followed in his great-grandfather’s footsteps, serving in World War II and Korea. He later owned an avocado-growing operation in California and designed buildings before moving to Missouri to be closer to family.

Keya Morgan, who collects Grant memorabilia and is writing a book and making a film about the general, struck up a friendship with Grant V. Morgan called his death “the end of an era.”

“He was a historian,” said Morgan, who also is serving as a spokesman for the family. “He kept his family’s history intact.”

Life magazine’s Ellis Island

09 Wednesday Mar 2011

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A friend of mine sent me these photographs of Ellis Island.  We are fortunate in that the Great European Migration to America coincided with the widespread availability of print and moving images in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  It is one thing to say that 12 million people passed through the immigration station; it is another to be able to attach a face to the story.

Until the other day I never realized that Life magazine is still the presence that it is.  At Life.com one will find over ten million photographs and free online access to every article in the Life archives up through 1972.  I think I know what I’ll be doing in my free time the rest of the winter.

Ellis Island, the musical

07 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in Ellis Island

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Hey everybody,

This past weekend in my old neighborhood of North Texas there was a showing of composer Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: the Dream of America. Since its 2002 stage debut Ellis Island has been performed in public more than one hundred times.  A combination of music and spoken word, the piece tells the immigration story as lived by seven real-life individuals who passed through the immigration station from 1910-1940.  Boyer used the invaluable transcripts of the Ellis Island Oral History Project to do his research.  The composer recorded the piece with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London in 2005 for the Naxos label.  Olympia Dukakis and Eli Wallach, among others, provided the narration.  The score was nominated for a Grammy award in 2006.

Upcoming shows are here.

How to visit a Civil War site, part 1

04 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in National Park Service

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Hey everybody,

Attendance is expected to skyrocket at Civil War museums and battlefields over the next few years.  At Gettysburg they are predicting 4 million visitors this year alone.   Almost certainly it will be higher in 2013 during the 150th anniversary of the battle.  I have been visiting Civil War battlefields across the country for almost fifteen years and thought I’d offer some advice on how to get the most out of the experience.

Rule #1:  The Visitor Center is not the destination

Pay any necessary fees at the Visitor Center.  Get a map at the Visitor Center.  Ask about the scheduled programming at the Visitor Center.  Watch the introductory film if they have one at the Visitor Center.  Look at the displays at the Visitor Center.  Cool down and get a drink at the Visitor Center.  Buy a few postcards and maybe a souvenir at the Visitor Center.  Whatever you do, don’t confuse the Visitor Center with a trip to the historic site.

Rule #2:  Take a ranger tour

A tour of the Sunken Road or the Hornet’s Nest will be that much more rewarding if you experience it under the guidance of a ranger.  If it’s solitude you want, you can always go back by yourself.

Rule #3:  Remember, it’s not a theme park

The real reward of walking a battlefield or visiting a historic building is walking in the footsteps of where history was made.  I often tell visitors at Ellis Island that if you teleported an immigrant from 1911 to the immigration station today, a century later, he would know where he is.  He would recognize New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty across the water, and the Baggage Room and Great Hall where he was processed.  It’s extraordinarily moving to stand at the top of Marye’s Heights looking down at where the Union troops tried over and over to take the hill away from Longstreet’s men.  You’re walking where great and important events happened.

Rule #4:  Be mindful

Major roads, even highways, often cut through Civil War national parks.  When approaching an intersection, on foot, on bike, or in your vehicle, be aware and look both ways.  Note, as well, that private property, even residential homes, are often located within parks.  This is because over the decades the parks acquired battle acreage a little at a time.  Eventually, in some areas, the parks came to surround private land.  Moreover, interesting sites are often found outside park bounds.  The First Shot marker, for instance, is a few miles west of Gettysburg in someone’s front yard.  It is usually okay to visit such attractions if one follows proper decorum.

Rule #5:  Don’t try to do too much

Only have one day, or even a few hours?  That’s fine.  See the one or two things that mean the most to you.  The glass is half full.  The best things about the national parks is their permanency.  You can see more on your next visit.

Coming soon, part 2