Cover Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

Executive Summary

Interpretation of
the Civil War

Accomplishments
to Date

Review of Current Conditions

Future of Civil War Interpretation

Projected Future Work

Obstacles to Success

Addenda

A. Civil War Media Inventory
A 1999 Media Inventory of NPS-produced media in parks found 82 percent to be in the acceptable range in terms of content and condition. Unfortunately most of the media that are deemed unacceptable are high-profile items such as museum exhibits and films in parks that draw very large numbers of visitors such as Gettysburg National Military Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, and Fredericksburg National Military Park to name just a few. Current scholarship and more inclusive attitudes about U.S. history necessitate that installations and interpretations be reviewed on a regular basis. This is not easy to do with complicated projects that must be planned, installed, and maintained often over a 20-year period.

The inventory also reveals that a fair number of the media have been in place since the 1960s and 1970s. A very few date back to the 1930s. Though this survey tells us only a little about the physical state of the various media, we can assume that the appearance is dated and the condition is probably poor. Certainly the content could not be as inclusive as current standards demand.

Publications, which are not included in this Media Inventory, present a somewhat different situation. By their very nature publications are ephemeral. Each official park folder is reprinted on a yearly basis, at which time changes and corrections can be made. Of the Civil War-era parks only Monocacy National Battlefield Park and Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site do not have official folders. Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site and Tupelo National Battlefield share a joint publication that was first produced in the mid-1970s. As park interpretive programs evolve, parks can adjust folder content through the reprint process.

In summary, the replacement media prepared by Harpers Ferry Center are on the whole reflecting the needs of current standards and scholarship. The chart that follows represents a summary of the Civil War sites. While much of the media is currently up to date, those that are unacceptable are nevertheless highly visible, and may call into question the credibility of other media. These are problems that must be fixed soon.

B. Civil War Site Survey
In preparation for this report, the following survey was sent via electronic mail on December 17, 1999 to the twenty-eight National Park Service sites with significant Civil War resources and themes. The sites were requested to return their responses by January 3, 2000. Sites were asked to review their current park programs and media to evaluate the degree to which they addressed slavery as a cause of the Civil War, as well as the broader socio-economic context that precipitated the conflict. All exhibits, wayside panels, films, Internet sites, publications and public programs were reviewed and evaluated using the following response catagories: "A Great Deal," "Moderately," "Not Very Much (a mention or two)," and "Not At All."

Brief Overview of NPS Interpretation of the Causes of the Civil War Park Name: ____________________________________________ To what extent do the park's exhibits address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site's military story? To what extent do the park’s exhibits address slavery as a cause of the Civil War? To what extent do the park's waysides address the overall caouses of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site's military story? To what extent do the park's waysides address slavery as a cause of the Civil War? To what extent does the park's film and Web media addrss the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site's military story? To what extent does the park's film and Web media address slavery as a cause of the Civil War? To what extent do the park’s publications address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story? To what extent do the park’s publications address slavery as a cause of the Civil War? To what extent do the park’s personal services programs address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story? To what extent do the park’s personal services programs address slavery as a cause of the Civil War?

C. NPS Alpha Code Key
The alphabetical codes listed below are used in the following section to report the “Results of the Civil War Site Survey.”

Civil War Site Alpha Code

Andersonville NHS Antietam NB Appomattox Court House NHP Arkansas Post NM Arlington House Chickamauga & Chattanooga NMP Cumberland Gap NHP Fort Donelson NB Fort Pulaski NM Fort Scott NHS Fort Sumter NM Fort Union NM Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP Gettysburg NMP Harpers Ferry NHP Kennesaw Mountain NBP Manassas NBP Monocacy NB Natchez Trace Pkwy/Brices Crossroads NBS - Tupelo NB Pea Ridge NMP Pecos NHP Petersburg NB Richmond NBP Shiloh NMP Stones River NB Ulysses S. Grant NHS Vicksburg NMP Wilson’s Creek NB

ANDE ANTI APPO ARPO ARHO CHCH CUMB FODO FOPU FOSC FOSU FOUN FRSP GETT HAFE KEMO MANA MONO NATR PERI PECO PETE RICH SHIL STRI ULSG VICK WICR

D. Results of the Civil War Site Survey

Question #1: To what extent do the park’s exhibits address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story?

A Great Deal: HAFE, KEMO, MANA, RICH, SHIL

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park’s John Brown Museum has extensive information about how sectional tensions, particularly those involving slavery, led to the Civil War. In terms of the broader impacts of the Civil War, the “Harpers Ferry: A Place in Time” exhibit examines some of the impacts of the war on the town’s civilian population and the “Civil War Museum” considers how the war led to the creation of the state of West Virginia.

Manassas NBP
On interpreting the first major battle of the Civil War, Manassas NMP discusses the social, economic and cultural atmosphere of the times, particularly the turmoil in the northern capital, Washington, D.C. Another theme highlights the devastating impact of the battles on the economic and social fabric of the families living in the local community. Specifically, the exhibits focus on three families who were impacted by the battles: Judith Henry, the 85-year-old widow killed in the first battle; Wilmer McLean on whose land the first skirmishes started before Manassas; and James Robinson, the free African-American whose house was located on the battlefield and was used as a hospital. There are also exhibits on the role that the battlefield has played in national efforts to preserve Civil War battlefields and war sites.

Shiloh NMP
The Corinth Interpretive Center interpretive themes are listed below. They will address both the causes of the Civil War and slavery topics.

1. The Role of the Railroad in the Civil War
2. The Shiloh-Corinth Corridor
3. Earthworks and Fortifications throughout the Region
4. The African-American Experience at Corinth in the Civil War
5. Corinth as a learning Ground for Military Leaders of the Civil War
6. America Before and After the Civil War

Moderately (1-2 panels): CHCH, FOSC, FOSU, VICK

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
The timeline at Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center addresses this issue. New permanent exhibits planned for that facility would expand on this theme in much greater detail.

Vicksburg NMP
The park staff regularly develops temporary or “changing” exhibits on a variety of topics. However, the “static” permanent exhibits in the Visitor Center date from the late 1960s. They do not specifically address the causes of the Civil War and do not relate to the new expanded interpretive mandate of the park.

Not Very Much (a mention or two): ANDE, ANTI, APCO, ARPO, CUGA, FRSP, GETTY, NATR, PECO, PECOS, STRI, ULSG

Cumberland Gap NHP
The exhibits in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park’s visitor center were designed and installed in 1959. With no interactive exhibits on the Civil War, the visitors’ only option is to read the current exhibits’ excessive text, which is ethnocentric and which concentrates on military maneuvers. The exhibit cases are not up to current technology to properly preserve the exhibits’ artifacts and reproductions.

Fort Donelson NB
In answer to the second part of this question, the broader social, economic, cultural and political contexts of the park story involving post-battle (Battle of Fort Donelson), is discussed moderately, but not pre-battle.

Gettysburg NMP
Exhibits were last updated in 1988.

Stones River NB
New museum exhibits are in the initial planning phase.

Ulysses S. Grant NHS
The causes of the war are not addressed directly, but rather as an impetus for Grant’s eventual rise to fame.

Not at all: ARHO, FODO, FOPU, FOUN, MONO, PETE

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
The Arlington House Museum is quite small. It was planned primarily to address the years before R. E. Lee came to Arlington (1807 – 1830), and the period following his resignation from the U. S. Army (April 1861 – October 1870). At the outbreak of the War in 1861 R. E. Lee left Arlington and never returned. The current exhibits include very limited coverage of John Brown’s execution, the firing on Fort Sumter, a chronology of the events of April 1861, and Lee’s decision to resign from the U.S. Army.

Fort Union NM
Fort Union narrowly interprets the Battle of Glorieta Pass. No mention is made of the causes of the Civil War in our museum exhibits.

Question #2: To what extent do the park’s exhibits address slavery as a cause of the Civil War?

A Great Deal: FOSC, HAFE, KEMO, MANA, SHIL

Fort Scott NHS
The park has an excellent exhibit on the slavery issue in Kansas prior to the war that leads into the Civil War exhibits. There is good presentation on the war in the area of Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory. Exhibits are worn and need to be refurbished.

Harpers Ferry NHP
John Brown’s Raid, the Civil War, and African American history are park themes illustrated in the exhibits that address causes of the war. The park’s John Brown Museum makes a very explicit connection between slavery and the causes of the Civil War.

Kennesaw Mountain NBP
New exhibits are being planned now and will deal with the causes of the war at length.

Manassas NBP
The park has two panels in the main visitor center dealing specifically with the role of slavery as a cause of the Civil War and the constitutional debate over sovereignty.

Moderately (1-2 panels): ANDE, CHCH, FOSU, RICH,

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
A timeline at Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center addresses this issue at beginning and end. New permanent exhibits planned for that facility would expand on this theme in much greater detail.

Not very much (a mention or two): ANTI, APCO, FRSP, GETTY, PERI, ULSG

Not at all : ARHO, ARPO, CUGA, FODO, FOPU, FOUN, MONO, NATR, PECOS, PETE, STRI, VICK

Fort Pulaski NM
Considering broader issues, there is an exhibit featuring African-Americans freed by Major General David Hunter’s General Order #7: “All persons of color lately held to involuntary service by enemies of the United States in Fort Pulaski and on Cockspur Island, Georgia, are hereby confiscated and declared free, in conformity with the law, and shall hereafter receive the fruits of their own labor.”

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Slavery as a cause of the war is not addressed. The museum exhibits do include coverage of several enslaved families who lived on the Custis estate, as well as an 1858 inventory of the Arlington slaves. A section of one of the original slave quarters is maintained as a period room exhibit; its furnishings address the living conditions of Mrs. Lee’s personal maid Selina Gray.

Vicksburg NMP
The exhibits do not address slavery as a “cause” of the Civil War. The only exhibits to be installed in the park in the last 30 years are the informational waysides at Grant’s Canal. Donated funding was used to construct these exhibits which identify the military actions of United States Colored Troops in Louisiana and the use of slaves from nearby plantations in the construction of the Williams’ and Grant’s Canal.

Question #3: To what extent do the park’s waysides address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story?

A Great Deal: MANA

Moderately (1-2 panels): FRSP

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP
Wayside exhibits are site specific and do not lend themselves to addressing broader issues. The park waysides do, however, speak frequently to civilian participation and impacts of the war.

Not Very much (a mention or two): APCO, ARPO, CHCH, CUGA, FOSC, FOSU, GETT, HAFE, KEMO, NATR, PERI, SHIL, STRI

Arkansas Post NM
The importance of the river for navigational purposes is addressed.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
Current waysides emphasize details of the battles, not overall causes and related issues.

Cumberland Gap NHP
Waysides were produced in 1986 to interpret the Civil War fortifications in the park. Three of the waysides, entitled “An American Gibraltar,” “Invasion of the Gap,” and “Defense of the Gap,” focus on military movements. The fourth wayside, “Waiting For the Battle That Never Came,” shares with visitors the personal story of one soldier who was stationed at the Gap.

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park has 95 waysides. Approximately 25% involve the Civil War. The large number of waysides involved makes it difficult to generalize about their content, but a brief review suggests that most deal with the military aspects of the engagements in the Harpers Ferry area and not with the overall causes of the war.

Stones River NB
Waysides are outdated and funding has been secured to begin planning for new exhibits.

Not at all: ANDE, ANTI, ARHO,FODO, FOPU, FOUN, MONO, PECO, PETE, RICH, ULSG, VICK

Antietam NB
The park currently has no wayside exhibits that interpret the overall causes of the American Civil War. This deficiency is being corrected by developing a new wayside panel on the causes of the war.

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
There are seven waysides. Three are orientation maps. One addresses the U.S. Army occupation of Arlington House during the Civil War. The causes of the war are not mentioned. A Matthew Brady photograph occupies most of this wayside.

Question #4: To what extent do the park’s waysides address slavery as a cause of the Civil War?

A Great Deal: NONE

Moderately (1-2 panels): HAFE, SHIL

Harpers Ferry NHP
Most park waysides do not make a direct link between slavery and the Civil War, but include text concerning aspects of African-American history that relate to the war. These would include introductory panels at the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center that discuss the park’s African-American history theme and a wayside about Heyward Shepherd who became an inadvertent victim of John Brown’s raid to free the slaves. There is also another panel about Brown’s raid and capture in the armory engine house, and a panel about the establishment of Storer College in 1867 as an institution of higher learning for freed slaves.

Not Very much (a mention or two): APCO, CHCH, FOSC, FOSU, FRSP, GETTY, KEMO, PERI, STRI

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
One wayside deals briefly with the life of a former slave from the local area who was well known in the early days of the park’s existence. No current waysides address the issue of slavery and the war.

Fort Scott NHS
There are 2 waysides on the slavery issue in Kansas prior to the War with no mention of the War.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP
Wayside exhibits here and at other battlefields are site oriented and not issue oriented. We do interpret ante-bellum and African-American history sites through wayside exhibits on a limited basis.

Not at all: ANDE, ANTI, ARHO, ARPO, CUGA, FODO, FOPU, FOUN, MANA, MONO, NATR, PECO, PETE, RICH, ULSG, VICK

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
One wayside touches on the topic of slavery through a description of the agricultural work conducted by the slaves at Arlington House prior to the Civil War. The exhibit panel uses the Lee family’s period household terminology of “servants” when describing slave labor, without the use of quotes indicating period terminology. This needs to be addressed. Visitors can easily misconstrue that paid laborers not enslaved persons performed the work at Arlington. An improved exhibit text is required.

Vicksburg NMP
Wayside exhibits do not address slavery as a “cause” of the Civil War. A request for funding for an African-American Study has been prepared.

Question #5: To what extent does the park’s film and Web media address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story?

A Great Deal: GETTY, KEMO, SHIL

Gettysburg NMP
A film produced for the park by the Civil War Trust and Greystone Productions (The History Channel with historical consultant James McPherson) called the “American Civil War” does an excellent job of explaining the causes of the American Civil War (including slavery) and it is shown every hour, every day.

Shiloh NMP
The new park film will address these issues in setting the stage for the rest of interpretive experience.

Moderately: ANTI, CHCH, FOPU, HAFE, MANA, RICH

Antietam NB
Once research is completed for the wayside panel the additional information will be used for the creation of web pages which address causes of the Civil War. The film does provide some context and certainly focuses on Lincoln’s political position in this early part of the war.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
The multi-media orientation production at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center addresses causes of the war and the significance of the battle. The park’s web site does not provide detail on context and broader issues.

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park has video programs in several exhibits. In particular, the videos in the John Brown Museum talk about the causes of the Civil War with a specific focus on the role of slavery. The park also has a web site that has won awards from the National Association of Interpretation and the Conference of National Park Cooperating Associations. The web site does examine the consequences of the war that extend beyond the military arena. For example, the section of the site that describes the park’s Civil War themes does discuss the way that the war impacted the local civilian population and how the local economy was wrecked by the conflict. However, specific information addressing non-military causes (as opposed to consequences) of the war is somewhat limited.

Fort Pulaski NM
The park web site assesses causes but the park film does not.

Manassas NBP
The slide program begins with the political situation in Washington at the start of the war. A new film script will correct deficiencies. The park web site deals with a number of broader issues with letters from soldiers describing the political motivations for joining the armies, and separate essays dealing with medical treatments and disease as the major killer of Civil War soldiers.

Not Very much (a mention or two): ANDE, APCO, ARHO, ARPO, CUGA, FOSC, FRSP, NATR, STRI, ULSG

Arkansas Post NM
The Civil War is covered briefly, with little outward relation other than it was part of the Vicksburg Campaign. Currently, Arkansas Post NM is in the process of creating a new film. An expanded web site, that will interpret the site’s history in stages, is also in progress and should be available to the public early in 2000.

Arlington House

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
The park’s introductory film was developed in 1980 for the longstanding (1974-1999) curriculum-based elementary grade “Everyday Life Program”. This program was cooperatively developed with Social studies specialists recommended a film of no more than a half an hour in length. Consequently, the film briefly discusses slavery as an issue and only in the most limited terms of how the “sectional crisis” and the issue of slavery resulted in a war that would change Arlington and the lives of those who lived there forever. The film also addresses Lee’s contributions after the war and why he is honored. The site’s web page discusses life at Arlington prior to the war, Virginia’s secession from the Union, and Lee’s decision to resign his commission in the U.S. Army in April 1861. Causes of the war are not mentioned.

Fort Scott NHS
There is a section on the park website on the First Kansas Volunteer Infantry.

Stones River NB
New exhibit planning will include a new audio-visual program.

Ulysses S. Grant NHS
The causes of the war are not addressed directly, but rather as an impetus for Grant’s eventual rise to fame. Civil War videos are shown periodically which do discuss the causes of the war in a limited manner.

Not at all: FODO, FOUN, MONO, PETE, VICK

Fort Donelson NB
Web media is currently in the update stage and all interpretive features and attributes of the battle have not been developed. The park’s film is an old product.

Fort Sumter NM
The park has a short computer-driven program that deals with construction and military developments. The park web site contains a site bulletin on the 54 th Mass. Regiment and Battery Wagner, one of the first sites that saw African-American troops in the war.

Vicksburg NMP
The park’s orientation film at the visitor center was produced in the late 1960s and has been shown to millions of visitors since the facility opened 30 years ago. The film is in dire need of revision and upgrade, not only to address the park’s expanded interpretive mandate (1990), but to present important historical information using modern technologies including video, onscreen maps, charts and diagrams, which are the most conducive to public orientation, education and enjoyment. A request has been prepared to obtain a replacement video.

Question #6: To what extent does the park film and Web media address slavery as a cause of the Civil War?

A Great Deal: GETTY, HAFE, KEMO, SHIL

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park’s web site mentions that 10% of the local population was AfricanAmerican prior to the Civil War, half free and half enslaved. The discussion of John Brown’s raid on the web page speaks specifically about how the raid focused the nation on the moral dilemma of slavery. There is further discussion about how the debate over slavery was one of the prime causes of the Civil War.

Shiloh NMP
This will be an important aspect of the new interpretive program because Corinth was one of the few NPS sites that include a Freedman’s Camp in its history.

Moderately: ANTI, CHCH, FOPU

Antietam NB
The park film and web site has details on the Emancipation Proclamation. The web links to a facsimile of the document.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
The multi-media orientation production at Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center addresses slavery as a cause of the war. The park’s web site does not address this issue.

Fort Pulaski NM
The park web site http://www.nps.gov/fopu/local/civilwar.htm does an excellent job assessing slaveryas a cause of the war but the park film does not.

Not Very much (a mention or two): APCO, ARHO, FOSC, FRSP, MANA, PERI, RICH, STRI, ULSG

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
The web site does not directly address slavery as a cause of the war, but does briefly mention Lee’s opposition to the institution of slavery as one of the complexities of his decision to resign from the U.S. Army in 1861. There is great potential for expanding the coverage of slavery at Arlington because of the related number of photographs of Arlington slaves, articles, letters, etc. in the site’s archives. The site is very interested in expanding the web page. Our ability to expand is severely limited by staffing.

Manassas NBP
The new film script and web page will correct deficiencies.

Not at all: ANDE, ARPO, CUGA, FODO, FOSU, FOUN, MONO, NATR, PECO, PETE, VICK

Natchez Trace Parkway
The Natchez Trace has developed, to be implemented by June, 2000, a link to their main web page featuring “African Americans in Battle.” This link will identify engagement information of soldiers of color for both Brices Cross Roads NB and Tupelo NB, while offering a full roster of all regiments who were participatory in the engagements. Additions to their main page will include slavery, and will address issues surrounding the war.

Fort Sumter NM
A new site bulletin is being developed and will be put on the web site describing the African-American role in the war.

Question #7: To what extent do the park’s publications address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story?

A Great Deal: FODO, FRSP, KEMO, SHIL

Fort Donelson NB
The park brochure does not cover the overall causes but the bookstore offers a great variety of books on the causes of the war and slavery as a cause.

Kennesaw Mountain NBP
Thanks to recent scholarship, there are now more and better publications about the causes and in the case of the Atlanta Campaign, Lincoln’s reelection in 1864 following the capture of Atlanta.

Shiloh NMP
The park’s bookstore currently has one of the largest collections of books for sale addressing all aspects of the Civil War. It is anticipated that the bookstore at the Corinth Interpretive Center will offer at least the same range of publications.

Moderately: ANDE, CUGA, FOPU, HAFE, PETE

Cumberland Gap NHP
The handout “Waiting for the Battle That Never Came” provides a balanced view of personal lives being touched by military tactics. Our sales area also includes a good collection of books, videos, tapes and other educational materials that address the full story of the Civil War.

Fort Pulaski NM
A recently drafted handout addresses the causes of the war.

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park brochure and the John Brown site bulletin all talk about causes of the war, but focus primarily on the role of slavery and abolitionism. The majority of the park’s research reports on the Civil War are internal documents that largely concern the military campaigns that took place in the Harpers Ferry area. However, the park’s bookstore operated by the Harpers Ferry Historical Association offers an extensive range of publications that examine all aspects of the overall causes of the Civil War.

Not Very Much (a mention or two): APCO, ANTI, ARHO, ARPO, CHCH, FOSC, FOSU, GETTY, MANA, NATR, PECO, RICH, STRI, ULSG

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
The park publications make a few indirect references to the causes of the war. Topics include limited coverage of John Brown’s capture, the work of the abolitionists, tensions concerning slavery in the ante-bellum period, and the fight to preserve the Union.

Manassas NBP
The park sales area has a broad range of offerings and publications targeting this subject area, and is continuously expanding the sources available that focusing on broader themes.

Stones River NB
The park has two free park publications. The park folder does not address context. The site bulletin does address social context. There is a wide range of publications that deal with causes of the Civil War including slavery in the park bookstore.

Not at all: FOUN, MONO, VICK

Question #8: To what extent do the park’s publications address slavery as a cause of the Civil War?

A Great Deal: FODO, FRSP, HAFE, KEMO, MANA, SHIL

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park’s publication on John Brown’s Raid, the John Brown site bulletin, and the park’s brochure are good examples that address slavery.

Kennesaw Mountain NBP
Thanks to recent scholarship and interest in the slavery issue there are more and better titles available than ever before.

Manassas NBP
The park brochure mentions very little about slavery as a cause of the war. In the our sales outlet there are a number of titles dealing with slavery and the war, African-American soldiers in the war, and the Underground Railroad.

Moderately: ANDE, FOPU, FOSU, VICK

Fort Pulaski NM
A park handout titled “From Slave to Soldier” addresses slavery as a cause of the war. While other handouts address the impact of Major General David Hunter’s General Order #7 which freed area slaves who later formed the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, among the earliest African-American units to exist in the United States Army.

Fort Sumter NM
A site bulletin describes the Battery Wagner Assault and the role of 54 th Mass. Regiment. The bookstore sells numerous publications with slavery as the major cause of the Civil War as the theme. A request will be made to change the official brochure at its next reprinting to incorporate the causes of war.

Vicksburg NMP
The park utilizes commercial publications sold through its cooperating association, Eastern National.

Not Very Much (a mention or two): ANTI, APCO, ARHO, ARPO, CHCH, FOSC, GETTY, RICH, ULSG

Arkansas Post NM
Most of the published works available do touch on the topic of slavery. Very few delve into the socio-political, economic, and causation of the site in relation to the Civil War and its relation to slavery.

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Limited mention can be found in the official handbook. This publication addresses the tensions that existed between North and South over the issue of slavery, the work of the abolitionists, and John Brown’s execution. The handbook states “the war began as one to restore the Union, though slavery was an underlying issue.” The handbook often employs the term used by the Lee family to describe the slaves as “servants” – without any reference to this term as period usage – this can be very misleading. A site in-house produced brochure on slavery at Arlington addresses the experiences of the Arlington slaves, but does not discuss slavery as a cause of the war.

Ulysses S. Grant NHS
Slavery is contextually important at the park, since it was a slave site, but it is touched upon only briefly as a cause for the war.

Not at all: CUGA, FOUN, MONO, NATR, PETE, STRI

Cumberland Gap NHP
Though our in-house publications do not mention the Civil War, our sales area includes publications that provide a view into slavery and its impacts on the Civil War.

Question #9: To what extent do the park’s personal services programs address the overall causes of the Civil War and the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of your site’s military story?

A Great Deal: ARPO, FOSU, GETTY, HAFE, KEMO, NATR,

Arkansas Post NM
Missing gaps in the story are made up through programs, demonstrations, and lectures. Park staff is working independently to write adequate socialbased histories that will address the need to include missing material.

Fort Sumter NM
Interpretive services and informal talks always mention the economic factors of slavery, the south and the politics of the era.

Gettysburg NMP
The park offered a great variety of personal services programs this past summer that discussed the battle context and slavery issues. “National Cemetery” is a guided walk that explores the meaning and cost of the Battle of Gettysburg and of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. “The Civil War Soldier” deals with why 160,000 soldiers participated in the Battle of Gettysburg. “The Hard Hand of War” discusses how the American Civil War affected more than just the soldiers on the battlefield did. “A Visit to the Past” steps back in time with costumed interpreters who portray men and women who witnessed and participated in the events of 1863 at Gettysburg. In “Join the Army” children ages 7-12 become involved in the life and hardships of the common Civil War soldier. During evening campfire programs Rangers present programs on a wide variety of topics on the Battle of Gettysburg and the American Civil War. The primary focus of one program is the role of the United States Colored Troops in securing Union victory.

Harpers Ferry NHP
The park’s personal services programs provide considerable information about the overall causes of the Civil War. The program that introduces the park’s Election Day 1860 event is among the best of several possible examples. In order to set the stage for the hotly contested election of 1860, a park ranger provides an introduction that offers a comprehensive overview of the onset of the war. Issues mentioned include the debate over free labor vs. slave labor, the controversy over the possible spread of slavery into the Western territories, and the rising tension over the industrial north vs. the rural south.

Kennesaw Mountain NBP
Each tour deals with the causes of the war and the impacts of those causes.

Moderately: ANDE, ANTI, CHCH, CUGA, FOPU, MANA, STRI, VICK, ULSG

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
Causes and issues are addressed in the introductory segments of many conducted programs. Staff is trained and competent in addressing causes and issues in one-on-one contacts in the field and at contact stations.

Cumberland Gap NHP
The programs “Bugle Call at the Gap” and “Soldier’s Walk” include the maneuvering of the politicians and armies, but more importantly, these programs chronicle the courage, endurance and everyday struggles of all who were affected by the Civil War. Harsh realities of the war are brought to life and visitors are introduced to patriotism, slavery, perseverance, loss, sacrifice, mourning, the war effort and ultimately, celebrating the end of the conflict.

Manassas NBP
On walking tours our interpreters are instructed to first provide the big picture context for the story to be told. For talks on the first battle, this includes information on the political situation in Washington and Richmond and a comparison of the two armies vis-a-vis the cultural and economic backgrounds of both sides. In the past few years, we have developed a number of specialized tours that focus on the relationships between the local community and soldiers on both sides.

Stones River NB
The park offers talks and walks that deal with the social context and women in the war.

Ulysses S. Grant NHS
Although site themes center upon Grant’s personal character, the role of his wife and family, and the White Haven farm as a home, the causes of the war are interwoven into Grant’s experiences living here. As such, they are a pertinent part of many programs.

Not Very much (a mention or two): APCO, ARHO, FODO, FOSC, FRSP, MONO, NATR, PECO, PERI, PETE, SHIL, RICH

Not at all: FOUN, NATR, SHIL

Question #10: To what extent do the park’s personal services programs address slavery as a cause of the civil war?

A Great Deal: ARPO, FOSU, GETTY, KEMO

Arkansas Post NM
The primary interpretive material regarding slavery as a cause for the Civil War is presented in the form of interpretive programs and lectures.

Gettysburg NMP
The park has a series of visiting scholar lectures lined up for this spring/ summer that will be presented to the general public in our Cyclorama auditorium. These programs will include:

1. Underground Railroad and Abolitionists in Pennsylvania.
2. African-American Women in Pennsylvania During the Civil War.
3. The Gettysburg Contradiction – (Commemoration and Marketing Gettysburg).
4. “So Far From Home” Pennsylvania Soldiers in the Civil War (why they fought and how it impacted them and their families forever after)
5. Stories From the Underground Railroad.
6. For God and Country (how religion shaped American’s views of the war – men and women, slave and free).

Harpers Ferry NHP
Because of the park’s specific connection with John Brown’s efforts to liberate the slaves and how his attempt to do this helped to usher in the Civil War, the connection between slavery and the war is very clearly made in the park’s personal services programs. Most notable among numerous possible examples is the ranger-led “John Brown Raid” tour.

Kennesaw Mountain NBP
The recent interest in this issue and the new documentation available allow park interpreters to discuss this issue with much better information than ever before.

Moderately: ANDE, ANTI, ARHO, CHCH, CUGA, FOPU, MANA, ULSG

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
Slavery as well as states rights issues are addressed in the introductory segments of many conducted programs. Staff is trained and competent in addressing slavery in one-on-one contacts in the field and at contact stations.

Not Very much (a mention or two): APCO, FODO, FRSP, MONO, PECO, PERI, PETE, RICH, SHIL, VICK

Fort Donelson NB
Site specific research and interpretive programs concern the “freedmen” of the post battle. Broader social context of military actions are relevant in talks, tours, walks, off-sites, brochure, Dover Hotel contacts, exhibits, and AV program. Subject presentations include (i.e. military tactics, leaders, weapons, freedman camps, fortifications, medical corps, military staff rides, period encampments, common soldier, civilians, artillery, women of the 1862 period.)

Pecos NHS
Many of the staff guided tours of the battlefield tell a story about how the Confederate troops try to take control of the gold fields of Colorado and California to fund the Confederate forces during the Civil War, and should they be successful, to fund a new country. There are no discussions regarding slavery as the primary cause of the Confederacy expanding to the West. There is reference to the precursory event of the Mexican-American War as linked to the Texas Confederacy and the treaty that established the boundaries of the state of Mexico and set aside the slave-free New Mexico Territory.

Vicksburg NMP
The staff is trained to respond to questions, but seldom is a request made in regards to slavery. The vast majority of visitor questions focus on the fact that their ancestors fought or died at Vicksburg. The park is hallowed ground to many individuals. It has a deep personal meaning because they can retrace the footsteps of their ancestors and understand the hardships they endured.

Not at all: FOUN, NATR, SHIL

Peach Orchard, Shiloh NMP

E. Current Program Examples

Andersonville NHS
The park has many interpretive programs & exhibits dealing directly with African Americans (and other minorities) and the prisoner of war experience but not very much dealing with slavery as a cause of the Civil War.

Antietam NB
The story of the Emancipation Proclamation and slavery as a cause of the Civil War concludes most of our interpretive programs. The subject is woven through the fabric of our battlefield tours, orientations and aftermath of battle talks. “Slave or Soldier” is our only program that focuses exclusively on slavery. This program is offered almost every week during the spring, summer and fall. The program explores the changing views of African-Americans in both North and South and how African Americans participated in the Civil War.

Appomattox Court House NHP
As part of the park’s Historic Furnishings Plan, the slave cabin directly behind the McLean House will contain exhibitry that interprets the life/conditions for a typical enslaved person at Appomattox in 1865. It will identify slavery as a cause of the War and will also reflect on Reconstruction and its impact upon the freed African-Americans.

Arkansas Post NM
Interpretive programs strongly address both causation/slavery and context. Living history demonstrations, skits, on-site tours/talks, lectures, and formal conference/interpretive programs address these concerns.

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
The park provides several experiences through media and personnel services that deal with slavery and the causes of the Civil War. They include: day-today station interpretation in the house; stationing an interpreter in the slave quarters (as staffing allows); the “Slavery at Arlington” brochure; a travelling exhibit on the Arlington Slaves developed for off-site programs; the CRM article “The Remarkable Legacy of Selina Gray” (an Arlington slave); the “Election of 1860” Program; and “Lee’s Resignation” Candlelight Program.”

Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP
The park developed a new interpretive thematic framework in late 1998 with the assistance of staff from the Southeast Regional Office. The new framework includes slavery and causes/context of the park’s military history. The park is currently involved in a major exhibit planning and production project working with the Harpers Ferry Center. When completed, this project will address the thematic issues through new exhibits installed at the park’s two visitor centers, the historic Cravens Houses, and the Ochs Museum.

Cumberland Gap NHP
The park is developing three major events for the year 2000. “Cumberland Gap’s Encampment of the Severed Union,” scheduled for April 29 –30, will focus on the turmoil of the men, women and children who lived through and endured “The War Between the States” – a conflict that severed unions – both political and personal. A ceremony will also recognize all the soldiers who served at the Gap and their descendants. Kitty Wilson Evans will be a featured speaker at the park’s Colonial Trade Faire, September 29 – October 1. Ms. Evans’ dynamic portrayal of an enslaved woman traveling through the Cumberland Gap will certainly be a highlight of this event.

Fort Donelson NB
Broader social context of military actions are relevant in talks, tours, walks, off-sites, brochure, exhibits, and AV program. Subject presentations include: military tactics, leaders, weapons, freedman camps, fortifications, medical corps, military staff rides, period encampments, common soldier, civilians, artillery, women of the 1862 period. Interpretive efforts seek to use tangible attributes of the area to connect with the more illusive intangibles associated with Civil War history.

Fort Sumter NM
Current tours and interpretive programs place an emphasis on slavery as an underlying cause of the economic, political and social motives for secession and war. The park bookstore offers many current volumes of scholarship on the broad picture of the Civil War and slavery’s role in the conflict.

Fort Union NM
There is an opportunity here at Fort Union to interpret the events that shaped and still shape this nation from not only a “western” point of view but also that of the Hispanic population of the new American Southwest. The Southwest had been invaded and captured only 15 years earlier. Why did so many Native New Mexicans (and others) enlist for the Federal cause, but also for the Southern cause in lesser numbers? Did they know about the broader implications of this war and the “peculiar institution” of slavery that was creating a larger and larger rift in the eastern states?

Harpers Ferry NHS
All tours and educational programs make some reference to the causes of the war, slavery, or the condition of African-Americans. Exhibits like the John Brown Museum, the Civil War Museum, “Black Voices”, and “Harpers Ferry: A Place in Time” all discuss slavery as a cause of the war. The same is true for the park’s Industry Tours and special events. Many of the park’s special events, such as Election Day 1860, use handouts that specifically identify slavery as the main cause of the war. This event highlights the way that sectional issues revolving around slavery played a major role in the presidential race that led to Lincoln’s election and the succession of the South from the Union.

Kennesaw Mountain NBP
On the Threshold of Freedom; Masters and Slaves in Civil War Georgia, is a new publication by Dr. Mohr, that gives information that has never been available before, and Up from Slavery, by Booker T. Washington is an example of a very good work that has been available for some time. On tours, specific examples are given about the slave experience in military terms and as field hands on plantations. One family living on what is now the park owned 600 acres and had several slaves. All were impacted heavily by the military action around their home. Currently, our web site does not deal with these two issues however, we have plans to update it, expanding the interpretive content and not just providing directions and park regulations.

Manassas NBP
The park has two exhibit panels in the main visitor center entitled, “The Institution of Slavery” and “The Unresolved Question of Slavery.” One of our major stories, told in exhibits, on a wayside, and in park publications, concerns the free black man James Robinson and his family who lived on the battlefield and whose property suffered damage from the fighting. Extensive archeology has been conducted in the park documenting the African-American story at Manassas. The regional archeology office has developed a web site that focuses on the wealth of information that has been gleaned from several excavation sites throughout the park. The park offers a broad range of publications for sale at the park visitor centers that discus the above subjects in depth. For example, we offer the public, Slavery and the American West, by Michael Morrison, and Many Thousands Gone, The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America, by Ira Berlin.

Natchez Trace Parkway (Brices Crossroads NBS and Tupelo NB)
The Park has recently developed a link to the main page on African Americans and their role in the Civil War. This includes engagement information, daily life and general Civil War issues. Future media to be developed includes and addresses the role of slavery on the Trace, including but not limited to the Civil War. Other aspects will include transportation, slave communities, and daily life. Additional media, which includes brochures, one-page flyers, and rack cards, will address slavery and its role along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Programs relating to slavery and the role of African-Americans are not yet being frequently requested. As the public becomes more aware of the topic locally and nationally, it will certainly be a more requested program. The park is proud to be ahead of the curve and have incorporated much of what was addressed in the survey into our draft Comprehensive Interpretive Plan, which will be completed this fiscal year.

Shiloh NMP
The park’s 1894 enabling legislation establishes on-site preservation of the history of the Battle of Shiloh as the primary purpose of the park. Primarily due to the park’s relative isolation, Shiloh visitors historically arrive much better prepared and more knowledgeable on the subject of the Civil War then the more casual visitation touring other NPS Civil War sites. The park folder, Visitor Center exhibits, and orientation film each begin interpretation of the battle story with an explanation of the events immediately preceding “Bloody Shiloh” (i.e., from the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson onward). Park wayside exhibits cover site-specific events occurring April 6 th or 7 th , 1862; or note and interpret post-war commemorative activities. The cooperating association bookstore carries an inventory of over 1000 titles which covers the broader social, economic, cultural and political context of the battle, the western campaigns of 1861-1865, as well as the causes and consequences of Civil War in America. The primary emphasis of the personal services program is to address individual visitor questions, most commonly dealing with battle activities and resources, or the role of a particular soldier or unit. In addition, park rangers present talks, walks, and demonstrations on a variety of site-specific resource themes and stories, and provide guided tours of the battlefield.

Ulysses S. Grant NHS
The political differences that were prevalent in antebellum Missouri form an insightful backdrop for much of Grant’s story as interpreted at the site. Many visitors are surprised to learn that Grant lived on a slaveholding farm with his in-laws. This often leads to an excellent opportunity to discuss Grant’s own beliefs, as well as his related policy as a military leader and later as President.

Vicksburg NMP
To present a comprehensive interpretation of the complexity of the Civil War within its staffing and budgetary constraints, Vicksburg National Military Park produces rotating exhibits on the broader social, economic, cultural, and political context of the war— its causes and aftermath. Some examples include “Financing the War,” the history and role of such organizations as the Grand Army of the Republic, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, United Confederate Veterans, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and commemorative efforts that led to the establishment of Vicksburg National Military Park. The park has also produced in conjunction with “The Vicksburg Post” an annual publication entitled “Siege” that features articles on an array of topics associated with the Civil War and the history of Vicksburg National Military Park. Many of the articles produced deal with United States Colored Troops, and the social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of the war and its aftermath.

In working to meet the park’s expanded interpretive mandate, a new park brochure was designed and produced that addresses the role of Blacks in the history of Vicksburg under Union occupation through Reconstruction. The park has also produced three wayside exhibit panels, placed at its Grant’s Canal Unit, that highlight the role of African-Americans and AfricanAmerican troops in the Vicksburg campaign and has secured a replacement tablet for one removed in 1942 during the metal drive for World War II that honors the U.S. Colored Troops who fought in the Battle of Milliken’s Bend. Exhibits on the Underground Railroad and the Freedman’s Bureau are planned for future display.

The park is working with the Office of the Mayor and Board of Alderman of Vicksburg and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to design and place a monument in Vicksburg National Cemetery honoring the United States Colored Troops who served in the Vicksburg area during Union occupation and Reconstruction. A headstone replacement program is also underway in the national cemetery to place new headstones on approximately 18,000 graves, 40% of which marked the final resting place of United States Colored Troops, that will provide corrected and expanded information on the servicemen interred in Vicksburg National Cemetery. In addition, park staff seeks to produce a walking tour brochure on the national cemetery that will, in part, tell the story of the United States Colored Troops and other African-American soldiers interred in Vicksburg National Cemetery.

A series of driving tour brochures on other battlefields associated with the Vicksburg campaign have been produced and one highlighting the military operations in northeast Louisiana, in which United States Colored Troops fought, is being produced. Campaign guides are also being produced that will highlight the role of United States Colored Troops in the Vicksburg campaign and during Union occupation of Vicksburg through Reconstruction. At present, more than 20 titles of scholarly publications on slavery and the role of African-Americans in the Civil War, some of which are designed specifically for children, are offered for sale through Eastern National. Additional titles on African-American Troops and African-Americans are being reviewed and evaluated for sale.

Stone Bridge, Manassas NBP

F. Civil War Site Staffing
The National Park Service manages 28 parks relating to the Civil War. These include not only battlefields, but also places such as the Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, the home of Ulysses S. Grant in St. Louis, and Fort Circle in Washington, DC. Of those parks, twenty-two have historians. Seven of them have more than one historian (Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, Gettysburg, National Capital Parks, Petersburg, Shiloh, Ulysses S. Grant, and Wilson’s Creek). Of the total of thirty-seven historians at these parks, twenty-three have graduate degrees (62%) while fourteen (38%) have bachelors degrees. Those parks without an officially designated historian are Andersonville NHS, Fort Donelson NHS, Fort Union NM, Pea Ridge NMP, Pecos NHP, and Stones River NB.

Gettysburg NMP

In the 1999 Servicewide Interpretive Report, Civil War sites reported a visitation of 11,220,084. Attendance by visitors to visitor centers was 5,833,232. These parks collectively have 163 fulltime positions and 129 part-time positions. In addition, 8,338 volunteers also provide visitor services in the parks. A large park like Gettysburg NMP reported 18 fulltime permanent interpretive positions whereas Shiloh NMP reported a permanent full-time interpretive staff of 4.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/ICWS/icws_review.htm