Cover Page

Current Topic

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

To guide the NPS education mission, a symposium was held in September 1997. The purpose of the symposium was to define the role of the NPS in cultural and natural history education and to make recommendations to guide NPS educational program development and funding. The symposium recommended five major actions to guide the National Park Service.

1. Increase connections between the NPS and educators.
2. Increase the skills of NPS employees and the effectiveness of programs.
3. Help build a national ethic of resource stewardship.
4. Expand the relevance of the National Park System to an increasingly diverse audience.
5. Offer better access to cultural and environmental stories and reach people who may not vist the parks.

The following projects are action items that are planned for the improvement of interpretation at the Civil War Sites and reflect the recommendations listed above.

A. Replacement of Interpretive Media
In response to concerns expressed by members of Congress regarding NPS Civil War interpretation, Harpers Ferry Center will work closely with park staffs, regional and WASO historians, and the academic community to create interpretive products and programs that will tell the entire Civil War story.

B. Shiloh Civil War Interpretive Center
Planning is now underway for a $9 million Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth, Mississippi, to be managed as a unit of Shiloh NMP. The goals for the Center are not only to interpret the history associated with the events that took place in Corinth but as one of the more significant sites of the Civil War, Corinth is an excellent location to discuss the broad themes associated with the Western Theater, the African-American experience including the Freedman Camps, as well as the broad context of the War – its causes, its outcomes and how it affects the lives of all Americans today.

C. Interpretive Concept Plan
As most Civil War sites share some common themes with other Civil War sites it would prove beneficial to create a Civil War Interpretive Concept Plan which would provide a unifying planning effort that identified overall themes, objectives and shared visitor experiences.

Abraham Lincoln

D. Civil War Symposium
As we enter the 21st century, the demands on the parks are growing, but so too are the educational opportunities. On May 8 and 9, 2000 the NPS in partnership with the National Park Foundation, is inviting hundreds of Park Service staff members and other historians and educators to a symposium at Ford’s Theater in Washington. The symposium, called “Strengthening the Interpretation of the Civil War at Battlefield Parks,” aims to bring leading scholars Abraham Lincoln together with interpreters.

E. Civil War Institute
Twenty-four Civil War battlefield interpreters will be invited to join a twoweek- long institute on interpretation in October 2000. Working with the American History Workshop of Brooklyn, N.Y., the institute will use field explorations, colloquia with scholars, designers, and educators, and collaborative projects to assist managers and rangers in building stronger interpretation of the Civil War at their parks.

F. Civil War Brochure
The Division of Publications of the NPS is committed to updating the interpretation of the Civil War and all historic events presented in its publications program. In 1993 the NPS’s Division of Publications produced the very popular map brochure Civil War at a Glance. This publication is now due for reprinting, and the reprint will be revised to discuss both the origins and social context of the Civil War.

G. Civil War Thematic Handbook
No public or private institution tells the Civil War chapter of America’s story to as many people standing on such historic ground as the NPS does. In 2009 the United States observes the sesquicentennial of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry and ushers in a six-year commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The Division of Publications proposes that the NPS capitalize on this major commemoration by publishing a handbook that showcases its major role as a keeper of the Civil War story and sites.

H. Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Partnership
The National Park Service plans to present to the American public an innovative educational presentation on the Internet, which will offer over 50 million Americans with ancestors who fought in the Civil War a direct family link through the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. Using a list of 5.4 million soldier names, this multimedia presentation on the Internet will connect soldier names with regimental histories, battle histories, and to the battlefields and specific monuments and historical markers in the parks where their regiments fought. In a private partnership with the Mormon Church, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other partners, volunteers in over 30 states have completed entering data on over 95% of the 5.4 million soldier names. The first phase of the project is already on the Internet at www.itd.nps.gov/cwss. The existing website includes over 200,000 names of soldiers in the United States Colored Troops (USCT), histories of all of their regiments, and other related historical information. These names were also provided by the NPS to the African American Civil War Memorial project and were used to list all of these names on the Memorial walls.

Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System

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