Veterans Shake Hands Across the Stone Wall on Cemetery Ridge Then & Now

Quick Facts

Location:

This photograph was taken near Hancock Avenue.

The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg was the last to host veterans of the Civil War. The theme of national unity was heavily promoted at both the 1938 and 1913 reunions—unity between the North and South and unity between friends who were once foes. In this photograph taken at the stone wall on Cemetery Ridge, a Confederate veteran can be seen greeting a Union veteran. These staged, yet moving, photos were a common occurrence at the battle anniversaries. The top of the 1st Delaware infantry monument can be seen above the heads of the Union veterans on the right of the picture.

This photograph is part of a series of Then & Now photos of The 1938 Reunion.