Pennsylvania already has announced its commemoration plans for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The celebration will highlight the Commonwealth’s paramount role through traveling exhibits, special events and a content-rich web site that will extend beyond 2015.
Convened at the request of Governor Edward G. Rendell, Pennsylvania Civil War 150 is a unified statewide alliance aimed to attract visitors to historic sites and events while enriching the experience of participants county by county.
The dynamic web site will unlock the incredible personal stories of Pennsylvania residents who fought on the battlefield or remained at home. It also will showcase the vast Civil War collections of the state’s museums and historical societies, and it will outline the state’s numerous heritage tourism attractions and trip-planning resources.
The Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show will be a traveling museum experience housed in a 53-foot tractor trailer that will bring interactive exhibits and unique programming to all 67 counties in the state beginning in 2011. The traveling exhibit will encourage residents and organizations in each locality to share their stories and artifacts from the Civil War years.
Philadelphia Museum Treasures
Since the closing of the Civil War Museum on Pine Street in Philadelphia more than a year ago, at least 3,000 artifacts have remained off limits to the public. The items include muskets, sidearms and flags carried into battles along with the actual wool uniforms and glistening swords worn by officers. They are stored in crates, bubble wrap and archival boxes, and they have been locked away at an undisclosed storage facility in the city.
With the approaching sesquicentennial, plans have been finalized to place these treasures back on display elsewhere in Philadelphia and in Gettysburg while the Civil War Museum searches for a new home.
The collection will be exhibited and cared for over the next three years at the Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia’s Independence Mall and at the African American Museum also located in Philadelphia. Some of the historic items will be included in the state’s traveling exhibit.
Richmond’s Plans
Richmond also will be on center stage during the coming anniversary. It will have the opportunity along with the obligation, according to city leaders, to tell the entire story about the events that occurred in the Virginia city during the war.
A recent forum, "The Future of Richmond's Past," drew about 160 people to the University of Richmond for the start of a series of discussions about commemorating the war. Leaders from Richmond historic and civic organizations addressed the need to develop a cohesive plan for visitors who will be drawn to the capital of the Confederacy during the anniversary. The anniversary will become a twin commemoration in Richmond that also will mark the end of slavery.
Georgia Troop Movements
In Georgia, Highway 341 in Chickamauga already has been renamed U.S. Army of the Cumberland Highway. Chickamauga City Manager and Georgia Civil War Commission Chairman John Culpepper said the highway traces the route of Union forces that marched toward the Battle of Chickamauga during 1863.
The new designation applies to a section of the highway from its intersection with Highway 193 northward to its intersection with Gordon Street in downtown Chickamauga.
“Most people don’t key in to all of the paths and the mountains the men had to march over,” said Culpepper. “They were everywhere.”
He added that naming this street, along with other designations across North Georgia and Southeast Tennessee, can help give people a better idea of troop movements.
 |
