Frederick Douglass reenactment by Darius Wallace on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 1 p.m. at the Historic Lehigh County Courthouse at 501 W. Hamilton St in Allentown
Lehigh County Historical Society will host a reenactment of the Abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ historic visit to Allentown in 1870. Douglass delivered an oration at the historic Lehigh County Courthouse to a packed audience of 500+. We will commemorate that event with an hour-long oration of Douglass speeches by a leading Douglass scholar and reenactor.
Parking will be available at the Lehigh County Prison Lot, on the street, and at the public parking garages.
FREE to the public
Special Veterans Appreciation Day at Gettysburg on Nov 11
Nov. 11, 2025
Gettysburg, Pa. (Oct. 23, 2025)—The Gettysburg Foundation announces a special Veterans Appreciation Day at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center on Veterans Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. U.S. military veterans are invited to enjoy free admission to the Film, Cyclorama & Museum Experience to honor their service. Veterans should present proof of military service to receive free admission and are encouraged to arrive early (last show of the day begins at 4:15 p.m.)
Visitors will begin with a screening of A New Birth of Freedom, followed by the dramatic light-and-sound presentation of the Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama painting of Pickett’s Charge. Guests can then explore the 12-gallery Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War at their leisure throughout the day. Veterans are also invited to view free of charge the temporary exhibit A Rough Coarse Life: The World of the Civil War Soldier in the Gilder Lehrman Institute Special Exhibits Gallery. Featuring artifacts, documents and artwork—many connected to Gettysburg—the exhibit offers an intimate look at the experiences, struggles and memories of soldiers during the American Civil War, complementing the museum’s permanent galleries.
Veterans, their families and guests are also welcome to visit the Friends Desk inside the Museum & Visitor Center to learn about Friends of Gettysburg memberships, volunteer opportunities and the Gettysburg Foundation’s ongoing work to preserve history and educate the public in partnership with the National Parks at Gettysburg.
“As we honor Veterans Day, we are deeply grateful for the courage, dedication and sacrifices of our nation’s veterans,” said Jackie Spainhour, President and CEO of the Gettysburg Foundation. “This special day offers veterans and their families an opportunity to connect with history, reflect on the legacy of those who served in the past and experience the stories that make Gettysburg a place of remembrance and learning for all.”
As always, active-duty U.S. military service members receive free admission to the Film, Cyclorama & Museum Experience.
Celebrate Veterans Day with us and honor the service and sacrifice of those who have served our country.
Stone wall damaged at Devil's Den parking area
In an October 15th post on its facebook page, The Gettysburg Foundation noted that sometime on Tuesday, October 14, one of the stone walls at Devil's Den was toppled over.
Remember that we are all stewards of National Park Service sites! Our priority is the safety of our visitors, as well as the protection of our National Parks.
Think like the cavalry and be the eyes and ears for the National Park Service during the government shutdown.
If you see something, say something, and dial the Adams County non-emergency line at 717-334-8101. If there is an emergency, dial 911.
Free Zoom Program Sun, Nov 2 at 1pm - “Last Seen: Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Family”
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G.A.R.) CIVIL WAR MUSEUM & ARCHIVE
Presents a Free Zoom Program
Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
“Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Family”
By Judith Giesberg
Drawing from an archive of nearly five thousand letters and advertisements, the riveting, dramatic story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family members stolen away during slavery.
Of all the many horrors of slavery, the cruelest was the separation of families in slave auctions. Spouses and siblings were sold away from one other. Young children were separated from their mothers. Fathers were sent down river and never saw their families again.
As soon as slavery ended in 1865, family members began to search for one another, in some cases persisting until as late as the 1920s. They took out “information wanted” advertisements in newspapers and sent letters to the editor. Pastors in churches across the country read these advertisements from the pulpit, expanding the search to those who had never learned to read or who did not have access to newspapers. These documents demonstrate that even as most white Americans—and even some younger Black Americans, too—wanted to put slavery in the past, many former slaves, members of the “Freedom Generation,” continued for years, and even decades, to search for one another. These letters and advertisements are testaments to formerly enslaved people’s enduring love for the families they lost in slavery, yet they spent many years buried in the storage of local historical societies or on microfilm reels that time forgot.
Judith Giesberg draws on the archive that she founded—containing almost five thousand letters and advertisements placed by members of the Freedom Generation—to compile these stories in a narrative form for the first time. Her in-depth research turned up additional information about the writers, their families, and their enslavers. With this critical context, she recounts the moving stories of the people who placed the advertisements, the loved ones they tried to find, and the outcome of their quests to reunite.
This story underscores the cruelest horror of slavery—the forced breakup of families—and the resilience and determination of the formerly enslaved. Thoughtful, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, Last Seen finally gives this lesser-known aspect of slavery the attention it deserves.
Judith Giesberg holds the Robert M. Birmingham Chair in the Humanities and is Professor of History at Villanova University. Giesberg is author of Civil War Sisterhood: The United States Sanitary Commission and Women's Politics in Transition (2000),“Army at Home:” Women and the Civil War on the Northern Home Front (2009), Emilie Davis's Civil War: The Diaries of a Free Black Woman in Philadelphia, 1863-1865 (2014) and Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of Modern Morality, (2017). Her new book, Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Family, published by Simon and Schuster, on February 4, 2025.
Giesberg directs a digital project, Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery, that is collecting, digitizing, and transcribing information wanted ads taken out by formerly enslaved people looking for family members lost to the domestic slave trade. This project was featured in, among other media outlets, the New York Times, Washington Post, CBS Evening News, and NPR’s All Things Considered. As of this past April (2024), the website (informationwanted.org) had been accessed more than twelve and half million times. Giesberg founded and serves as Director of the Rooted Project which is working to research and tell a history of Villanova University informed by today’s movements toward racial and economic justice.
Giesberg lectures widely to audiences of genealogists, teachers, and interested members of the public at libraries, schools, museums, and churches.
To reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation, reply by e-mail to garmuslib1866@gmail.com
You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation.
Deadline for signing-up is Saturday, October 31, 2025 at Noon.
As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today. We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum & Archive
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC MUSEUM & ARCHIVE
8110 Frankford Ave. (Holmesburg - N.E. Philadelphia), 19136
www.garmuslib.org
Road Work has Begun Around Allentown's Civil War Memorial
The Center Square Redesign Project at 7th and Hamilton around the Civil War Memorial has entered its first stage. Listed below are some traffic restrictions in the coming weeks. The city reports that they anticipate the entire project will be completed by the end of 2026.
Click here for a history of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Traffic Alert: 7th & Hamilton Street Lane Restrictions
Beginning Monday, October 20, lane restrictions and closures will take place in five phases for work on the Center Square waterline at 7th & Hamilton:
10/20–10/22: Lane restrictions only
10/23–10/29: No left turn onto Hamilton St. (southbound 7th St.)
10/30–10/31: Lane restrictions only
11/3–11/4: No right turn onto 7th St. (eastbound Hamilton St.)
11/5–11/14: Lane restrictions only
This is the first stage of the Center Square Redesign Project. We anticipate the entire project will be completed by the end of 2026.
Please plan ahead and use caution when traveling through the area during this time.
Gettysburg During Shutdown
Gettysburg's battlefield and Eisenhower's farm belong to all of us.
Even while our National Park Service partners step back during the federal shutdown, the Gettysburg Foundation continues to care for these historic places, so their stories never go silent.
What’s open for your visit
The Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center: open daily, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.Park Roads: Open to vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians.Gettysburg National Cemetery: Open.Eisenhower home grounds: Accessible from sunrise to sunset; home tours are paused.NPS Programs: Educational and Interpretive activities are paused; rangers and volunteers are unavailable.Protection Rangers: Continuing patrols for safety and resource protection.
How You Can Help
We all play a vital role in protecting our National Parks. Please help us keep Gettysburg safe and welcoming:
Practice Leave No Trace principlesStay on marked trails and respect wildlifeLeave artifacts where you find themReport safety concerns when appropriate
If you see something, say something - dial 911 when it's safe to do so.
Our Role
As National Park Service operations pause, preservation continues through every act of care by the Gettysburg Foundation and everyone who shares in this commitment.
In our role as the nonprofit partner of the National Parks at Gettysburg, we work alongside our community to safeguard Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic site - helping these places remain open, protected, and meaningful for all people, for all time.
To learn how you can support the Gettysburg Foundation, visit us online at GettysburgFoundation.org.
A Civil Conversation with Dr. Wesley Moody Online with ZOOM October 2!
Join us on Thursday, October 2, 2025, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm for this Civil Conversation via ZOOM, featuring author Dr. Wesley Moody and NCWM Education & Program Coordinator - Katie Dick. This online program will delve into the life of a fascinating American hero. We look forward to having you join us.
About the book: As the commander of the US garrison at Fort Sumter in the fateful early hours of April 12, 1861, Robert Anderson (1805–1871) played a critical role in the unfolding of the Civil War. Although his leadership and his courage under fire catapulted him into national recognition, the attack on Fort Sumter was just one chapter in Anderson’s story. That story, told here in full for the first time, offers a unique lens on the development of the US military and the country itself before and during the Civil War.
Anderson’s family, harking back to the nation’s founding, included William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) and Chief Justice John Marshall. His father crossed the Delaware with George Washington. And among his acquaintances were presidents ranging from the aged John Adams to seven-year-old Theodore Roosevelt. Historian Wesley Moody charts Robert Anderson’s path from an upbringing on the Kentucky frontier to a West Point education and a military career that saw him fighting in nearly every American conflict from the Black Hawk War to the Civil War—catching malaria fighting the Seminoles, taking several bullets while serving in Mexico, writing the textbook for field artillery used by both Union and Confederate forces, mentoring William Tecumseh Sherman.
Central to Anderson’s story was his deft and decisive handling of the Fort Sumter crisis. Had Major Anderson been the aggressor, as many of his command urged, President Abraham Lincoln would have been unable to rally the Northern states to war. Had Anderson handed his command over to the Confederate troops, a demoralized North would have offered little resistance to secession. To understand this pivotal moment in US history, one has to understand the man at its center; and to understand that man and his masterful performance under extraordinary pressure, one can do no better than to read Moody’s thoroughly absorbing, richly detailed biography.
Dr. Wesley Moody bio:
Dr. Wesley Moody is a professor of history at Florida State College at Jacksonville. He is a specialist in the American Civil War, Colonial American history, and Florida history. Dr. Moody is the author of four books, including Demon of the Lost Cause: Sherman and Civil War History, based on his Ph.D. dissertation. He studied under Dr. Wendy Venet at Georgia State University and John Ferling at the University of West Georgia.
Gettysburg NMP Museum & Visitor Center Remains Open During Federal Government Shutdown
Gettysburg, Pa. (Oct. 1, 2025)—During the Federal government’s lapse in appropriations, the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center and its complex, owned and operated by the Gettysburg Foundation, will remain open during regular hours to welcome and serve visitors. The Museum & Visitor Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
While many services typically provided by the National Park Service (NPS) are paused during the shutdown, the Gettysburg Foundation is continuing to operate the Museum & Visitor Center and provide access to a wide range of visitor experiences, including:
Film, Cyclorama & Museum Experience: View A New Birth of Freedom followed by the dramatic light and sound show of the 360-degree Gettysburg Cyclorama painting. Then, explore artifacts, interactive exhibits and short films that bring the stories of the battle to life in the Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Tours: Continue by bus and car. Car tours require reservations.
Shopping & Dining: The Museum Book Store and Battlegrounds Café & Grille remain open for shopping, snacks and meals.
McKenna Foundation Resource Room: The Resource Room is open with Gettysburg Foundation volunteers available to help guests explore Civil War ancestry and begin research.
Tickets & Maps: Visitors may purchase tickets to Foundation programs and obtain maps at the Ticket Counter and Friends Desk.
National Park Service Facility Status:
Open: All roads within Gettysburg National Military Park will remain open to vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Closed: The Gettysburg National Cemetery and the Eisenhower National Historic Site’s home tours are closed. The grounds at Eisenhower National Historic Site remain accessible from sunrise to sunset.
Unavailable: Educational programs, interpretive services and information desks operated by the NPS are paused. NPS rangers and volunteers are not available.
Law Enforcement: NPS protection rangers will continue patrols to ensure the safety of park resources and visitors.
Lost and found items should be turned in to the Security Desk in the Museum & Visitor Center located at 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg.
Members of the media may contact Bruce McConnel, Vice President of Marketing Communications, at bmcconnel@gettysburgfoundation.org for more information.
Tickets, maps and visitor updates can be found at GettysburgFoundation.org.
Princeton Battlefield’s Next Chapter Starts Here!
Although not Civil War, this American Revolution site is nearby…
The American Battlefield Trust cordially invites you to a special community meeting to discuss an exciting new initiative: a reimagining of the Princeton Battlefield, including the opportunity for a Visitor and Education Center. The meeting will be held at Morven Museum & Garden on Tuesday, October 7 at 6:30pm.
Please RSVP to Oct7Princeton@gmail.com
The Visitor and Education Center will provide important improvements for Princeton, including:
Increasing appreciation of the battle and interpretive educational opportunities, as well as the importance of preserving this amazing story of American resilience as part of the 10 Crucial Days that changed the course of our nation.Creating a better understanding of not only the experience of the men who fought here, but how the battle impacted those men, women and children who lived in Princeton in 1777 as well.Preserving and making more accessible green space for community use of the park including the replanting of 18th Century trees and cropland. Enhancing Princeton’s appeal as we approach our nation’s Semiquincentennial and creating local job opportunities through increasing the time visitors spend in the area.Generating growth opportunities for local historical groups including the Princeton Battlefield Society and other local and regional partners.
Please RSVP to Oct7Princeton@gmail.com and join us in this forward-looking discussion. We look forward to your involvement and to seeing you on October 7.
Sincerely,
Jim Campi, Chief Policy and Communications Officer
American Battlefield Trust
Lee's Headquarters Open House & Living History Event Oct 4 & 5
Join the 55th North Carolina Infantry Regiment at Lee's Headquarters!
American Battlefield Trust Event
October 4 - 5, 2025 @ 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM EDT
Lee's Headquarters at Gettysburg
401 Buford Avenue
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Come see living history in action! The 55th North Carolina Infantry Regiment – portrayed by the 26th North Carolina Regiment – will be on site Saturday and Sunday!
During the Battle of Gettysburg, this small stone house — home of 69-year-old widow Mary Thompson — served as the headquarters of Gen. Robert E. Lee. The property surrounding the house played a pivotal role in the severe fighting on July 1, 1863, and was a key position in the Confederate line for the rest of the engagement.
Today, the landscape and building have been preserved and restored to its wartime appearance by the American Battlefield Trust.
Take the opportunity to step back in time inside the historic home, during this open house, hosted by the Seminary Ridge Museum & Education Center, in conjunction with the American Battlefield Trust. Interpreters will be onsite and available to answer questions and tell the stories of this crucial site. A self-guided interpretive trail, with five signs explaining the dramatic events at the headquarters from July 1-3, 1863, is open daily from dawn to dusk. Additional augmented reality interpretations of the site are also available in the FREE Gettysburg AR Experience app.