Shiloh National Military Park To Redesign Exhibits In Visitor Center

Shiloh National Military Park To Redesign Exhibits In Visitor Center

By NPT Staff on November 12th, 2018
From National Parks Traveler

A redesign of the visitor center exhibits at Shiloh National Military Park is getting under way with meetings to gain public input to what should be considered/NPS

Interpreting, and presenting, history is a key role of the National Park Service. So while the prospect of designing new exhibits for the Shiloh National Military Park visitor center might sound relatively ho-hum, the opportunity to update 30-year-old exhibits describing and explaining the events that occurred at Shiloh in 1862 is enticing.

After all, the battle of Shiloh in April 1862 marked the first significant battle between the North and South in the Civil War's western theater. 

"The current exhibits in the visitor center are 30 years old and are no longer effective,” said Superintendent Dale Wilkerson. “New exhibits are needed to provide interpretive approaches that are based on park themes, that reflect current scholarship and multiple perspectives, and that are accessible. As part of the design process, there will be public meetings to provide the community with opportunities for learning about the development of the new exhibits and for providing input as the design moves forward. It is important for us to include the local community in the process as we move forward with the revisions to the center.”

The public is invited to attend a kickoff meeting for the major redesign of the exhibits and exhibit area on November 27 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. in the visitor center auditorium.

In September, the National Park Service’s Harpers Ferry Design Center awarded a contract in the amount of $639,700 to Formations, Inc., of Portland, Oregon, to provide planning, design, fabrication, and installation services for the visitor center. The task is to develop exhibits that feature artifacts from the park’s collection, interactive and tactile experiences, and audiovisual presentations that provide visitors with opportunities to make meaningful connections to the park and its story. The designers will also provide recommendations for any architectural changes in the facility needed to accommodate the new elements.

At this meeting, the designers and park staff will introduce the project to the public and listen to comments and ideas regarding the new exhibition. In a few months, the designers will return to present several alternative approaches to the design for consideration and public comment, as the park moves toward the selection of a final alternative. The entire project is slated to be completed by April 6, 2021.

• Shiloh National Military Park

Facial Recognition Software Helping Identify Unknown Figures in Civil War Photos

Facial Recognition Software Is Helping Identify Unknown Figures in Civil War Photographs

Civil War Photo Sleuth aims to be the world’s largest, most complete digital archive of identified and unidentified Civil War-era portraits

By Meilan Solly

from an article in smithsonian.com 
November 21, 2018

A new facial recognition application pioneered by computer scientist and historian Kurt Luther peers into the past—specifically the American Civil War—to identify anonymous portrait sitters captured in thousands of photographs taken over the course of the bloody four-year conflict.

As Erica X. Eisen reports for Slate, Civil War Photo Sleuth (CWPS) is a three-pronged collaboration launched in August by Luther and his Virginia Tech students; editor Ron Coddington of Military Images; and Paul Quigley, director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. The project, as Luther detailed in a 2017 article for Military Images, features a digital photo archive, research tools and a thriving online community.

Users can contribute their own images from personal collections or upload snapshots spotted in books, museums, cultural institutions, shops and miscellaneous sites across the world. These photographs then join thousands held in national and state archives accessible to the public, enabling CWPS to work toward its goal of becoming the world’s largest, most complete digital archive of identified and unidentified Civil War-era portraits.

According to Slate’s Eisen, CWPS’ software identifies up to 27 “facial landmarks” in every uploaded photograph. If participating sleuths want to learn more about a certain mystery figure, they can narrow down their search by filtering images for details such as unit rank and insignia (colonels fighting for the Union side, for example, wore distinctive shoulder straps with an eagle), photographer details, and inscriptions. Once the system gathers all known information, it cross-references the image with all of the photos in CWPS’ database (which includes 15,000 reference images already identified) to present potential facial matches and, if known, names.

Writing for Military Images, Luther says that the array of facial landmarks used to compare photographs enables CWPS to find matches even if a soldier’s facial hair changes or an existing snapshot captures him from a different angle. This feat is made all the more impressive by the limitations of Civil War images. By the start of the war, photographers were beginning to develop prints from negatives, a delicate process that nevertheless opened up the possibilities of the nascent medium. As Eisen of Slate notes, in addition to the quality and coloring of these images, there were an array of limitations that make it a challenge to identify historical photographs today. Take, for instance, the prevalence of thick beards and mustaches, which could obscure vital facial features.

CWPS has already identified more than 75 photographs and has hundreds more catalogued for eventual identification. The process of identifying unknown figures in Civil War-era photographs requires amateur detectives to draw on an arsenal of tools and skills: As Luther writes in a separate Military Images piece, researchers often augment print resources with a growing body of online data, including genealogical charts, military records and photographic archives, as well as tips offered by burgeoning communities of sleuthing enthusiasts.

Luther has set the highly ambitious goal of identifying every photo in the project’s database. While there are numerous difficulties associated with meeting such a goal, Luther embraces the challenge.

In 2013, he successfully tracked down a portrait of Oliver Croxton, his own great-great-great grand uncle. Describing the search in a 2015 column for Military Images, he summed up the mission driving CWPS, saying, “Every discovery has an impact.”

David Vela Sails Through Senate Confirmation Hearing To Become NPS Director

David Vela Sails Through Senate Confirmation Hearing To Become National Park Service Director

From National Parks Traveler

By Kurt Repanshek on November 15th, 2018

Grand Teton Superintendent David Vela encountered few tough questions Thursday during his confirmation hearing to become director of the National Park Service/NPS

David Vela encountered little turbulence Thursday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pledging to set the standard for accountability and transparency as director of the National Park Service.

On issues ranging from sexual misconduct and other forms of harassment to addressing the nearly $12 billion backlog of maintenance needs across the National Park System, Vela, currently Grand Teton National Park's superintendent, essentially said the buck stops with him.

"I think it starts with the individual, and if confirmed, setting the example as director, setting the bar as to what is not acceptable," Vela replied when U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, pointed to ethical transgressions in the Interior Department, singling out ongoing investigations into Secretary Ryan Zinke's behavior, and asked what he would change to deal with "this spree of unethical behavior" if confirmed.

"It starts at the top. If confirmed I will provide that leadership," added Vela.

Sen. Wyden was not satisifed, though, saying he couldn't support the nomination unless Vela specifically addressed how he would change what the senator viewed as lackluster regard for ethical behavior.

If confirmed, Vela would become the first Latino to rise to the directorship of the Park Service. He was nominated for the director's job on August 31. Before becoming superintendent at Grand Teton in 2014, Vela worked in Washington, D.C., as the Park Service's associate director for Workforce, Relevancy and Inclusion. He oversaw NPS programs including Human Resources, Learning and Development, Equal Opportunity, Youth, and the Office of Relevancy, Diversity & Inclusion. Prior to that, he was director of the agency's Southeast Region based in Atlanta.

Vela, should the Senate confirm him, will take the reins of an agency that has been struggling with a staggering deferred maintenance backlog, and low morale among a workforce that has grappled with sexual harassment issues, low pay, work-life balance inequity, concerns over leadership, and concerns around strategic management, according to the 2017 Best Places To Work survey.

During the two-hour hearing, which Vela shared with nominees for the Assistant Secretary of Energy (Nuclear Energy) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Park Service veteran encountered few tough questions outside of workplace misconduct.

He was not asked about Secretary Zinke's push for more lenient hunting and trapping regulations in national preserves in Alaska, about carrying capacities for visitation in crowded parks, about President Trump's proposed cuts in manpower and budget for the Park Service, or whether, as then-director of the Park Service's Southeast Region, he worked with Pedro Ramos, at the time superintendent of Big Cypress, to try to persuade then-NPS Director Jon Jarvis to waive a section of the National Park Service's Management Policies pertaining to wilderness-quality landscapes so they could allow ORV use in 147,000 acres that were added to Big Cypress in 1996.

Vela did say he believed in climate science, voiced support for the Restore Our Parks Act legislation before Congress that could provide up to $6.5 billion to address the park system's maintenance backlog, for continuation of the Land and Water Conservation Fund that expired at the end of September, and was open to discussing a redesignation of New River Gorge National River as New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, with the "preserve" added to allow continued hunting in the unit. 

He did balk a bit when Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said more units of the park system should charge entrance fees. Currently, just 115 of the 418 units charge the fees.

“I think fees play a role and I think what we need to do as we tackle the challenges … that we need to take a hard look at all options," said Vela. "But at the same time, and in the same breath, we need to take a look at who we might be excluding from the process, who don’t have the ability to pay additional fees. So I think those interests are equally compelling and equally important.”

The nomination is expected to go before the full Senate before year's end.

Joe Lachowski selected at the new chief ranger for Gettysburg NMP and Eisenhower NHS

Joe Lachowski has been selected at the new chief ranger for Gettysburg NMP and Eisenhower NHS

Gettysburg, Pa. – Joe Lachowski has been selected to serve as the new chief ranger for Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site, the National Park Service announced today.  The chief ranger serves as the senior law enforcement officer for Gettysburg and Eisenhower parks, responsible for the planning, direction, and execution of programs dealing with law enforcement and resource protection, emergency services and safety. 

“Growing up on the East Coast, I am excited to return to the area and serve the visitors and employees at these iconic parks” said Lachowski.  “I enjoy working in a variety of challenging situations and I am looking forward to becoming part of the hard-working team at Gettysburg and Eisenhower national parks.”

“We are delighted to have Ranger Lachowski join the staff,” said Lewis H. Rogers, acting superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.  “His depth of experience along with his leadership skills will be great assets to park operations, ensuring safe and successful experience for our more than one million annual visitors.”

Lachowski was a supervisor and protection ranger in both Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Grand Teton National Park. He is currently attending the National Park Service’s GOAL Academy, a leadership and organizational advancement program. His experience includes all aspects of supervision, management, the incident command system, complex investigations, daily law enforcement operations, structural and wildland fire management and operations, emergency medical services, search and rescue operations and interagency cooperation and operations.

The Secretary of the Interior presented Lachowski with an award for valor in 2014 for the rescue of a drowning victim in extreme surf conditions in Lake Michigan.  He has held a number of positions in the National Park Service since 1997.  He has a Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Maine, Orono, and a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from Utah State University. 

Lachowski will begin his new duties in January.

Gettysburg National Military Park preserves, protects and interprets for this and future generations the resources associated with the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War, the Soldiers' National Cemetery, and their commemorations. Learn more at www.nps.gov/gett

Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves and interprets the home and farms of the Eisenhower family as a fitting and enduring memorial to the life, work, and times of General Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, and to the events of far-reaching importance that occurred on the property.  Learn more at www.nps.gov/eise

Gettysburg Remembrance Day parade on Saturday, November 17, 2018

2018 - Gettysburg Remembrance Day parade on Saturday, November 17, 2018

For the second year a threat has been made to the annual Gettysburg Remembrance Day parade. While we do not know the nature of the threat, we have been asked by the Gettysburg Police Department to use the same parade route as last year. The parade will line up on Lefever Street, will make a left onto Baltimore Street, then right onto Steinwehr Ave and will proceed up Steinwehr Avenue and will make a left onto Taneytown Road, up Taneytown Road and will make a left onto Cyclorama Drive where the parade will disperse. While we are sorry for the change of route the safety of all of the participants and spectators is paramount. Various law enforcement agencies will be on hand and as we stated last year if you see something suspicious, please say something. Let’s make this a great parade. Thank you for your support of the annual Gettysburg Remembrance day Parade. 

We invite you to join us at the parade briefing slated for Saturday, November 17 at 9:30 AM at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center, 2634 Emmitsburg Road. Let’s not allow this threat to stop us. Let us have a great parade and honor the men in the Blue and the Gray! 

More Deadly Than War (hint- flu) - Sat Nov 3 - LV Heritage Mueum

Civil War Era Camp Nelson Named a National Monument

Camp Nelson: In the Footsteps of Freedom

Established as a Union supply depot and hospital during the Civil War, Camp Nelson became a recruitment and training center for African American soldiers, and a refugee camp for their wives and children. Thousands of slaves risked their lives escaping to this site with the hope of securing their freedom and, ultimately, controlling their futures by aiding in the destruction of slavery.

Further info from National Parks Traveler:

“…Located in Jessamine County, Kentucky, Camp Nelson was one of the largest Union Army recruitment and training centers in the nation for African American soldiers, then known as U.S. Colored Troops. Thousands of enslaved African Americans risked their lives escaping to Camp Nelson with the hope of securing their freedom and controlling their own futures during and after the war.

Today, the site remains one of the best-preserved landscapes and archaeological sites associated with Civil War-era U.S. Colored Troops recruitment camps and the African American refugee experience. Camp Nelson will now be the 418th site that the National Park Service oversees.

“Camp Nelson, and all the patriots who have ties to it, holds an incredible place in America's history, and President Trump's action to designate Camp Nelson as a National Monument will ensure the ongoing protection of the site and the story,” Secretary Zinke said. “America's parks, battlefields and monuments tell the story of who we are as Americans. Camp Nelson was instrumental as a refuge for escaped and emancipated slaves. The camp tells the story about Americans who risked absolutely everything they have and everyone they love to fight for their freedom, the cause of liberty and to preserve the Union.

"I thank the President for using the Antiquities Act as it was truly intended and I can think of no better place for his use of the Act than to recognize African Americans for the sacrifices they made for this country and for the contributions they made for all Americans freedom than by elevating Camp Nelson to National Monument status," he added. 

Camp Nelson is the first national monument designation under President Trump. The designation was made with congressional and public input and involved extensive consultation with nearby private landowners, Interior staff said.

To provide a seamless transition from county to federal ownership and management, Jessamine County and the National Park Service have entered into an agreement to provide a cooperative framework for the protection, preservation, promotion, interpretation, and maintenance of the monument. During the transition, Jessamine County will provide continued assistance with operation and maintenance for an initial period.

President Trump designated the National Monument under the Antiquities Act, which gives the President the authority to “declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments.”

Lectures on Nov 2 & 3 at National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg

Click here for poster pdf

The Fate of a Confederate Deserter after Gettysburg

presented by Peter Carmichael

Fri Nov 2 at 6:00pm

National Civil War Museum

1 Lincoln Circle

@ Reservoir Park

Harrisburg, PA 17103

Click here for poster pdf

Marines in the Civil War: We Shall Do as Well as We Can

presented by Col Doug Douds

Sat Nov 3 at 1:00pm

National Civil War Museum

1 Lincoln Circle

@ Reservoir Park

Harrisburg, PA 17103

Civil War Artifacts Stolen at Kernstown

Alert: Civil War Artifacts Stolen at Kernstown

by Emerging Civil War

No honest person ever wants to discover, hear, or share news like this in the history community. Still, bad things happen, and by sharing the details, perhaps the thieves will be apprehended or unable to sell their stolen artifacts to unsuspecting buyers.

At the end of September 2018, the small museum operated by Kernstown Battlefield Association just south of Winchester, Virginia, was robbed. Only Civil War related artifacts were taken in the robbery which occurred between the 21st and 29th. Investigators believe the criminals entered the building through a second story window, avoided the motion sensors, and took the artifacts from the locked display cabinets.  Read more of this post

More Than 700 Lincoln Collectibles Are Set to Go on Auction

LOVE, N. A TEMPORARY INSANITY CURABLE BY MARRIAGE OR BY THE REMOVAL OF THE PATIENT FROM THE INFLUENCES UNDER WHICH HE INCURRED THE DISORDER.  
…FROM D.D.

This 1860 portrait of Abraham Lincoln, believed to be by John C. Wolfe, depicts the young presidential nominee without his signature beard (Courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries)

By Meilan Solly
smithsonian.com 
September 21, 2018

Harold Holzer’s passion for Lincolniana started early. When the historian was “barely out of [his teens],” he purchased the first item in his collection—a small envelope “franked,” or signed instead of stamped, by then-Congressman Abraham Lincoln. By the age of 22, he had narrowed his acquisitional interests down to engravings and lithographs depicting the legendary U.S. president.

Some 50 years later, Holzer’s collection boasts an impressive 740 artifacts, including an 1860 portrait of a beardless Lincoln, a 1907 bronze relief plaque that served as the basis of the likeness seen on pennies to this day and a plaster bust by the artist Sarah Fisher Ames. Given the sheer volume of his collection, it’s unsurprising that the assemblage took up a considerable amount of space in the Rye, New York, home Holzer shares with his wife Edith.

Now, as the couple finalizes plans to downsize to a Manhattan apartment, Holzer is preparing to part with his eclectic trove of Lincoln-related items. And, Julia Jacobs reports for the New York Times, the historian is planning on making a clean break by selling everything but a small selection of modern art.

Holzer’s Lincolniana will serve as the centerpiece of New York-based Swann Auction Galleries’ Printed & Manuscript Americana sale next week. According to Fine Books & Collections, the whopping 176-lot offering “explores America’s fascination with depictions of the 16th president, highlighting the breadth of representations of Lincoln.”

Swann sale specialist Rick Stattler tells Jacobs that Holzer’s collection offers modest financial value but remarkable historical and personal significance. A period portrait believed to be John C. Wolfe’s June 1860 painting of Lincoln is the most valuable item in the sale, with an estimate of between $12,000 and $18,000. The Fisher Ames plaster bust, which Holzer dates to just before the president delivered the Gettysburg Address, carries an estimate of between $6,000 and $9,000, as does a fourth-edition print released to show Lincoln’s likeness to crowds gathered at Chicago’s Wigwam convention hall for the announcement of the 1860 Republican presidential candidate. Overall, the sale is expected to bring in between $158,000 and $236,300.

According to Jacobs, the Holzers have been spending their weekends scouring flea markets for Lincolniana since the early 1970s. The search for Lincoln treasures brought them all over the northeast, including places like Adamstown, Pennsylvania, where Holzer chanced upon a print featuring Lincoln ascending to heaven in the company of angels (the design wasn’t original, as earlier printmakers had sold nearly identical ones of George Washington).

Holzer’s Lincoln fascination, of course, extends far beyond memorabilia: He has authored or edited 52 books on the president and has two more tomes forthcoming. In his introduction to the auction catalogue, Holzer explains that one of his earliest acquisitions, a lithograph of the Lincoln family crafted by Philadelphia artist Anton Hohenstein, sparked his interest in scholarly study of the president. Several weeks after making the initial purchase, Holzer chanced upon an image in Life Magazine depicting then-President Richard Nixon sitting in his White House study below what appeared to be the very lithograph he had just purchased.

As it turns out, the White House lithograph featured a similar design but was based on a different photograph of Lincoln. This realization “stimulated my lifelong effort to explore the nature of nineteenth century prints,” Holzer writes, “their political, commercial, and artistic origins, and their impact on period audiences.”

Despite dedicating the majority of his life to unraveling the public’s enduring fascination with Lincoln, and particularly representations of his physical appearance, Holzer notes that he can’t quite pinpoint his own lasting fascinating with Lincoln memorabilia.

“Part of the appeal may be locked into his mysterious expression, half smiling, half-frowning, always seeming to gaze toward a faraway place,” Holzer muses. “Perhaps our interest remains piqued, too, by Lincoln’s own endearing humility. He called himself ‘the homeliest man in the state of Illinois’ and a ‘very indifferent judge’ of his own portraits. Yet he sat for more painters, sculptors, and photographers than his contemporaries.”

As the auction nears, though, he tells Jacob he’s yet to feel an “emotional reaction.” Perhaps this is because the historian is shifting his focus to another head of state: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

“I’ve been helped to a new stage in my life,” says Holzer, who has served as the director of New York’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College for the past three years. “Working here has liberated me in a way.”

Read more