--(1) Book may bring Franklin worldwide attention-----------------------------------------------------
Widow' gives new life to historic Carnton
With 200,000 presales, Hicks' first novel may bring Franklin worldwide attention
By KEVIN WALTERS, Staff Writer
07/05/2005
Nashville Tennessean (TN)
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050705/COUNTY090101/507050319/1165
LEIPER'S FORK COMMUNITY - The dead have always been a part of Carrie McGavock's story. So has writing.
First, the soldiers and then historians wrote about her bloodstained Carnton mansion that served as a field hospital in the wake of the Nov. 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin - the dead littering its grounds.
"Every room was filled, every bed had two poor, bleeding fellows, every spare space, niche, and corner under the stairs, in the hall, everywhere - but one room for her own family," wrote Capt. William D. Gale, the adjutant general for Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart of the Confederacy, remembering that night that claimed more than 8,000 dead and wounded.
"(Carrie McGavock) walked from room to room, from man to man, her very skirts stained with blood," Stewart wrote.
McGavock herself recorded the names and regiments of the more than 1,400 soldiers she and her husband John buried in the McGavock Cemetery in her "book of the dead." After she died in 1905, obituary writers memorialized the woman called "The Good Samaritan of Williamson County" in more than a dozen U.S. newspapers.
So the notion that McGavock would be the heroine of what could be this year's publishing sensation should be no surprise. While other books about the battle have been written, maybe no one until first-time novelist and Franklin's Charge co-chairman Robert Hicks has stood as good a chance of turning the events of her life into a bestseller.
"Did I start out to write the novel to preserve the battlefield at Franklin? I was like everyone else: I thought the battlefield at Franklin was lost," Hicks said. "But I started out the novel because I felt like it was a way to bring people to Franklin, to tell Franklin's story."
If Hicks' historical fiction The Widow of the South captures
the American popular imagination as officials and publishing people
anticipate, the novel could propel Franklin, Carrie McGavock and
efforts led by Hicks to create a battlefield park here to a worldwide
audience.
As of this week, Warner Books has received 199,000 presale orders
from booksellers for hardback editions of The Widow of the South,
which goes on sale Sept. 1. That's a staggering number when you
consider that most first printing runs for novels only top around
5,000 copies.
Already its U.K. and French publishing rights have been snapped
up and negotiations are under way to have it published in Italy.
Hollywood has shown interest though no firm plans - or stars -
have been signed to a potential project.
Hicks, 54, made his name as music publisher and manager. He's also an antiques collector with an eclectic art, furniture and memorabilia collection including a desk used by former Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a cue ball used by Minnesota Fats and a tube of PoliGrip that belonged to Roy Acuff.
For him, the past is something that's quite real and alive.
Writing this novel, he said, was a way to keep Franklin's history
- and that of Carrie McGavock - from fading.
Seven years ago, the idea to write a novel about McGavock came
to Hicks while he was sitting at his desk at PolyGram records
on Nashville's Music Row. A member of the Carnton Plantation's
board since 1987, Hicks oversaw a historically accurate renovation
of the mansion. But he feared for the house's future.
"I had this chilling thought, 'What happens after me?' "
said Hicks. "What happens when I either get bored or tired
or kicked out of Carnton or die or frustrated or whatever it takes?
How's Carnton going to survive? I don't know."
Writing the novel, Hicks said, would be a way of ensuring tourists
came to Franklin, supporting the mansion through the largely untapped
vein of heritage tourism in Williamson County. Earlier efforts
to bring a national battlefield park to Franklin were opposed
by the community.
It would be years later - after Hicks said he devoured all
the Russian novels and Civil War histories he could read - that
he finally took his outline and concocted a novel that sprinkles
fictional characters (such as the wounded soldier Zachariah Cashwell
who would be a fictional flame for McGavock) with the facts of
the night: that Union forces clashed with Confederate soldiers
in Franklin in a bloody, horrifying firefight where eyewitnesses
recalled trees stripped of their bark by flying bullets and the
streets literally running red with blood.
Hicks admits that he may be courting controversy through his fictional
creations that mingle with the real-life people.
"There are going to be people furious," Hicks said.
"I'm prepared for it. ... Let them rage if it brings people
to Franklin."
The power of Hicks' telling of Carrie McGavock's story has already
melted some hearts. Hick's literary agent, Jeff Kleinman, who
gets about 400 novels a week, read a portion of The Widow of the
South on an airplane flight to New Orleans. In the middle of the
flight, he broke down weeping.
"The stewardess is coming over to me and going 'Sir, are
you OK?'" Kleinman laughed.
For Warner executives, the novel provoked stronger, happier responses.
Kleinman sold the novel to Warner Books on just 100 pages and
an outline - "a very, very rare" occurrence, he said.
They're making it one of their biggest fall novels, rolling out
a $500,000 advertising campaign to tout it and a book tour as
well. Blurbs about the novel have already appeared in USA Today
and other publications though the book is still months from hitting
stores.
Kleinman said Warner Books' love for the novel came from "the
package of Robert Hicks and this book" but also concedes
like Hicks that there is no sure bet in publishing. However, Kleinman
believes the novel has three things going for it: it's based on
a true story, it has Hicks as a spokesman and Hicks' writing.
"I think it's extraordinarily beautiful," Kleinman said.
"I could literally not believe how beautiful it was."
Several copies of the novel have made it out into the Franklin
community already. And the response so far from a few who have
read it has been similar to what Savannah, Ga., experienced in
the wake of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
That is, curious readers will want to see the mansion where the
real Carrie McGavock lived and walked.
One of her living descendents, Franklin's Country Club owner Rod
Heller of Washington, D.C., found Hicks' portrayal of McGavock
to be consistent with everything he ever heard or read about her.
"(Reading the book) was an interesting and meaningful experience,"
Heller said.
Franklin's Charge co-chair Julian Bibb predicted it would find
an audience.
"It is a very good description of conditions during the Civil
War," Bibb said after reading The Widow of the South. "I
thought he did a great job in the look and feel of what life would
have been like during that period of time."
"It'll bring people here when they start reading it,"
said Rick Warwick, historian with the Heritage Foundation of Franklin
and Williamson County, who's also read an advance copy. "They'll
be lined up to get to Franklin."
--(2) Brian Pohanka Dies; Fought to Preserve Battlefields-----------------------------------------------------
Brian Pohanka Dies at 50; Fought to Preserve Civil War Battlefields
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
07/04/2005
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/04/national/04pohanka.html?pagewanted=all
Brian C. Pohanka, whose passion for the Civil War led him to a
prominent role in starting the recent movement to preserve Civil
War battlefields, died on June 15 at his home in Alexandria, Va.
He was 50.
The cause was melanoma, said his wife, Marylynne, who is known
as Cricket.
In 1987, Mr. Pohanka, an enthusiastic, well-costumed re-enactor
of battles, convened some of the first meetings of the Association
for the Preservation of Civil War Sites, a group that became the
Civil War Preservation Trust. It now has 70,000 members and has
saved thousands of acres of former battlefields from development.
"Some kid a hundred years from now is going to get interested
in the Civil War and want to see these places," Mr. Pohanka
said in an interview with The Washington Post in 1990. "He's
going to go down there and be standing in a parking lot. I'm fighting
for that kid."
Mr. Pohanka dressed the part, trimming his beard in what was known
as the imperial style, popularized in the 1860's by the French
emperor Napoleon III. As a captain of Company A of the Fifth New
York Volunteer Infantry, one of many groups that re-enact Civil
War battles and events, he also wore the colorful French-style
uniforms of the dashing troops called Zouaves, even down to his
underwear.
Mr. Pohanka's involvement in Civil War history included writing
dozens of books and articles, appearing on documentaries like
"Civil War Journal" on the History Channel and advising
makers of period movies.
For "Glory," a 1989 film that portrayed soldiers in
the first black regiment in the Union Army, the 54th Massachusetts,
Mr. Pohanka recruited and instructed actors portraying soldiers.
For "Cold Mountain,"
released in 2003, he used original drill manuals to teach Civil
War tactics to about 1,000 Romanian soldiers hired as extras.
The campaign to save Civil War battlefields began in earnest after
the site of the Battle of Ox Hill in Fairfax County, Va., was
developed commercially. The movement gathered momentum after Richard
Gilder, a philanthropist, began to contribute money.
One of Mr. Pohanka's main jobs in the effort was explicating the
history of endangered battlefields.
In the fight to save the site of the battle at Brandy Station
in Culpeper County, Va., Mr. Pohanka repeatedly told the story
of how the Confederate general J. E. B. Stuart almost lost to
a smaller Union force
there. General Stuart then embarked on a highly publicized raid
through Pennsylvania on which he neglected his main mission, to
act as a scout for Gen. Robert E. Lee's invading army. General
Lee's loss at Gettysburg, the turning point of the war, followed.
Brian Caldwell Pohanka was born in Washington on March 20, 1955.
He liked to play with toy soldiers as a boy, and by the time he
was 12, he was conducting research at the National Archives. He
graduated from Sidwell Friends School, in Washington, and from
Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pa., where he majored in history.
His writings, often done with others, included the text for a
book of modern aerial photographs of Civil War battlefields, in
which he approached the subject through the lives of two soldiers,
one from the North and one from the South; the text for a book
of maps about the war; and long profiles of individual soldiers.
He was a researcher and writer for the Time-Life series of books
on the war.
He also wrote about the Zulu wars in South Africa and about the
American West. One of the last books he edited was a compilation
of the letters of Annie Roberts Yates, the widow of an officer
killed with Gen. George A. Custer at the Battle of Little Big
Horn.
Mr. Pohanka met his wife at a Civil War re-enactment, where she
was dressed in period costume. He is also survived by his father,
John, of Washington; his brother, Geoffrey, of Vienna, Va., and
his sister, Susan, of Bryn Mawr, Pa.
--(3) Vote on development project at Wilson's Creek-----------------------------------------------------
Score will tell fate of Terrell Creek project
Didi Tang, News-Leader
07/03/2005
Springfield News-Leader (MO)
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050703/NEWS01/507030405/1095
The Terrell Creek project, which could eventually put nearly 2,000
homes in northwest Christian County, will face a major decision
Tuesday night.
The Christian County Planning and Zoning Commission is expected
to score the project proposed by Missouri Partners Inc., using
nearly 40 criteria that range from air quality to nuisances and
erosion control.
If the project receives positive or zero points, the project would
proceed.
Then, the project would be in the lap of Republic officials.
The city intends to provide public water and sewer services to
the 2,000-acre project. In return, MPI can increase the density
of its development but must follow the more stringent city rules.
Chris Coulter, Republic's assistant city administrator, said the
city, Christian County and the county's planning and zoning commission
have all signed an intergovernmental agreement that lets Republic
negotiate a development agreement with MPI.
Coulter said the city, MPI representatives and other parties have
been meeting regularly to hash out details on various issues,
such as education and law enforcement.
When they meet July 14 at the Republic Community Center, road
issues will be the topic, Coulter said.
Should the project receive negative points and be denied Tuesday
night, Dolph Woodman, the project manager, said MPI is likely
to carve up the entire property and sell pieces to interested
buyers.
But hardly anyone can predict how county planning and zoning commissioners
will score the project Tuesday night.
"I don't know," said a nearby landowner Andy Arndt.
"It depends on how they interpret the codes."
Woodman, however, said the project would get approval if commissioners
are to follow the county codes. But there could be other factors
swaying the commissioners, he said.
Ron Elkins, who had served on the commission for nearly 10 years,
said he could not tell which way the decision would go, either.
"I have no idea," Elkins said.
Elkins, president of the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Foundation,
said the foundation is negotiating with MPI to purchase some 150
acres that has historic significance within the project.
Since it was first proposed in late 2003, the Terrell Creek project
has stirred much controversy.
Neighbors have said roads in the area are not adequate to handle
the amount of traffic the development would generate.
They also said the environment would be negatively affected and
that the area is not ready for such a massive housing project.
Woodman, however, said the developer has proposed to improve both
on-site and off-site roads to address traffic concerns.
He also said MPI would work with the James River Basin Partnership
to ensure the water quality in the watershed.
The land, just south of Republic, has been prime for development for years, Woodman said.
The latest proposal shows that the Hollister-based company wants to build 450 patio homes, and develop 1,057 lots of 10,000-square-foot tracts and 425 two-acre tracts on the 2,000-acre property.
--(4) Morris Island remains vulnerable to development-----------------------------------------------------
What Price Glory?
By Fergus M. Bordewich
07/01/2005
Smithsonian Magazine
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues05/jul05/glory.html
[Editor's Note: Excerpt appears below - entire article appears
on Smithsonian website in PDF format]
On Morris Island, South Carolina, where the nation's legendary
African-American fighting force proved its valor in the Civil
War, a proposed housing development has ignited a debate over
the uses of history
On the night of July 18, 1863, in one of the legendary assaults of the Civil War, 650 African-American soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers stormed Fort Wagner on Morris Island in the waters off Charleston Harbor. The fate of the Civil War hinged on the battle there: capturing Charleston-the South's major port and the symbolic birthplace of Secession-could drive a fatal spike into the heart of the Confederacy.
The Confederates, however, had learned of the moment when the assault would begin. The charge of the 54th was doomed: they lost a stunning 42 percent of their men-34 killed, 146 wounded and 92 missing and presumed captured. Their courage, however, inspired and galvanized the North: "[The 54th's] sacrifice became the war's dominant positive symbol of black courage," says Princeton University historian James M. McPherson.
Today, another battle for Morris Island is under way: a proposal to build 20 luxury homes on 128 privately owned acres has brought opposition from a coalition of preservationists, historians and ecologists as well as Civil War buffs of all stripes. While the developer, Harry Huffman, maintains that he has "bent over backwards" to acknowledge the island's historical significance, the opponents resist that contention. "This island," says local preservationist Blake Hallman, "is hallowed ground."
--(5) Senate panel hears case for national battlefield-----------------------------------------------------
Mayor says Park Service should memorialize event
By KEVIN WALTERS, Staff Writer
06/30/2005
Nashville Tennessean (TN)
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/COUNTY090101/506300365/1165
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Though the Battle of Franklin is one of
the Civil War's "lesser known" conflicts, it should
be included as part of a National Park Service feasibility study
because of its significance in
American history, Franklin Mayor Tom Miller testified Tuesday
to a congressional subcommittee on national parks.
"In a very real sense, the reconciliation of our great nation began in Franklin, Tenn.," according to a transcript of Miller's testimony. "North and South, blacks and whites, brothers and brothers."
A copy of Miller's testimony to the Subcommittee on National Parks of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in support of Senate Bill 955, which calls for a Franklin study.
The Nov. 30, 1864, battle was pivotal in the fall of the Confederacy as the Army of Tennessee had been broken - and more than 8,000 casualties resulted from the five hours of fighting in the dark that raged in Franklin.
But of the 384 "significant" Civil War conflicts,
Miller said only 3.7% are considered principal battles.
"Franklin, while considered one of these principal battles,
has a story that is lesser known than many others that it matches
in significance, such as Gettysburg or Manasssas, and, unfortunately,
much of the battlefield itself has been lost to development,"
Miller said. "The community has been given a historic opportunity
to take a step toward righting this wrong and reclaiming a significant
piece of the battlefield."
Miller has led the city's efforts at reclaiming battlefield property - including the $300,000 purchase of the Columbia Avenue Pizza Hut as well as garnering support for spending $2.5 million to be paired with $2.5 million in private funds to be used to by the roughly 110-acre Country Club of Franklin site adjacent to Carnton Plantation for use as a battlefield park. Miller wants the National Park Service to study the sites for possible consideration of the sites in the National Park Service.
Miller and others envision the country club property, when it is purchased, to serve as a starting point for visitors who would then go to other related sites in addition to sharing "resources" with Stones River National Battlefield Park in Murfreesboro.
A spokesman for Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who is co-sponsoring the Senate version of the legislation with Sen. Lamar Alexander, said the legislation for this project - as well as other bills for national park projects - will be considered by the committee and then go before the full Senate for a vote for approval later this year.
A time frame for that vote is unclear.
If approved, the study would include all the historic sites in Williamson County and would still need congressional approval before moving forward. *
--(6) Byrd working for more money for Harpers Ferry-----------------------------------------------------
Byrd working for more money for Harpers Ferry park
by DAVE McMILLION
06/30/2005
Hagerstown Herald-Mail (MD)
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=115815&format=html
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday night approved an additional $2 million to be used to purchase land to expand Harpers Ferry (W.Va.) National Historical Park, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd said.
Byrd's office also announced Wednesday that the National Park Service has acquired 38 acres for the park in the historic School House Ridge area.
Byrd, D-W.Va., worked to include the $2 million in legislation for the park expansion and Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin said the senator will fight to protect the funding in a Senate and House conference committee.
Preservation groups have been pushing for an expansion of the park - especially in light of rapid development in the area - and enlargement of the park was made possible after Byrd steered legislation through Congress last year that allowed the park to grow from 1,240 acres to 3,745 acres.
Before the legislation was passed, various pieces of land totaling about 969 acres had been purchased or set aside for the park over the years, but could not be added to the park because it had reached its "ceiling" for the amount of land it could own.
The expansion plan also allows the Secretary of the Interior to pursue purchase of 191 acres of private land from "willing sellers," Donald Campbell, superintendent of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, has said.
The 191 acres consists of seven parcels in the School House
Ridge area, which generally stretches along U.S. 340 west of Harpers
Ferry.
School House Ridge is where Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson
oversaw the capture of 12,500 troops in 1862, the largest capture
in the Civil War. It remained the largest military capture until
World War II.
Byrd's office announced Wednesday that the National Park Service has acquired a 38-acre tract known as the Perry Orchard property in School House Ridge.
The National Park Service paid $1.5 million for the Perry Orchard property after the Civil War Preservation Trust secured an option on the land, according to Byrd's office.
That leaves about 153 acres that the park service hopes to acquire in the area, Campbell said Wednesday night.
If the additional $2 million is approved for the purchase of land for the park, it would make a total of $4.9 million that Byrd has acquired for purchasing land.
Park supporters praised Byrd for his work to secure money for the expansion of park.
"Thanks to the support of Sen. Byrd, Harpers Ferry has become one of the crown jewels of the National Park Service," said Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust. "His commitment to protection of this irreplaceable historic resource is one of the many legacies of his remarkable career."
--(7) Historian, Novelist Shelby Foote Dies-----------------------------------------------------
Historian, Novelist Shelby Foote Dies
By WOODY BAIRD
06/28/2005
Washington Post (DC)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062800723.html
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Novelist and historian Shelby Foote, whose Southern storyteller's touch inspired millions to read his multivolume work on the Civil War, has died. He was 88.
Foote died Monday night, his widow, Gwyn, said Tuesday.
Foote, a Mississippi native and longtime Memphis resident, wrote six novels but is best remembered for his three-volume, 3,000-page history of the Civil War and his appearance on the PBS series "The Civil War."
He worked on the book for 20 years, using a flowing, narrative style that enabled readers to enjoy it like a historical novel.
"I can't conceive of writing it any other way," Foote once said. "Narrative history is the kind that comes closest to telling the truth. You can never get to the truth, but that's your goal."
That work landed Foote a leading role on Ken Burns' 11-hour Civil War documentary, first shown on the Public Broadcasting Service in 1990.
"He was a Southerner of great intellect who took up the issue of the Civil War as a writer with huge sanity and sympathy," said Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, a friend and fellow Mississippi native.
Foote's soft drawl and gentlemanly manner on the Burns film made him an instant celebrity, a role with which he was unaccustomed and, apparently, somewhat uncomfortable.
Foote attended the University of North Carolina for two years and served in World War II, though he never saw combat.
Foote's first novel, "Tournament," was started before the war and published in 1949. Then came "Follow Me Down" in 1950, "Love in a Dry Season" in 1951, "Shiloh" in 1952 and "Jordan County" in 1954.
That same year, Random House asked him to write a one-volume
history of the Civil War. He took the job, but it grew into a
three-volume project finally finished in 1974.
In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Foote's "The Civil War:
A Narrative" as No. 15 on its list of the century's 100 best
English-language works of nonfiction.
Reading, he said, was as much a part of his work as writing.
After finishing his sixth novel, "September, September," in 1978, he took off three years to read.
Though hardly a recluse, Foote had long been known around Memphis as having little interest in parties and public gatherings. And he was often outspoken about his likes and dislikes.
"Most people, if the truth be told, are gigantic bores," he once said. "There's no need to subject yourself to that kind of thing."
Foote was born Nov. 7, 1916, in Greenville, a small Delta town with a literary bent. Walker Percy was a boyhood and lifelong friend, and Foote, as a young man, served as a "jackleg reporter" for Hodding Carter on The Delta Star. As a young man, he would also get to know William Faulkner.
During World War II, he was an Army captain of artillery until he lost his commission for using a military vehicle without authorization to visit a female friend and was discharged from the Army. He joined the Marines and was still stateside when the war ended.
"The Marines had a great time with me," he said. "They said if you used to be a captain, you might make a pretty good Marine."
He tried journalism again after World War II, signing on briefly with The Associated Press in its New York bureau.
"I think journalism is a good experience, having to turn in copy against deadline and everything else, but I don't think one should stay in it too long if what he wants to be is a serious writer," Foote said in a 1990 interview.
Early in his career, Foote took up the habit of writing by hand with an old-fashioned dipped pen, and he continued that practice throughout his life.
He kept bound volumes of his manuscripts, all written in a flowing hand, on a bookshelf in a homey bedroom-study overlooking a small garden at his Memphis residence.
Though facing a busy city street, the two-story house was almost hidden from view by trees and shrubs.
"If I were a wealthy man, I'd have someone on that gate," he said.
Foote said writing by hand helped him slow down to a manageable pace and was more personal that using a typewriter, though he often prepared a typed copy of his day's writing after it was finished.
Married three times, Foote has a daughter, Margaret Shelby, and a son, Huger Lee. He and Gwyn married in 1956, three years after he moved to Memphis.
--(8) 'Friends' donate artifacts to park service-----------------------------------------------------
'Friends' donate artifacts to park service
By CHARLES SCHILLINGER
06/27/2005
The Hanover Evening Sun (PA)
http://www.eveningsun.com/Stories/0,1413,140~9956~2940968,00.html
On the front of the card is simply printed the name, William Fisher.
On the back is a map leading people to a temporary grave of the lieutenant of the 10th U.S. Regulars, who was killed in the Wheatfield at the battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.
The card, along with a handful of other artifacts, was donated last week to the National Park Service on behalf of the Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg.
It may appear to be just a card, but it has special meaning to the Friends and the park service, who want to tell visitors a more complete story about soldiers like Fisher.
"What we feel is so important about finding artifacts like these is the tangible aspect of it," said Friends spokeswoman Dru Neil. "It helps people understand a little better what the ordeal was like."
The Friends also donated "cartes de visite" - which the Friends described as 19th-century photo calling cards - featuring some of the commanders at Gettysburg, including Gen. John Reynolds, left-wing commander of the Army of the Potomac killed early in the fighting.
The Friends received Civil War sketch books by artist Alfred Waud as a donation from Duncan Thecker of New Jersey. The organization in turn donated it to the park service.
A book from George Meade, son of Union Gen. George Meade, donated to the Friends had park service officials very excited, Neil said.
Gen. Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, and his son's book defends the elder Meade's actions during the battle. The book is also signed by Union Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, who commanded the 2nd Corps in the Army of the Potomac during the battle.
Park service spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said artifacts can help tell the full story of the battle - and in the case of Meade's book, tell the story behind the story.
"These contributions allow us to tell so much more about the life of the soldiers," she said.
Neil said the value of the items had not yet been ascertained by the park service. The Friends have contributed artifacts valued at $150,000 since 1992.
"The Park does an excellent job of using artifacts to help people understand the important events that took place at Gettysburg," said Friends' executive director David T. Booz. "We're thrilled that we can help."
--(9) North Carolina to have Civil War markers----------------------------------------------------
North Carolina to have Civil War markers
Officials hope signs will draw tourists
06/26/2005
Winston Salem Journal (NC)
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783504649
North Carolina has begun a new effort in its campaign for tourism dollars, unveiling Tuesday new signs in a "trail" of Civil War historical markers scattered from the Piedmont to the coast.
The trail is part of a years-long effort in North Carolina to attract cultural tourists - those visitors wanting a little education along with their vacation.
Cultural tourists stay longer and spend more than regular tourists - an average $102 a day versus $69 a day for regular tourists, said Lisbeth C. Evans, the secretary of the state Department of Cultural Resources.
Already, the state promotes the histories of African-Americans, the Cherokee tribe and mountain music, she said.
On Tuesday, state officials unveiled two of the first markers at a news conference on Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh.
Evans said that the department's role is to help residents and visitors understand the state's history and culture.
The signs will mark historical sites ranging from a Goldsboro
bridge burned by federal soldiers to a monument to U.S. Colored
Troops in Hertford.
By the end of the year, there will be 105 markers, all of them
in the Piedmont or the east. Eventually, the state will have about
250 markers, with many in the west, as well.
It was three years ago that North Carolina was approached to join other states in the Civil War Trails, said Jeffrey Crow, the deputy secretary of the state Office of Archives and History.
Money was found from a $1.1 million federal transportation enhancement grant. Local communities put up 20 percent matches - $275,000 total - and agreed to maintain the markers.
The state already has some highway markers - those tall, silver "history-on-a-stake" signs seen along roadways. Many feature Civil War trivia, but those markers must total fewer than 25 words, Crow said.
The Civil War Trails markers are full color and more expansive - several paragraphs long with photos and maps. Their design matches those in Virginia and Maryland.
--(10) Corinth's history tied to Civil War -----------------------------------------------------
Corinth's history strongly tied to Civil War
By Lena Mitchell
06/25/2005
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (MS)
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=196069&pub=1&div=News
CORINTH - Railroad construction in the mid-1800s raced toward the West, but along the way it also caused many Mississippi communities to bloom.
An 1854 railroad survey that pinpointed the crossing of the Memphis & Charleston and Mobile & Ohio railroads led to a settlement known as Cross City at this intersection, a town later renamed Corinth.
The town was still part of Tishomingo County, which was created in 1836, from lands that were originally in the Chickasaw Session, and Jacinto was the Tishomingo County seat.
It was not until 1870 that Tishomingo County was divided into three parts to form Alcorn, Prentiss and Tishomingo counties, and Corinth was named Alcorn County seat.
Corinth will roll out the red carpet today as a series of events begin to observe the community's 150th anniversary. The celebration will continue across three weekends.
Corinth and the Civil War.
The railroad junction at the heart of Corinth was considered critical by both factions of the American Civil War, said Corinth historian Margaret Green Rogers, who in 1987 wrote a book about it - "Civil War Corinth 1861-1865."
Rogers, 91, was curator of the Northeast Mississippi Museum here until 1998, when she retired. She continues to serve as one of its most devoted volunteers.
"Corinth ... was recognized by both Confederate and Federal commanders as being of such strategic importance that the village was occupied by one or the other of the forces from 1861-1865," Rogers wrote in a piece for the tourism bureau's Internet site.
In 1861, Rogers wrote, the town had a population of 1,200 and was a mobilization center for Confederate troops.
Seeking to retain control of the Corinth railroads, those troops
marched north of Corinth to engage Federal troops April 6-7, 1862,
in the Battle of Shiloh. The 44,000 Confederate troops fought
65,000 Union soldiers, retreating in defeat and later evacuating
Corinth.
Oct. 3-5, 1862, Confederates sought to retake the city in the
Battle of Corinth, considered the bloodiest battle in Mississippi.
A Battle of Corinth re-enactment is planned for Oct. 1-2, 2005
and is expected to attract thousands of re-enactors from across
the nation.
Corinth's Civil War Interpretive Center, which opened last year,
stands near the site of one of the most important physical remnants
of that war - earthworks at Battery Robinette. These earthworks
are considered to be the best preserved in the nation and are
a National Historic landmark.
Preservation efforts
Corinth was still a fledgling community when the Civil War burrowed deep into the town's life and evolution.
Keeping the places and stories of the community's past intact for future generations often means preserving those connections to the war.
The Siege and Battle of Corinth Commission has taken a lead in developing the Interpretive Center, the Contraband Camp which commemorates a freedman's village behind Federal lines and the Corinth Civil War Trail and other projects.
The Veranda-Curlee House Museum is an antebellum home reflecting an aspect of Civil War-era home life, and other facets of Corinth and Northeast Mississippi history are preserved at the museum of the same name, which will move to the restored Corinth train depot in 2006.
--(11) Battle Looms over Gettysburg Casino Plan-----------------------------------------------------
Nation
Battle Looms over Gettysburg Casino Plan
by Eric Niiler
06/28/2005
National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4718081
[Editor's Note: Excerpt appears below. Audio version of entire story appears on NPR website.]
Morning Edition. Developers want to build a casino just outside of a Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg. But many local residents and Civil War buffs say their town and nearby battlefield is the wrong place for gambling.
Developers want to build the 3,000-slot-machine Gettysburg Gaming Resort and Spa less than a mile away from East Cavalry Battlefield, where Confederate Gen. Jeb Stuart was defeated by George Custer, then a young Union officer, in 1863.
Backers of the project, who include a local business owner and six other investors, say it will create 800 new fulltime jobs and pump millions of dollars into the local economy. But critics say the project threatens to bring traffic problems and could bring problems like prostitution and crime to the region.
Preservationists already call U.S. Route 15, which runs from Gettysburg, Penn., to Monticello, Va., one of the most threatened historic roads in the country.
--(12) Gettysburg Casino Plan Starts Whole New Battle-----------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL DESK
Gettysburg Casino Plan Starts Whole New Battle
By FOX BUTTERFIELD
06/23/2005
New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00717F7355F0C708EDDAF0894DD404482
GETTYSBURG, Pa., June 22 -- Dick Waybright's family has been farming here since 1784, and he now owns the largest dairy farm in Pennsylvania, 2,400 head of Holstein cows, that graze here just miles from the Gettysburg battlefield.
Appalled by a proposal to build a casino with 3,000 slot machines near the battlefield, Mr. Waybright has joined a growing grass-roots movement to block it.
''What they fought this battle for was not gambling, but to stop slavery,'' Mr. Waybright, a former county commissioner, said.
The prospect of slot machines on this hallowed ground, he said, is an insult to the memory of the more than 165,000 men who fought here. ''How could they even think of putting something like that at Gettysburg?'' Mr. Waybright wonders.
The battle over the casino, which would be called the Gettysburg Gaming Resort and Spa, raises a question: With states increasingly competing among one another for revenue from gambling, is there any place that casinos cannot go?
The casino would not be the first near a Civil War battlefield. Four floating casinos operate near Vicksburg, Miss., where Gen. Ulysses S. Grant won a victory that split the Confederacy in two. And the current fight is one of many over development around Civil War sites; a proposal to build a Disney complex in Manassas, in Northern Virginia, was defeated, for example.
But Gettysburg should be off limits, opponents say.
''This goes to the very heart of our town,'' said Muriel Rice, who is 83 and married into a family that has grown apples and peaches here for eight generations.
Investors here want to use a law approved last year at the urging of Gov. Edward G. Rendell that would permit as many as 61,000 slot machines in Pennsylvania in an effort to reduce homeowners' property taxes by $1 billion a year. That would give the state the most slot machines after Nevada.
Under a complex formula, there would be 14 gambling sites in Pennsylvania, some at racetracks and resorts and five in stand-alone casinos. Two of these casinos must be in Philadelphia, with a third in Pittsburgh, so a Gettysburg casino would have to win one of the two remaining licenses from the new State Gaming Control Board. The board has sole authority to decide on the locations.
The State Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a constitutional challenge to the law. At the same time, however, the court agreed to restore power over zoning to local communities, but it did not alter the authority of the Gaming Control Board to decide where to locate the casinos.
Susan Paddock, the chairwoman of No Casino Gettysburg, said the decision did not really change Gettysburg's lack of power to determine its own fate. ''It's still undemocratic,'' Ms. Paddock said.
The lead investor is David LeVan, a Gettysburg native who owns Battlefield Harley-Davidson and is a retired chairman of Conrail. Mr. LeVan's role is causing anguish in this town of 8,000 because he is well liked and has been a generous contributor to local institutions.
He referred questions to John Brabender, a public relations executive in Pittsburgh.
The casino would be a mile and a half from the boundaries of the battlefield, Mr. Brabender said, ''and there won't be anyone dressed in Civil War costume.'' Moreover, he said, the casino will be tastefully designed, with no neon. ''We want it to be family friendly, the anti-Caesar's Palace,'' Mr. Brabender said.
He declined to say how big the complex would be, how many hotel rooms it would have or how much it would cost. Estimates in local newspapers have ranged from $200 million to $300 million, and with 3,000 slots, it would be a large casino, probably adding to traffic congestion.
Ms. Rice is one of many residents alarmed by the prospect of a big casino so close to what they believe is an unspoiled community of rolling farms on their outskirts, 19th-century brick houses in town and a national park with battlefield markers scattered inside and outside the town.
''They say the casino will be outside the battlefield,'' Ms. Rice said. ''But what the investors forget is that the battlefield is everywhere.''
''On the first day there was fighting in the streets of the town,'' she said, ''and throughout the three days' battle wounded soldiers were treated in churches and homes all over Gettysburg.''
Ms. Rice was attending a meeting Monday night called by a new organization, No Casino Gettysburg, in the town's middle-school auditorium.
Under the last law authorizing gambling in Pennsylvania, the Gaming Control Board will accept applications for licenses. The board is made up of seven members, three appointed by the governor and four by the leaders of the legislature. They have not yet determined the regulations for applying or indicated any positions.
The law also requires that all four members appointed by the legislative leaders agree on a site before it can pass.
Stephen R. Maitland, the local state representative, who lives in Gettysburg, has made his opposition known to the House speaker.
''I have three daughters growing up here,'' Mr. Maitland said, ''and I don't want them growing up with gambling. It is a moral issue to me and my constituents.''
Based on the telephone calls and e-mail he received after the investors announced their plan in April, Mr. Maitland said he believed that people in Gettysburg were strongly opposed to the casino. ''I stopped counting after I got to 250 no's and only 20 in favor,'' he said.
Supporters of the casino promote the prospect of job creation and a steadier flow of tourism.
Sue Gorman, an executive assistant at the local Holiday Inn, said she believed a casino would raise wages in the county.
''I've been to casinos; they're fun,'' Ms. Gorman said. ''You won't get rich, but I have no problem with it being close to the battlefield.''
Opponents are hoping national attention will help their cause. The Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, spoke at the Monday meeting, as did representatives of the Civil War Preservation Trust and the National Parks Conservation Association.
''Investors expected an easy victory against a small group of local citizens,'' Mr. Grey said. ''What they are getting is Pickett's Charge.''
Whatever happens, no decision will be made before sometime in 2006, said Nick Hays, a spokesman for the Gaming Control Board.
At the battlefield Wednesday, at the point where Pickett's Charge was turned back on July 3, 1863, Terry Binney, a tourist from Manhattan, Kan., looked in the direction where the casino would be built and said he hoped it would be defeated.
''I love progress, but there are some things you just don't do,'' he said. ''Too many men died here.''
Photo: A casino spokesman says the casino would be a mile and a half from the battlefield, ''and there won't be anyone dressed in Civil War costume.'' (Photo by Ryan Donnell for The New York Times)
Map of Gettysburg, Pa. highlighting proposed Gettysburg Gaming Resort and Spa: Local residents say the battlefield actually covers the whole town.
--(13) Proposed Casino Gets National Attention-----------------------------------------------------
Proposed Casino Gets National Attention
06/21/2005
WGAL-TV Channel 8 (PA)
http://www.thewgalchannel.com/money/4633856/detail.html
GETTYSBURG, Pa. -A proposed casino near Gettysburg is getting national attention.
Some Adams County residents heard two national groups offer their support in the fight against a slot machine casino outside Gettysburg Monday night.
They offered their support to a local grassroots effort called No Casino Gettysburg at a meeting that drew about 200 people.
"We stand with you and we'll what we can. In the end, this decision should be made by citizens, not a half dozen people up in Harrisburg," said Jim Campi, with Civil War Preservation Trust.
The State Gaming Commission will ultimately decide whether developers can build the casino and resort on what is now a driving range in Straban Township, about a mile and a half from the Gettysburg battlefield.
"It's not on the battlefield. It's not on hallowed ground," casino supporter Sue Gorman said. "Probably 80 percent of people in Gettysburg play the lottery or have played the slots. They just don't want it here. It's not always bad if you have right people."
"A battlefield is a park. You just cant inundate it with thousands of cars. It will detract from the historic experience," said James Lighthizer, with Civil War Preservation Trust.
In a town famous for a battle, this fight appears to be just getting started.
Several members of the national media attended Monday night's meeting.
News 8 talked with a reporter from the New York Times.
"I cover gambling issues for New York Times and this is a big hot issue all of a sudden. They are trying to put a gambling casino close to Gettysburg battlefield. That's hallowed ground," reporter Fox Butterfield said.
The No Casino Gettysburg group has 3,000 signatures on its petitions opposing the casino.
--(14) Civil War trail attracts tourists to region----------------------------------------------------
A new attraction for tourists to region
06/20/2005
Lynchburg News & Advance (VA)
http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783385615&path=!news!opinion
Another Virginia Civil War trail has the potential to add to tourism in Lynchburg and Central Virginia.
The trail, which follows the destructive path of Union Gen. David Hunter, opened earlier this month in Lexington. It ended at the Battle of Lynchburg on June 17 and 18, 1864.
There's no doubt about tourist interest in the Civil War, says Greg Starbuck, executive director of Historic Sandusky, the federal style house that has seen a lot of history here in nearly 200 years since it was built in 1808. Hunter used Sandusky as his headquarters for two days before Gen. Jubal Early drove him out of the city.
The Civil War Trails Web site gets 3,000 downloads a week and a 2003 Virginia Tourism Corp. report said the state got 85,000 requests for the Civil War, more than any other subject. Golf finished second with 50,000 inquiries.
"Hands down, the thing people want to know about when they visit our state is the tragic Civil War," said Starbuck, who is also chairman of the Hunter's Raid Trail Committee.
And he and others associated with the trails program are doing their best to accommodate those from all over the United States and elsewhere who want to know more about the Civil War and Lynchburg's role in it.
Mitch Bowman, executive director of Virginia Civil War Trails, pointed out that the driving trail beginning in Staunton and continuing through Lynchburg to Bedford and Roanoke, combines markers and brochures to follow Hunter's Raid.
"The route of Hunter's Raid in 1864 was witness to some of the most poignant and horrific scenes of the war," he said. Bowman added that a bonus for history buffs and travelers is that the route "also contains some of the most beautiful and scenic Virginia countryside to be found."
Hunter was instructed to lay waste to the Shenandoah Valley, known as the breadbasket of the Confederacy, and then proceed to Lynchburg, which had become an important supply and transportation center during the war.
Hunter's raid began with the battle of Piedmont on June 5, 1864, and then proceeded to Staunton, where his troops burned numerous buildings and supplies. In Lexington, he set fire to VMI and looted Washington College.
The general then headed for Lynchburg by way of Buchanan, Peaks of Otter and New London. Early turned him back in Lynchburg - partly by fooling his adversary into believing he had more than the 12,000 soldiers he had collected for the fight.
"Old Jube," as he was known, has been described by historian James I. Robertson Jr. in his biography of Stonewall Jackson as a substantial contrast in the Confederate officer corps noted for its aristocratic "flavors." Not Early. "He chewed tobacco as incessantly as he cursed and he carried a canteen that everyone was convinced was kept full of 'Old Crow,'" Robertson wrote. "A racy and pungent conversation was laced with bitter opinions about everything," he added, noting that Jackson admired Early's fighting qualities, but little else about him.
Early pursued Hunter and his soldiers for two days, catching them at Hanging Rock near Salem. Hunter escaped into West Virginia.
Visitors to Sandusky, meanwhile, will find a new exhibit gallery near the existing carriage house by next summer. City Council has approved a conditional use permit for construction of the new space, which the foundation will use to accommodate more people and display historical artifacts that aren't appropriate for the house.
Sandusky and the new Hunter's Raid trail are valuable parts of Virginia's Civil War Trails program. They will surely give tourists another reason to stop in Central Virginia to examine a part of its rich history.
---------------------------------------------------------
Jim Campi
Policy and Communications Director
Civil War Preservation Trust
1331 H Street NW, Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-367-1861
Fax: 202-367-1865
http://www.civilwar.org