Civil War 150 Action Plan, Summaries of History

Download Civil War 150 Action Plan and more Summaries History in PDF only on Docsity! Midwest Regional Office National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Civil War Sesquicentennial 2011-2015 An Action Plan for the Midwest Region of the National Park Service to Commemorate the Sesquicentennial of America’s Civil War May 2009 Civil War to Civil Rights 1 National Park Service Front cover: On the Battery by Andy Thomas. The painting depicts the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Abraham Lincoln, 1860. Library of Congress. Old Courthouse in St. Louis. NPS Photo National Park Service 4 The compact which exists between the North and the South is a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society resolution referring to the Constitution, 1843 where two sides fought to determine which ideals, and whether the nation itself, would endure and whether or not the promised land of the West would exist for the few or for all. During the war battles and skirmishes were fought literally by armed forces and figuratively within families, among neighbors, and in the political arena. Here, people like Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom, Abraham Lincoln became president in a heavily contested political race under threat of secession, the first and last battles of the war were fought, and Ulysses S. Grant began his rise in the Army’s officer ranks where he would emerge as a national hero. While those living in the North and South remained locked in an all or nothing ordeal, those in what is now the Midwest lived in an area born in compromise and offering a spirit of individualism and a hope of freedom. This area remained pivotal during and after Reconstruction, when African Americans struggled to begin new lives in northern industrial cities and in places like Nicodemus, Kansas, and when continued racism resulted in widespread segregation and discrimination in all aspects of society. It was also where this discrimination was challenged in the 20th century by students and their parents who sought equal educational opportunity in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas) case, and at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. From before America’s Civil War to the modern Civil Rights Movement and beyond, the people and places touched by the four rivers that become one in the Mississippi River fought an ongoing struggle to define the essence of union and the meaning of citizenship and equality in a nation founded on the belief that “all men are created equal.” 1 Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858. 2 Martin Luther King, Jr., “An Appeal to the Honorable John F. Kennedy[,] President of the United States[,] for a National Rededication to the Principles of the Emancipation Proclamation and for an Executive Order Prohibiting Segregation in the United States of America,” May 17, 1962. Quoted in Troubled Commemoration, p. 187. 3 The official name is the 1854 Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas. While the correct abbreviation is the Nebraska- Kansas Act, scholars and the general public use the term Kansas-Nebraska Act, which is used throughout this document. Below L to R: Elkhorn Tavern at Pea Ridge, circa 1880s, NPS Photo; The Little Rock Nine arrive at Central High School under federal troop escort, September 1957, NPS Photo; Dr. John Rankin House, Liberty Hill, Ripley, Brown County, Ohio. Library of Congress. 5 National Park Service Great as the evil [of slavery] is, a dismemberment of the union would be worse. James Madison, June 15, 1788, Virginia Ratifying Convention Introduction Unlike the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, or even the earlier 1961-1965 Centennial of the Civil War, no national commission has been established by Congress to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Legislation has been introduced in both houses of Congress, and Paul Hoffman, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Department of the Interior, appeared before the U.S. Senate on April 27, 2004 (coincidentally the 182nd anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant’s birth) in support of such legislation, with some modifications. In each instance the bill has been sent to committee and has not moved forward. Despite the lack of such a national commission, it is imperative that the National Park Service (NPS), as the primary steward of Civil War- related sites, work in partnership with state and local organizations to implement a plan for the commemoration. Many states, including Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas and Michigan, have established state commissions that are in varying stages of planning for the commemoration. Discussions with the state commissions have already begun, and these groups are anxious to partner with the NPS to ensure that visitors have the best opportunities to learn about the past and find relevance in their lives today. Numerous other organizations, re- enactment groups, veteran’s groups, etc., also are planning for the commemoration. Discussions with some of these groups also have begun, that will provide opportunities for engaging a wide audience through the many activities being planned for the commemoration. Since 1997 many individuals from Civil War-related units of the NPS have met to discuss opportunities for commemorating the Civil War. At the request of Congress, through House Report 110-187, the NPS submitted a plan for the Civil War Sesquicentennial in August 2008, including a proposed Action Plan to implement the findings, entitled Holding the High Ground: A National Park Service Plan for the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.2 While the plan has been submitted to Congress, and has the support of the Acting Director of the NPS, it has not received the attention or funding that was anticipated. As a result, no national leadership has emerged to fund and/or implement a national plan for the NPS commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the war. Many of the themes brought forward in the national plan, especially those that expanded the scope of the commemoration to include sites not traditionally considered Civil Of course, the 1954 [Brown v. Board of Topeka, KS] decision itself is one of the long line of direct consequences of the Civil War. One step led to the next, and one thing brought on another. James P. Coleman1 National Park Service 6 War-related sites (i.e., sites other than battlefields), can best be addressed through sites in the Midwest Region and surrounding states. Therefore, the national plan serves as a foundation for this plan, focusing on the important role that this region played throughout the antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, and 20th century periods. This plan sets forth ways in which parks in the Midwest Region of the National Park Service, along with interested parks in the Southeast and Intermountain regions (defined as those existing in areas of the Trans Mississippi West and beyond), and numerous state and local partners, may commemorate the sesquicentennial of America’s Civil War. The overall purpose of the various resource protection, interpretive and educational programs and activities is: To facilitate a deeper and broader public understanding and awareness of the significance of the events that precipitated the war, the war and its military actions, and Reconstruction, and the relevance to contemporary issues that are the legacy of the war, including the modern Civil Rights movement and human rights issues, in order to provide opportunities to make personal connections and allow for differing perspectives.3 At a preliminary planning meeting held in March 2008, representatives from NPS Civil War-related sites in the Midwest Region determined that planning and implementation for the commemoration should “strive to be inclusive in engaging partners, approaching the story, and delivering content.” In addition, the group indicated a desire “to highlight legacy sites such as Little Rock Central High School and Monroe School (Brown v Board NHS) to demonstrate that the effects of the struggle continued for more than 100 years and remain relevant today. It is also our intention to pool each individual site’s partners and contacts to ensure that we are reaching out to as many audiences as possible.”4 In response to the March 2008 meeting, a second planning meeting was held in St. Louis in mid-October, 2008, that included NPS representatives, as well as individuals from various state and local organizations, including Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, and representatives from the state Sesquicentennial Commissions in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.5 That meeting, too, stressed the need to reach out to underserved audiences and enhance current partnerships and develop new ones, among other recommendations noted elsewhere in this report. Recognizing that if one of the goals of the commemoration was to be as inclusive as possible it was necessary to make the planning stage equally inclusive, a small focus group was convened in early December 2008 with several members of the St. Louis community.6 The meeting began with a brief summary of the planning to date, along with ideas on ways to commemorate the sesquicentennial. The focus group members were then asked to suggest additional ideas, and especially to provide insight and expertise as to the means of engaging 9 National Park Service Why a Plan for This Area? While no one will dispute that America’s Civil War was a pivotal event in our nation’s history, and arguably an international event that will undoubtedly be recognized in many ways throughout the nation and perhaps the world, the states encompassing the “Civil War to Civil Rights” area are uniquely positioned to commemorate the causes of the war, the military, social, political and economic ramifications of the war, Reconstruction, and the consequences and legacy of the Civil War. Critical incidents in this area vividly demonstrate the fault lines and fissures that brought the nation to the brink of war, how it became the Trans-Mississippi western theater of ‘warfare’ both on the battlefield and the home front, and how it has been considered the promised land by many groups before, during, and after the war. Each of the points detailed below illustrate the importance of this area: Fault Line/Fissures Leading to War Since the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the epicenter of the constitutional and sectional crisis over slavery radiated from the border lands of the Ohio Valley and the Trans-Mississippi. The Ohio River marked the legal boundary between the northern state governments and their abolishment of slavery and the southern states where slavery remained legal. The sectional conflict over territories west of the Mississippi River threatened the national balance of power between the slave and free states. This border land between north and south, east and west is the place where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas emerged as national leaders debating slavery and the western territories; where runaway slaves and their supporters on the Underground Railroad defied Fugitive Slave laws; and where the national crisis devolved into war following the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott case, and the election of President Lincoln. Trans-Mississippi Western Theater of Warfare While most of the principal battles of the Civil War happened in the east, conflict in the Trans-Mississippi west halted the disintegration of the Union. During the early months of the Civil War, Arkansas seceded, and pro- Confederate and Union forces fought over Missouri. While Francis Blair ran political interference in St. Louis, Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon led a military force to secure the city and then took control of Missouri from secessionist Governor Claiborne Jackson. Missouri’s large population served as a source of recruiting for both sides, further dividing citizens in In all this I can but see the doom of slavery. Ulysses S. Grant to Frederick Dent, April 19, 1861. The cause of the great War of the Rebellion against the United States will have to be attributed to slavery. Ulysses S. Grant, the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. National Park Service 10 their loyalties to family and country. The August 10, 1861 battle of Wilson’s Creek, the second major engagement of the Civil War, left the victorious southern forces too weak to recapture the state, ultimately securing Missouri for the Union although guerrilla and military fighting in the state would continue throughout the war. Federal control of Missouri placed the state’s natural resources at the disposal of the North and provided President Lincoln a “gateway” for integrating the west as free agrarian land to fuel a national industrial economy. The war in the west often held little distinction between home front and battle front. In the Ozark hill country, family members and rural communities divided over the war, and the violence against people and property descended into general lawlessness. A mix of regular troops, state militias, guerrilla bands of jayhawkers and bushwackers, and local home guards terrorized and depopulated farming communities and, at times, entire towns. War here underscored the many and often complex personal reasons individuals and families picked sides and fought. The Ozarks was a place on the fringe of the cotton culture with few slaves, while pro-slavery sentiment was strong among many whites living along the Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas rivers. Going with the North or the South could have as much to do with who was an aggressor against whom and personal or political rivalries as with the larger issues of slavery, preserving the Union, or states’ rights. Just as these citizens chose sides, American Indians and recently arrived European immigrants supported the Union or Confederacy for reasons that were both personal and political; a chance to achieve their goal of self-determination or opportunity. “Promised Land”? The areas included in this region were viewed as “promised land” to citizens, immigrants, American Indians, runaway slaves, and free African Americans almost from the founding of the nation, yet each group held different views as to what that promise encompassed and meant to them, much as it does to citizens and immigrants today. Certainly, for American Indians originally living in Battle of Wilson’s Creek, August 10, 1861. Kurz & Allison Lithograph, 1893, Library of Congress. 11 National Park Service this area, or those forcibly removed to these lands, the continued westward migration of whites made those promises empty. During the war, American Indians fought on both sides, not primarily to support or abolish slavery, but in an effort to retain their ‘promised land.’ Prior to the Civil War, pro- and anti-slavery factions that struggled to gain control of territories held very different views of the promised land they wished to inhabit. During the war President Lincoln’s signing of the Homestead Act in 1862 helped to ensure western support for the war effort, but also resulted in the removal of those lands from American Indian control. After the war, the area continued to hold promise for many. Freedmen, hoping to escape racism and the violence it engendered, fled to cities such as St. Louis in large numbers, seeking opportunities for work and fair treatment. Many continued west, taking advantage of the Homestead Act themselves. The Great Exodus of blacks from the south in 1879 resulted in many settling in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma where they became known as Exodusters. The ideal of the promised land continued in the 20th century as African Americans struggled to regain the rights guaranteed as a result of the war and by the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. The Great Migration of the early 20th century brought many African Americans to Chicago, Detroit, and other northern cities to work in industrial jobs. Segregation and discrimination were challenged through the courts most vociferously in the field of education, and again, this area played a crucial role. The significance of the “Civil War to Civil Rights” area in the history of our nation, and especially in relation to the Civil War and its legacy, also is evidenced in the many books that have been published recently, including The Civil War’s First Blood: Missouri, 1854-1861; The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America; The Border Between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line; and Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America.1 Each of these books was reviewed in just one recent issue of the Missouri Historical Review published by the State Historical Society of Missouri; a strong indication of the importance of this area and the wide interest in learning about the past. 1 Denny, James and John Bradbury, The Civil War’s First Blood: Missouri, 1854-1861 , Boonville, MO: Missouri Life, 2007; Forbes, Robert Pierce, The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007; Neely, Jeremy,The Border Between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2007; and Jaspin, Elliott, Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America, New York: Basic Books, 2007. Surely, in 1963, one hundred years after emancipation, it should not be necessary for any American citizen to demonstrate in the streets for an opportunity to stop at a hotel, or eat at a lunch counter…on the same terms as any other American. John F. Kennedy, 1963 Quoted in From Slavery to Freedom, by John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss. Opposite L to R: Nicodemus Town Hall, NPS Photo; Homesteader, NPS Photo; Brown v. Board of Education NHS. National Park Service 14 Education and Interpretation In addition to the many park activities and programs that will be offered on a regular basis as part of normal operations to interpret site themes, the following items are suggested as ways for parks and sites to develop new interpretive and educational programs, and to partner with other parks, sites, and organizations to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and its legacy. Institute a Center for American Citizenship to explore issues affecting citizenship and civil rights for high school students with corporate sponsors, the Student Conservation Association, AmeriCorps-St. Louis, and other state and local organizations. Develop curriculum-based education programs and guides for individual parks and sites, as well programs that address state and region-wide themes; especially focused on 4th grade where most students first learn about this period in American history. Partner with the National Archives and Library of Congress to utilize the resources available through these agencies by appropriate parks and partners. Offer grants for transportation of school groups to sites, possibly part of larger fundraising campaign. Develop and present interpretive staff training on the causes of the war, the war itself, Reconstruction, and Civil Rights. Host or co-sponsor symposia and conferences on related themes and topics, both academic and for the general public. These could provide material for an A/V program; contribute to new publications, reflect new research/discoveries; and could feed into educational programs and personal interpretive services. Offer “webinars” with special scholars, etc. for people to comment/interact via websites Encourage parks and sites to partner with National History Day to encourage student involvement Develop publications and other media, including interpretive films, individually and with partners such as cooperating associations and historical associations. Develop exhibits to replace outdated museum exhibits, an exhibit that would present the national story, the Civil War to Civil Rights story, and blank space to present individual park/ site story for wherever the exhibit travels, and exhibits that could be placed in libraries, airports, other 15 National Park Service public places that would draw attention to the sesquicentennial that would highlight local sites/activities Host or sponsor re-enactments, living history programs, and theatrical programs, in compliance with park and NPS policies. Partner with local, state, and national media for a “Centennial Minute” read by one or more “high profile” individuals that would be aired on radio/television/ website of stations throughout the area/ nation Develop and enhance web sites that provide engaging and interpretive materials, not solely factual information Develop sales items in conjunction with cooperating associations Develop a regional and/or a national Junior Ranger program on Civil War to Civil Rights—actual or virtual Host or co-sponsor annual signature events throughout the region Utilize colleges/universities for publishing, A/V production, theater programs, training in public history, historical expertise and suggesting contemporary issues for consideration in the commemoration (perhaps from a younger point of view) Resource Protection and Development Implementation of this plan will strengthen the ability of parks, battlefields, and other Civil War-related sites to ensure that historic resources are protected and developed in time for the sesquicentennial. While general in nature, the following items were identified as crucial to fulfilling the NPS mission regarding its Civil War-related sites as well as those under other administrative entities. Land acquisition and protection for battlefields and Civil War-related sites Work with the Battlefield Protection Program, the Civil War Trust, and other agencies to acquire and preserve land that is crucial to interpretation of Civil War-related sites and legacy sites. NPS and partner sites would inform these organizations of their needs for land protection action. Resource protection includes museum collections, historic landscapes, structures, monuments and ruins. Ensure that these resources are preserved and maintained to ensure visitor National Park Service 16 satisfaction and accessibility, as well as resource security and protection. Construction projects Where necessary, construct new facilities as identified by superintendents according to NPS policies and procedures Establish a marker system, i.e., Grant’s trail through Missouri The Underground Railroad, 1893 Reproduction of a Painting by Charles T. Webber. Original in the Cincinnati Art Museum. Library of Congress. Appendix B Proposed Events and Activities Institute A Center for American Citizenship Develop a Center for American Citizenship that could be based in one specific location, i.e., the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, or be a program that many communities could emulate where the implications of citizenship are deeply entwined with the sense of place. The initial annual symposia series would run from 2011 until 2015, and would focus on the war and citizenry in the Civil War to Civil Rights region. Individuals from interested sites would coordinate the five symposia that could rotate among selected sites. Another alternative would be to have symposia held simultaneously throughout the region, to engage students and adults who may not be able to arrange travel to the annual symposium that might be in a distant location. This would allow more people to participate each year. While the initial series would run for five years, this effort could be continued afterwards, hosted by many sites that would choose to participate. The citizenship center would foster debate on the subject of what the words citizen, freedom, and courage mean in a constantly changing and diverse society. An annual National Student Citizenship Forum might be launched to discuss issues affecting citizenship and civil rights, from the perspective of high school students, with a different issue or major topic for discussion and held in a different location each year. The forum would promote character education and citizenship through an educational institute with an endowment to bring students to different park sites in the region to discuss issues. This program would focus on high school students while utilizing college students as mentors. Corporate sponsorship of scholarships for students to attend from other towns and cities would be promoted. The program could work with the Student Conservation Association, a long-time partner with the National Park Service, or AmeriCorps-St. Louis, a post-college educational outreach service. Cultural Leadership, a group in St. Louis, actively promotes diversity awareness among teenagers through a year-long leadership development organization and could also be a link to young people, seeking similar programs in other communities. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, 1863. 19 National Park Service While this first activity would focus on engaging youth, a series of symposia for adults would be developed as well, hopefully overlapping for one day in time so that both the adult learners and the younger students can interact with one another. Students in St. Louis’ Cultural Leadership program are trained to facilitate discussions on race and citizenship, and could be utilized to participate and lead discussions during the symposia. Other Education Components Develop curriculum-based education programs in conjunction with many of the events and activities, as well as web-based resources and traveling trunks and individual programs based on interpretive themes at sites. Curriculum guide for various themes, parks/sites and make available on-line. For many states, this should be addressed to 4th grade standards, where most students learn about the Civil War. Curriculum guide that would look at the larger Civil War to Civil Rights area, to be distributed throughout the region. Partner with the National Archives Take steps to promote the use of resources available through the National Archives regional offices by appropriate parks and partners. The National Archives-Central Plains Region in Kansas City, MO has produced and made available to the public, especially educators, three CD-Roms entitled The Civil War Era in the Midwest, that include documents ranging from the Camp Jackson Incident in St. Louis in May 1861, to sketches of the Union Army Camp in Iowa where soldiers were initiated into the army and where 300 Sioux were held following the 1862 uprising, to an 1865 map of Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis where a large military hospital operated during the war and the national cemetery of the same name was established, and many, many other documents. Many of these documents include lesson plans that educators can use to teach about the war in the classroom, and then they could visit the sites in the area to make the connection between the documents and the places associated with them. Interpretive Staff training A proposal has already been developed for an on-line training module on the Causes of the American Civil War, currently unfunded. The original proposal was developed as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial project in the NPS, and the first workshop was held in 2007. Bringing this training module online through Eppley Institute would benefit all National Park Service 20 Civil War-related sites in preparing to discuss the difficult issues of slavery and race. Additional training programs should be initiated for interpretive staff regarding the unique aspects of the war, Reconstruction, and the legacy of the war, including the modern Civil Rights Movement in this region. Staff exchanges within the NPS and with partner sites and organizations Partner with Organization of American Historians (OAH) and others to conduct some of the training for front-line staff. Utilize the current agreement between OAH and the NPS to conduct on-site reviews of interpretive and education programs at National Park Service sites related to the Civil War to Civil Rights theme. Develop speaker’s bureau for multi-theme related topics Staff training on interpreting controversial subjects through NAI, OAH. This might require corporate funding. Programs of this nature could also be offered on-line. Ideas for Topics for Symposia/Conferences The states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas have planned five symposia already, as follows: • 2010 – Oklahoma: Politics and the Cause of War • 2012 – Missouri: War in the Trans-Mississippi • 2013 – Arkansas: The Civilian Plight • 2014 – Kansas: Military Events that Shaped the War • 2015 – Oklahoma: The End and Consequences of the War Whether the Confederacy had a legal right to secede from the Union at that time, and the legality of requiring the Confederate states to ratify the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution before being readmitted if they did not have the right to secede. New scholarship on the topic of secession is being written by former NPS Chief Historian Dwight Pitcaithley, who could serve as a conference speaker on this topic. Civil War battles in the region These could provide material for an A/V program; contribute to new publications, reflect new research/discoveries; and could feed into educational programs and personal interpretive services These symposia/conferences could be academic in nature, or for general public Offer “webinars” with special scholars, etc. for people to comment/interact via websites National History Day Individual parks and sites may consider partnering with National History Day in their communities to encourage middle and high school students to develop exhibits, 21 National Park Service All related websites should provide engaging and interpretive materials, not solely factual information Second Life: This virtual reality website with a worldwide audience may be a way to market, and interest people in visiting the sites Create a discussion question of the week (or month) to which people would respond to create a virtual discussion Follow the “Ask a Ranger” model of the NPS WebRangers site to allow people to ask questions. Use other emerging electronic media to promote interaction between the public and the parks, such as Facebook. Sales Items Work with cooperating associations, some of which are already developing sales items for the sesquicentennial and then market properly to get them out. Suggested items might include: • Video games • Patches • Mugs • Pens • Trading cards • Commemorative pins • Use historic individuals from various sites to create “game” that would follow that individual through time. This could be developed as a trading card program, and expanded to allow children/individuals to create their own website people based on family histories that would interact with one another. • Passport-like program on Civil War to Civil Rights Develop a list of scholarly works related to the Civil War to Civil Rights theme for cooperating associations to sell. Regional/National Junior Ranger program on Civil War to Civil Rights—actual or virtual Host or Co-Sponsor annual signature events throughout the region Activities of similar nature held at various parks/sites on same day • Appeal to public for photos, diaries, etc., that could be copied for site reference and shared • Hold a “Descendants Day” to allow visitors to learn about and share genealogy resources such as that held at Fort Smith National Park Service 24 Appendix C Current Events/Activities/Projects In Planning Stages The following list demonstrates only a small portion of the wide variety of projects already planned by various organizations throughout the region. It provides a starting point for how National Park Service sites in this area might partner with other interested groups to accomplish the goals stated in the plan. Oklahoma Sesquicentennial Commission National Symposium—Mississippi Region Conferences—to involve academia Publications—magazine Web site Curriculum guide Legacy program Special events—national reenactment Town meetings Meetings with tribes, other CW groups, friends groups, etc. Missouri Department of Natural Resources Exhibits—border wars; role of Germans in CW Historic marker program (some on private land) Special events—re-enactments Land acquisition (CW site) New Visitor Center at one site CW planning group to identify key sites for 150th—especially in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Planning Group • 2011 – Prelude to War: Camp Jackson Affair, Dred Scott case, the Missouri History Museum will open its Civil War Missouri exhibition, slavery in Missouri, Missouri Compromise, 1861 Missouri Constitutional Convention • 2012 – Soldiers’ Experience: Troop training, Civil War hospital and medicine, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery tours, a symposium on “Black and Red” troops, reenactment at Ft. Davidson • 2013 – Politics of War: Talks, theatrical performances and living history demonstrations such as prisoners of war, Martial Law in Missouri, the Oath of Allegiance in Missouri, Guerilla warfare, the Alton, IL prison site, statuary, monuments, and markers tours 25 National Park Service • 2014 – Home Front—Everyday Life: Recreation of the Western Sanitary Fair held in 1864 in St. Louis, tours of historic homes, discussions of women’s life, religious life (including tours of churches and synagogues from the period), reenactment of Victorian funeral practices • 2015 – Reunion & Legacy of the War: Reenactment of traditional Memorial Day events, presentation of Missouri’s 1865 Constitution abolishing slavery, tours of Union and Confederate memorials • In addition to these annual themes and events, each year various hotels might offer Victorian hotel packages, and a period ball might be held as part of the weekend events. [State Commission established, but not active as of 3/09] Arkansas Sesquicentennial Commission Meeting of key agencies/organizations developed mission statement Generated legislation Encourage local observances of local stories Encourage educational programs Historic marker program initiated Scholarship program (understudied areas) Special event on secession convention Relevance of Civil War today (special event) Budget request to legislature Web site development with volunteer assistance that includes education section with links to on-line curricula Partnership activities Indiana Brochure has been developed of driving route to follow John Hunt Morgan through the state Display of war flags as a traveling exhibit In addition to the events listed above, individual units of the NPS are also utilizing existing programs and developing new ones to commemorate the sesquicentennial. Some of these activities are listed below. Brown V. Board of Education NHS Self-guided walk on national themes Participation in National History day Use of documentary films Visiting Scholar program National Park Service 26 Appendix D List of MWR Park Units by Theme The following list demonstrates the significance of this region in our nation’s history as it relates to the causes of the war, the Civil War itself, and the legacy of the war. Each of the themes can be discussed from multiple perspectives by the sites listed according to their individual site themes, allowing for differing perspectives that acknowledge the complexities of the past. Fault line/Fissures Leading to the War Arkansas Post NM, Arkansas Buffalo National River, Arkansas Hot Springs NP, Arkansas Homestead National Monument of America, Nebraska Lincoln Home NHS, Illinois Ulysses S. Grant NHS, Missouri Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, all states Trans-Mississippi Western Theater of ‘Warfare’ Arkansas Post NM, Arkansas Buffalo National River, Arkansas Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP, Ohio Fort Davis NHS, Texas Fort Larned NHS, Kansas Fort Scott NHS, Arkansas Fort Union Trading Post NHS, North Dakota Homestead National Monument of America, Nebraska Hot Springs NP, Arkansas Lincoln Home NHS, Illinois Ulysses S. Grant NHS, Missouri Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, all states “Promised Land?” Brown v. Board of Education NHS, Kansas Buffalo National River, Arkansas Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP, Ohio Fort Davis NHS, Texas Fort Larned NHS, Kansas 29 National Park Service Fort Scott NHS, Arkansas Fort Union Trading Post NHS, North Dakota Homestead National Monument of America, Nebraska Hot Springs NP, Arkansas Lincoln Home NHS, Illinois Little Rock Central High School NHS, Arkansas Nicodemus NHS, Kansas Ulysses S. Grant NHS, Missouri National Park Service 30 Until justice is blind, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. Lyndon B. Johnson, Speaking at Gettysburg, 1963 Midwest Region National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior