Virginia Gears Up for Civil War’s 150th Anniversary, by Bentley Boyd

9/10/2008 Hampton Roads Daily Press (VA)

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - It’s not much of a war between the states - Virginia is clearly winning.

The Old Dominion was the first to start planning for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and it continues to lead as the Congress holds back, wary of a misstep in commemorating a war that still causes arguments.

“The whole country is looking to us to see what we’ll do. North Carolina has just created a commission, and West Virginia is working with us, but we’re moving and shifting gears. We’re rounding first and heading for second,” said James Robertson, historian and head of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech.

It’s not much of a stretch. The war crisscrossed the state, and many reenactors still trace the footsteps of the troops. Virginia had the first major battle of the war, hosted the capital of the Confederate States of America and witnessed the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army. More than 60 percent of all the battles in the war were fought in Virginia.

Kicking up the intensity of Civil War events already held each year in Virginia shouldn’t be too hard. But is there a risk that the 150th events will cement a stereotype that Dakotans or Californians hold of Virginia - that the Old Dominion is still fixated on “the Lost Cause?” “This is not about getting into that debate of whether the war was about slavery or about states’ rights,” said state Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, who sits on the commission. “We can’t say that it didn’t happen. We can just say we will look at every aspect. It’s not just the battles. It’s about the people. We’re going to look at it from a real human perspective, because it’s also about the people who stayed home to protect their families.”

John Quarstein, historian for the city of Hampton and a consultant to Newport News, said: “It’s going to be marketed differently. It’s the story of a war about freedom. We’re not waving the same old flag.”

The six years of anniversary events begin in April with a free conference in Richmond to describe America in 1859. In June, John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry will be remembered. From there it becomes a marathon of memorials to the battles and skirmishes that affected every locality in Virginia. “When you say ‘Civil War,’ we can put you in 30 different sites in just Hampton and Newport News,” Quarstein said.

That geographic scope and the length of the anniversary make this a different undertaking from last year’s commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. There were local committees and events tied to the Jamestown marketing, but those were hampered by a scarcity of 1607 touchstones. “Jamestown’s commemoration was instructive, but it’s not exactly the same,” said William J. Howell, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and chairman of the 150th committee. “Not to downgrade the significance of the 400th, but it was one point in time in one place in Virginia. The Civil War was four years and covered almost every point in Virginia.”

The Civil War remains in the soil here. Virginia has more than 400 Civil War sites linked by the signage of a Civil War Trails program. Already, 79 cities and counties in the state have formed sesquicentennial committees to plan events.

Those committees will be the engine driving the 150th. Whereas the local events for Jamestown hung off of centralized planning and marketing of Peninsula museums, there is no one Civil War museum that will be the focus of Virginia’s efforts. “For example, on May 5 we will do something about the Battle of Williamsburg. The extent of it is going to depend on the local committee and what they want to do,” Quarstein said. “We need to get organized and market what we already have. Every year, I celebrate the Battle of the Ironclads and the Battle of Big Bethel, but now the glare of the spotlight will be on us. It gives us a chance to do more.”

And do more through mobility. Last month, the commission announced it received $40,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make traveling exhibits about the war. One version will cover 4,000 square feet and visit seven sites in Virginia through 2015; a second will fit into a tractor-trailer truck and go across Virginia and into other states. That truck fills a gap left open so far by the federal government. Unlike with Jamestown’s anniversary, there is no national planning body for the 150th. A bill to establish a federal Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission was introduced in the House of Representatives in February 2007 but has languished in committee ever since.

Robertson was part of the planning for the centennial of the Civil War back in the early 1960s. He sees important differences in the mood of the country, which may explain the reluctance of Congress. “The nation is not in the mood to mark its past now, as it was in the centennial. We’re divisive politically, racially and ethnically,” he said. “It’s hard to get five Americans to agree on anything for any length of time. We’re more negative now. It’s going to be tough.”

But he also sees opportunity. The centennial commemoration didn’t do enough to educate young people about the war and its legacy, he said. Now his Virginia Center for Civil War Studies is working with a public television station to make videos about the war that will go to each school in the state next year. “We’re going to tell the facts without embellishment and tell the story of Virginia during the war. We hope it will spur other states to make their own films. North Carolina has a great story to tell. South Carolina has a great story. Kids don’t read books anymore. From the moment they’re weaned they have a screen in front of them. Someone wanted to write a book for this but we decided a film would be better.”

Locke said the Civil War committee is moving so well now because it learned from Jamestown 2007 to begin planning early, to be inclusive and to be ready for the inevitable criticism. “We’re going to touch on every aspect of the event and not focus on one or two things. The inclusiveness will help generate the audience,” Locke said.

Proposed Visitor Center Admission Fee Produces Spirited Objections at Hearing By Scott Andrew Pitzer

9/19/2008 Gettysburg Times (PA)

A standing-room-only crowd attended a public meeting Thursday night at the new Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center to learn about an admissions proposal that the park and its management partner are considering for the three major attractions at the $103 million complex.

The proposal is contentious because it includes charging visitors a $7.50 admission to see the previously free artifact museum, with the Cyclorama painting and feature film.

“I feel that the collection of artifacts should be free to the American people,” said Walt Jones, representing the Rosensteel family whose donation of nearly 40,000 artifacts is the foundation of the park’s collection. “When they donated those relics, they specified that the relics should be passed onto the people of the United States free of charge.”

Many of the 100 or so people in attendance criticized the proposal, and suggested cost-cutting alternatives.

“At a salary of $392,735, it would take 52,364 people paying $7.50 just to pay (Gettysburg Foundation President) Bob Wilburn’s salary,” said Gettysburg businessman Gene Golden.

GNMP Supt. Dr. John A. Latschar replied: “In a small community like this, you get what you pay for. Mr. Wilburn has raised $115 million for us and this project. There are only a certain amount of people that can raise that kind of money.”

Revenue projections are not being reached at the new 139,000 square-foot facility, which opened in April, so the park and its nonprofit partner, the Gettysburg Foundation, are considering an all-inclusive $7.50 ticket to see the museum, a 22-minute movie and the restored Cyclorama painting.

“If anyone here believes that the decision hasn’t been made, you’re naive,” said park critic Franklin Silbey. “Nothing that anyone says here tonight will change their decision. How many promises have they made and now broken?”

Latschar admitted during a recent press briefing that the figures used by consultants during the planning stages of the project, which dates back 14 years, were flawed, so the park and foundation are now mulling revenue generating solutions. The foundation is responsible for paying down the project’s debt ($15 million), as well as covering the facility’s operational costs.

“The whole concept was that there wasn’t to be one cent of taxpayer money used to fund anything,” said developer Bob Monahan Jr., whose visitor center proposal was vetoed in the late 1990s in favor of York area businessman Robert Kinsley’s proposal. “Two reasons were given to me why my proposal wasn’t selected - I was proposing a $3 fee to see portions of the museum, and my project was $40 million, which I thought was reasonable at the time. Now look at the costs.”

About $36 million in state and federal funding are being used to subsidize the project.

“There is a lot of reason for skepticism when it has to do with money within these walls,” said Gettysburg businessman Eric Uberman. “We were sold on no commercialism or tax dollars, but as Dr. Latschar has said, that is no longer true. We also had Mr. Kinsley stand up before Congress and say that this was his gift to America - it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

The park’s General Management Plan of 1999 does not forecast a fee to the museum. Gettysburg National Military Park is home to one million Civil War artifacts, and about 1,500 relics are on display in the new exhibit gallery.

“That’s why we’re here tonight,” explained Latschar. “Anything we consider that’s not in (the plan) must be taken before public comment.”

Only 23 percent out of about one million people who have visited the facility since it opened in April have paid to see the film. The park’s original revenue projections counted on about 33 percent of the facility’s visitors watching the movie, which had been priced at $8.

“The film is very good, but it is no substitute for the Electric Map,” said Jones, whose remarks were punctuated by a boisterous round of applause.

Many of the 100 people who sat through the 2.5 hour meeting represented the Gettysburg business community.

“Most of the attractions in town are in the $7.25-$7.50 range,” said Tammy Myers, of the American Civil War Museum on Steinwehr Avenue.  “It just seems like some of the local businesses might be undercut. I’d like to see you be a good neighbor.”

If the current fee proposal is not approved by the National Park Service, Wilburn acknowledged that there is a Plan B.

“Cut expenses as much as we can, and market the other venues that we have as much as we possibly can,” Wilburn said. “We’re going to have to cut costs to the bone.”

Written comment on the proposal is being accepted through the end of the month, and a decision could be made as early as the first week in October.

Gettysburg Gallery Creates Larger-Than-Life Experience, By Paul Peirce

9/21/2008 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s_588335.html

It is said Battle of Gettysburg veterans were so overwhelmed by the reality of French artist Paul Philippoteaux’s colossal 377-foot Cyclorama painting at its 1884 unveiling in Chicago that some openly wept.

On Friday, when the Gettysburg Foundation and the National Park Service welcome visitors to the new Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama Gallery as part of the grand opening of the $103 million museum and visitors complex, those in attendance may not weep, but Civil War aficionados and tourists likely will be stunned by the work.

The Cyclorama, which depicts Pickett’s Charge, is the United States’ largest oil painting. At $15 million, it has undergone the most expensive refurbishment of an oil painting in the nation’s history. As part of the five-year project, it was cleaned, repaired and restored to its original dimension; approximately 12 feet of sky was added, stretching its height to 42 feet.

While a team of about 20 conservators headed by David L. Olin of Great Falls, Va., were working on the painting, which depicts the decisive battle where Union armies beat back Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s assault on Northern territories, they uncovered more than 20 soldiers who disappeared under “gobs of paint that were splashed to cover up imperfections,” according to Sue Boardman, a historian for the conservation project. “It weighs about six tons, and I’m told four tons of it is oil paint,” Gettysburg National Park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon says.

But the real shock is the painting’s new home, which gives observers the illusion they are standing in the middle of the battlefield as the third day of the renowned battle is taking place. To give viewers that feeling, the painting was designed to include a three-dimensional diorama, a lifelike landscape stretching into the painting and a sky that disappears into an overhead canopy.

Visitors view the work atop a 30-foot platform. “These features have not been seen for more than a century when it was originally displayed. This building actually fits the painting, whereas the old building was too small,” Boardman says.

“It actually hung there like a shower curtain. Some parts were on the floor,” she says. “The roof had a lot of leaks. And the air conditioning intake actually was in the corner behind a portion of the painting, so for about 40 years, the painting was utilized as an air conditioning filter,” Lawhon says.

Olin, who operates Olin Conservation, says that the Cyclorama never was intended to “stand on its own as a painting or as a snapshot of the battle’s landmarks.” “It was to be an experience — to be wholly absorbed and felt. It was to inspire awe and amazement. Now, for the first time in more than a century, viewers will once again enter a realm in which their senses will, if just for a moment, place them in the midst of the battle,” Olin says.

A three-day grand opening weekend Friday through Sept. 28 not only will celebrate completion of the Cyclorama painting, but also bring together a variety of three-dimensional, interactive, hands-on experiences that immerse visitors throughout the 139,000-square-foot museum. The old center was about 78,000 square feet.

The new museum opened in April.

The fate of the Cyclorama’s former building and museum, built in the
1960s, has spawned a federal lawsuit from preservationists who argued that it should be maintained as a memorial and historical landmark.  Despite the ongoing litigation, park officials are optimistic that demolition of both buildings will begin in the fall.

Also during this week’s opening, one of five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address will be on display, on loan from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill.

“While most of our museum and visitors center offers a 21st century museum experience, the new Cyclorama painting presents a unique opportunity; the opportunity to view the 1863 battle in the same context that battle veterans did when they first saw the painting toward the end of the 19th century,” says Robert C. Wilburn, president and CEO of the Gettysburg Foundation.

Tickets to the Cyclorama Gallery also will include the film “A New Birth of Freedom” narrated by Morgan Freeman and featuring the voices of Sam Waterston and Marcia Gay Harden. The film tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The new museum is about two-thirds of a mile from the old location, according to Dru Ann Neil, director of communications at the museum. The old site was in an important battle area; the new one is on land that saw no major battle action.

“This was a staging area,” Neil says.

The center is a red and gray stone structure that resembles a barn. Neil says the museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the battle and its context in the Civil War. On display are the National Park Service’s priceless collections of objects, artifacts and archival materials.  In addition to the museum, with its 12 exhibit galleries and interactive and multimedia stations, the facility includes a resource room and bookstore. The Refreshment Saloon includes Civil War-era menu items such as hardtack — hard biscuits made of flour, salt and water.

The artifacts include rifles, handguns and knives recovered from the battlefields, field camp equipment used by Lee, uniforms and musical instruments of Confederate and Union troops recovered after the battle, and a display of other artillery shell fragments.  Visitors can peek at original letters sent to loved ones by soldiers and personal diaries of Gettysburg residents.

Another change is that visitors can use touch-screen computers to learn how to decipher bugle calls, decode signal corps flag messages and locate battlefield monuments.

The Gettysburg National Military Park preserves the 6,000-acre Gettysburg Battlefield, site of the largest battle fought in North America. It was at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, adjacent to the battlefield, that Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address Nov. 19,1863.

On Feb. 12, 2009, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, the National Park Service will open the David Wills House in Gettysburg. Lincoln put the finishing touches on the speech at the house.

The Gettysburg Foundation is a private, nonprofit educational organization working in partnership with the National Park Service to enhance preservation and understanding of the heritage and lasting significance of Gettysburg.

Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport

Here is the link for our hotel next year. 

http://www.hiltongardeninn.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=CHSAHGI

Of course you do NOT need to make reservations through the hotel, but WILL need to make reservations through Virginia Tech as soon as they get it set up.

Here are a couple more details of the seminar:

Date:  June 21 - 27, 2009

Cost:  $1150 per person, double occupancy; $1575 per person, single occupancy; $750 per person, commuter.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again (sent by Pat Sumner)

Check out this YouTube video… with vintage photos and inspiring music.

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfitC5PV1M8&feature=email

Witness Trees at Gettysburg (sent by Pat Sumner)

Witness trees provide last living link to battle By ERIN JAMES Evening Sun Reporter Article Launched: 08/17/2008 07:01:33 AM EDT

A witness tree at Devil’s Den presides over the battlefield. There is no official number of remaining trees that stood when cannon and rifle fire erupted in July 1863. Only parts of the battlefield have been surveyed by experts who can identify a 145-year-old tree, and few photographs show trees still standing. There are perhaps a dozen trees alive today that witnessed the day the Civil War came to Gettysburg. (Evening Sun Photo by James Robinson) Purchase reprints of Evening Sun Photos at EveningSunPhotos.Com.

Union and Confederate soldiers who fought at Gettysburg have long since passed. So, too, have the residents who sought shelter in basement cellars while musket and cannon fire engulfed their town.

But a handful of trees that were there then still stand tall today on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

They are the silent survivors of the July 1 through 3, 1863, battle that historians say was the turning point of the Civil War.

Officials at the Gettysburg National Military Park call them the “witness trees.”

There is no official number on how many remain because no one knows for sure. Only parts of the battlefield have been surveyed by experts who can identify 145-year-old trees. And photographic evidence solidifies the history of only a few. Yet the public’s interest in the trees’ unique brand of living history has not waned.

The storm that damaged a famous honey locust tree in the National Cemetery last week garnered national attention and inquiries as to what would happen to wood from the branches knocked to the ground by wind.

“It’s always amazing how passionate people are about witness trees at Gettysburg,” said Park Service spokeswoman Katie Lawhon.

In an Associated Press article about the storm damage, park historian John Heiser was quoted as saying only four witness trees - including the honey locust on Cemetery Hill - remain in the heart of the battlefield.

But Heiser, unavailable for further comment this week, was most likely referencing the most-famous trees, the ones easily identified by members of the public, Lawhon said. In fact, there are likely dozens of trees left on the 6,000-acre field from the time of the battle, she said.

Seven have long been documented as witness trees, and Lawhon said about a dozen more have been identified over the years through the park’s rehabilitation program to restore the field to a landscape more closely resembling what it looked like in 1863. Witness trees are preserved when they are identified through the project.

But only parts of the battlefield have been studied that closely.

“There are so many wooded areas on the battlefield,” Lawhon said. “There’s definitely more out there.”

A sapling at the time of the battle, a huge white oak tree now stands alone on a hill overlooking Devil’s Den - the site of Smith’s Battery, which held the Confederates off Houck’s Ridge until it was literally overrun.

The tree was spared during the park’s recent cuttings of non-historic trees.

But judging by the deliberate building of an avenue around its roots, its significance has long been

Another three stand on Culp’s Hill, where the two opposing armies traded gunfire for two days. Here the Confederates attacked the hill held by Union forces, but the Rebs were never able to dislodge the Union troops of Greene’s brigade and their reinforcements. The hill was a more popular tourist spot soon after the battle because of the shot-up trees and log wall - long since deteriorated - used as protection by Union forces.

Just inside the tree line off the Culp’s Hill tour road near the monument to the 78th and 102nd New York regiments, the first, a giant white oak, dominates the woods. A makeshift wooden sign identifies it as the “God Tree,” and several American and Confederate flags sit at its base. The tree’s unusual shape is tough to miss. It’s believed a shell was shot through the trunk during the fighting, causing it to grow almost as two individual trees. Efforts to save the tree are still visible by the concrete someone used to fill the wound.

The other two witness trees on Culp’s Hill stand practically side by side, separated only by a boulder. A photograph taken by Matthew Brady 12 days after the battle shows the two trees, much smaller in 1863.

A fifth witness tree hides in plain sight off Hancock Avenue, the road that takes tourists through a line of monuments commemorating Pickett’s Charge and the Union’s victory there. Its smaller size is deceiving, but the Gibbon Tree is likely the last witness tree in the center of the battlefield. The black walnut is named for Union Gen. John Gibbon, the divisional commander whose units bore the brunt of Pickett’s Charge. Gibbon was wounded in the vicinity of the tree and is supposed to have rested under it.

The tree’s roots run under the road, stunting its growth and numbering its days.

Across from Abraham Trostle’s farm, a sixth tree with a massive circumference marks the scene of brutal fighting between advancing Confederates and the 9th Massachusetts artillery battery.

But the swamp white oak is most associated with Union Gen. Daniel Sickles, whose headquarters was located in the nearby house.

The seventh is the honey locust damaged in last week’s storm.

It stands just 150 feet from the platform on which President Abraham Lincoln delivered his most-famous speech. The only witness tree in the cemetery, battlefield guides often point it out to visitors.

And though it was severely damaged in the storm, park officials say it wasn’t destroyed.

The trunk and several living branches remain. Lawhon said honey locust is a species that tends to sprout new growth, so officials are optimistic.

“We are hoping that the tree will recover,” she said. “It’s not pretty, but it’s alive.”

None of the seven trees are officially marked to inform battlefield visitors of their witness-tree status.

Park officials reserve that honor for battle-related significance, Lawhon said.

“I think we do have to recognize that while Gettysburg does have these beautiful old trees, the monumentation on the battlefield is definitely more directed toward the fighting of the battle,” she said.

The seven witness trees on Gettysburg’s battlefield represent just a portion of the likely total.

That’s because only in recent years have more been identified through the park’s rehabilitation project. Officials say about a dozen more have been given witness-tree status since the project began. And Lawhon said she expects they’ll find more.

But no complete studies have been done on the topic, and no official documentation exists, Lawhon said.

“There are probably even more in areas where we haven’t done studies,” she said. “We haven’t created a complete listing or map of these trees.”

Randy Krichten, the park’s biological science technician, said only a handful of trees have gone through the proper testing to determine their age, and he too expects more are scattered throughout the battlefield.

“There a lot of other trees throughout the woods that would potentially be witness trees,” he said.

During the rehabilitation project, researchers sometimes had to make an educated guess when deciding what should be removed and what should remain .

They tend to err on the side of caution, leaving trees that may or may not be from the time of the battle. That happened in parts of the Codori-Trostle thicket, where there remain some confirmed witness trees and others surveyors aren’t sure about, Krichten said.

“There’s a handful in there,” he said. “Personally, I don’t think that all the trees that were left in the Codori thicket are historic trees.”

Determining the exact age of a tree is not as simple as counting rings, Krichten said. It requires researchers to “core” the tree and then send the sample off to a lab to be analyzed, he said.

“It’s pretty time-consuming to take a core and then to properly read it,” Krichten said.

Lawhon said it’s possible the Gettysburg National Military Park could document witness trees someday, but it’s an undertaking that requires time and money the park doesn’t have now.

As for how long the remaining witness trees could live on, Krichten said it depends on a number of factors.

The species of the tree is one thing, but natural elements are more likely to destroy older trees.

The longer a tree has been around, the more vulnerable it is to wind and ice, he said.

“They can’t tolerate extremes as well,” Krichten said. “That could be a factor that could kill them pretty fast.”

Gettysburg’s witness trees are not limited to only those located within the park’s 6,000-acre boundary.

In downtown Gettysburg, a sycamore tree towers over Alumni Park just off the sidewalk along Baltimore Street.

Unlike the park trees, this one is marked by a plaque which reads: “President Lincoln passed by this tree on November 19, 1863.”

The plaque was dedicated by the Civil War Preservation Trust in 1978.

Though it is not within the park’s congressionally designated boundary, the Baltimore Street tree likely saw fighting. Nearby Winebrenner’s Run was the edge of the Confederate skirmish line, and men fought there at the old Wagon Hotel, where a convenience store now sits.

Others could remain in the borough from the time of the battle, but there’s no complete list of those either.

Some locals are wondering if, in the same storm that damaged the honey locust, another witness tree was taken down.

Borough Manager John Lawver said crews had to remove a large tree near the borough office on High Street after winds knocked it over.

“There’s a lot of word on the street that it was a witness tree because of the size of it,” he said. “I mean, you couldn’t get your arms around it.”

Lawhon said the Park Service turned the wood from the downed branches over to the Gettysburg Foundation, a nonprofit organization that partners with the park on various preservation projects.

Lawhon said she didn’t believe any decision had been made yet on what to do with the wood, but it would likely be used to raise funds for preservation money, she said.

Gettysburg Foundation spokeswoman Dru Neil did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

One local businessman said he was intrigued by the reports of the damaged honey locust and has been trying to pinpoint an answer on what will happen to the wood.

Gettysburg Signs owner Gene Golden said he would also like to see it used for fundraising.

It’s an idea he said was inspired by the Wye Oak in Maryland. That tree survived for an estimated 460 years in the village of Wye Mills in Talbot County and became the living symbol of the state tree, the white oak.

When it succumbed to a severe thunderstorm in 2002, the wood was made available to artists.

That’s what Golden said he’d like to see happen with the branches from the National Cemetery’s honey locust.

“It’s worth the effort to save the wood and preserve it,” he said.

2008 Seminar Satisfaction Survey

Sara Guerry has prepared a post-seminar appraisal form, to see where the problems were this year.  Although it is late for getting good answers, we do feel that we can get a meaningful response that will help us to do better in the future.

If you have already completed the survey from the email that Pat Sumner sent out earlier, there is no need to do it again.

Here is the website for the survery:

http://survey.outreach.vt.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?PageNumber=1&SurveyID=74L08l6

Update on Progress Toward Charleston

Greetings to All Members of Bud’s Brigade…

 

I hope that your summer is filled with family, friends, and fun… and food, for alliterative purposes!!  Dawn and I are well, basking in the memories of our last Campaign and eagerly anticipating next June, in Charleston.  It is on that subject that I want to focus… Charleston!

 

Things are progressing exceptionally well.  I met with Donna Raines and Sara Guerry (continuing education @ Tech) this past week and feel good about what is happening so far:

• a request has been made for hotels to bid on next year’s program;
• a number of hotels have responded, the list shortened to three;
• Becky Calcutt checked out the three, and determined that one of them was unacceptable;
• of the remaining two, one is quite pricey and the other one is doable (and it is downtown, on the edge of the historical district), if we can get the price lowered just a bit;
• I referred two other facilities (both “out” a bit, and less expensive) that I had called earlier and found to have adequate accommodations, at a reasonable price;
• Donna was going to get feedback from the Calcutts on these two… and check with hotels for availability now.

Donna and Sara really like working for Campaigning with Lee and will work with us, I feel sure.  Bud has a good relationship with them and meets with them regularly, for input. 

 

What else did we talk about?

• I again expressed our concern regarding the $12,000 cost overrun in Newport News, and restated our desire to have any particulars that they can give us on the cause of this problem.
• Both Donna and Sara ASSURED me that it had absolutely NOTHING to do with ANYTHING that we Campaigners did at Newport News. 
• They will continue to search for answers, but feel very sure that it was simply an oversight in budgeting … the omission of some required element from the original contract, which later became necessary… after the seminar price had been communicated… resulting in the overrun.  I will continue to “nag” them about particulars… but PLEASE do NOT feel in any way responsible!
• We talked about getting survey forms made up… one for use via email / internet that we can use for a quick reading of your preferences, etc., and one as a hardcopy form to be used at each Campaign seminar.  These would be used to improve food service, measure our interest in various topics, give us the opportunity to select from multiple options that might be mutually exclusive…
• We discussed starting the process of making decisions for 2010 and 2011.  They are all for it (as is Bud) and feel that we might be able to negotiate good deals that far in the future, especially with gas prices and the uncertainty that exists in the economy today.
• We agreed to help each other to make Campaigning with Lee viable and appealing for years to come!

The committees that were formed at the Blacksburg seminar seem to be working as planned.  So far, much of the work has been done by the chairs, but I’m quite sure that others (read:  YOU) will be called on to help advertise future Campaigns, contact “former” Campaigners who may have dropped out, suggest / contact speakers, etc. as we get more acquainted with what needs to be done.

• Program (Sandy Parker): 
  • developed program matrix for seminars (to determine number of speakers, tours, etc.)
  • developed talking points for considering speakers, tours, etc.
  • solicited guide lines from Bud and Jack for creating each program
• Membership (Jay Lacey):
  • Pat has whittled the email list down to about 105 people; the snail mail down to about 35.  These form the core for future communications… and can / will be expanded as others express interest in being kept informed.
  • developed a letter which was sent to Campaigners who have not been attending… and has received a positive response from a half dozen or so who want to be in Charleston with us.
• Promotions (Wayne Campbell):
  • developed website (http://civilwarseminar.wordpress.com/) that will be used for communications to Campaigners, soliciting feedback from Campaigners, advertising to potential members, etc.
  • soliciting data from Va Tech, Campaigners, others to develop process for future promotions
  • working with Bud on a “generic” brochure which might be used at roundtables, etc. for advertising
• Logistics (Becky & Jeff Calcutt):
  • checked out potential lodging in Charleston to determine suitability
  • preliminary work on field trip possibilities
  • preliminary work on potential speakers
• Bar (Eddie Wheeler):
  • testing various beverages and snacks for potential usage in future seminars
  • testing various beverages and snacks for potential usage in future seminars
  • testing various beverages and snacks for potential usage in future seminars
• High Chair (Bob Franke):
  • Oversight of the total process… to keep us on task and on schedule
  • If we (the other chairs) do our job correctly, Bob will have NOTHING to do, and will look great doing it!

The several chairs should also be in the process of building a “working committee” of 4-6 folk who will be most involved with activities… and an extended team of helpers from the preferences stated at Blacksburg.  EVERY Campaigner should be working on the following tasks:

• promoting the Charleston seminar at your local roundtables, seminars, etc.
• contacting those Campaigners who have been absent of late, and whom you know closely, to invite them to return to the fold
• considering potential speakers for Charleston, Manassas, Gettysburg, Antietam.  Let Sandy Parker, Bud, and Jack know who you feel would be appropriate.  Remember:  our speakers do not receive a stipend, but do get travel expenses.
• check the website (http://civilwarseminar.wordpress.com/) once or twice a month to check on things.  You will note that each entry is dated so that you can immediately see if there is any new stuff since your last visit.
• give suggestions / comments, through the website, if possible… but to Bob Franke or the appropriate chair.

So far, several of you have made suggestions for Charleston.  Here are some of them… not meant to be a comprehensive list, but a representative one:

• have one day of touring (Fort Sumter, museums, etc.); one free day, when everyone would be fed breakfast and then “on their own” to feed and entertain themselves for the rest of the day and evening.
• Jay Lacey has suggested Steve Davis for a talk on the History of Charleston
• Becky Calcutt has suggested that Jack Thomson give his “Then and Now” slideshow… and numerous other suggestions from her knowledge of the area
• Lots of people want MORE of Bud and Jack
• Heyward Burnet recommends Todd Groce, the Executive director of the Georgia Historical Society, headquartered in Savannah. Todd is a native Virginian and a great historian.

This brings you up to date.  More will come when available.

 

Saddle up!  It’s time to git ‘er done.

 

Wayne

The Libba Fund

Campaigners…

Some of you still have questions about how one makes a donation to the “Libba Fund.”  Let me give you the following information to clarify the process:

1)  Where does one mail the check and how is it made out?

 

The address of the Virginia Tech Foundation is:

        Virginia Tech Foundation

        Office of University Development

        902 Prices Fork Road, Suite 4500

        Blacksburg, VA  24061

 

Make check out to “Virginia Tech Foundation” and write “Acct # 860229, Libba Robertson” on the Memo line of the check.  {The actual name of the fund in Acct #860229 is “The Libba Robertson Endowed Fund in Support of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies.”}

 

2)  Who oversees this account to ensure that all monies, etc. designated for Acct # 860229 actually are placed in this account?

 

Normally, this is done on trust… trust in the university, trust in the system, trust in the individual from the Development office… but the information is available if there is a need for it.

 

Bud will be given a listing of all the people who give, and a total amount that the account has received… but not “who gave what amount.”

 

Additionally, someone… for example, Jack Davis if he is comfortable doing it… could be given a list that DID say who gave what.  This would have a name and an amount associated with the name.  This could be done if circumstances require it and would be a check and balance for donors.

 

Hopefully this will eliminate any last doubts that you might have in the Foundation and would allow you to go forth with your desire to honor Libba.  

 

By the way, the Civil War Center doesn’t really need more scholarships.  What they do need is unrestricted funds that they can use for whatever is needed at the time… books, films, equipment, funding to make videos, etc.  This might not satisfy your needs… but it would be funds from the “Libba Robertson Endowed Fund in Support of the Center for Civil War Studies.”  And her name would be associated with, tied to, honored by this Fund, in perpetuity…

 

Update (?) on Charleston - July 24

I have rescheduled my meeting with Donna Raines for 10 am, Monday, July 28.  It is my hope that we will resolve a few issues:

• How did we overspend by $12,000 in 2006?
• What is the status of the lodging search for Charleston?  (An aside:  Bud told me yesterday that a number of places had responded to the call for bids, and that three of them are quite workable.  This will be the focus of my discussion on Monday.)
• What does she (Donna) think is the best way to pursue subsequent years, after Charleston?  Shall we start the process “officially” now?
• How might we (you and me) negotiate the best (read “most for the least”) deals for lodging, buses, meals, etc.?

I will update you… and communicate directly with the several chairs… soon after our Monday meeting.

Thanks for your patience.  Again, Bud is THRILLED with the progress of the Virginia Tech folk… and with the passion and energy that you all have for the seminar.  This is really going to work out well.

Wayne