We will get into that. Let me say a little bit about scott. Welcome, scott. Many of our viewers know scott from his very long and successful and productive tenure and engagement with the National Park. He has been retired for a little more than 10 years or a little less than 10 years, excuse me. Geez, actually six years. Peter one thing john and i have discussed with many of our guests is interpretation on Civil War Battlefield parks. We also talked about partnerships with academics. We have seen with many of our guests, including our guest on thursday, nina silver, one of the first historians who came to the park and had conversations about ways to broaden the interpretation of gettysburg. Time and time again, john have noticed these connections between academics and public historians. Cant then conclude there is this great gap or golf between the two sides. I thought we could open by howng you reflect upon battlefield interpretation has changed over time during your career. And then,
Science and engineering that i realized what i really loved was history, and i was bored in class one day because i forgot my book, which is the downfall of every nerd the, the day you forget your book, and i happened to be in sociology class, and the teacher also taught a civil war class. I started reading, and i thought it was the most fascinating people i read about. What fascinated me, looking at these people dealing with the most claddagh close make moments of their lives the most cataclysmic moments of their lives and the nations life and figuring out how to deal with the situation, far enough to be strange, yet close enough to be familiar at the same time. You get your chance to go to fredericksburg, now as a permanent historian. Could you tell us a little bit about some of the things that you did there . Im not saying in terms of accomplishments, but i think our audience is interested what does it mean to be a part interpreter historian at a place like fredericksburg . It means
Changed in interpretation. The Gettysburg College Civil War Institute provided the video for this event. Toso, beth i would like start by getting a feel for what led you to Civil War History and the career path you have taken. Beth that is a good question. Most people when you ask them that question who are in this field have these glowing nostalgic memories of being taken to the battlefield as children and that is not my story. My family visited some Historic Sites but not really, not that many. For us, or for me, it was when i got to high school and was considering a lot of careers in science and engineering, but realized what i really loved was history. I just happened to i was boarding class one day because i bored my book i was in class one day because i forgot my book. I picked book off the shelf. The teacher also taught a civil war class. The people i read about were fascinating. That is what fascinated me, these people who were dealing with the most cataclysmic moments of their
War history. All at the university of virginia. Thankfully, shes not a hockey buff. I dont believe she is. She said, go caps. What has happened to the American Sports scene . I dont know. I never thought in a civil war conference people would be jawing about hockey. Such is life. A very accomplished scholar. Shes published a number of books, including we mean to be counted, white women and the politics in antebellum virginia. This union, one of my favorite overviews of the 1850s. Published by university of North Carolina press. Victory, defeat and freedom at the end of the civil war, published by oxford. Its an outstanding book. Its a way to look beyond the surrender proceedings and material culture, visual culture. How it resided in american memory. Its outstanding. I cant say enough good things about it. Today, subject of her talk, she published true story of Elizabeth Van lew, a union agent in the heart of the confederacy. [ applause ] i bring you greetings from virginia and im deli
Administration with a concentration on American History from shepherd university. Keith has also served in the United States air force and the Air National Guard for 40 years and recently retired as a colonel with the 167th airlift wing. He lives with his wife cindy in martinsberg, west virginia. Please join me in welcoming keith as he talked about the battle of antietam from the perspective of the soldiers that experienced it firsthand. [ applause ] thank you, kevin. It is great to be with you. I certainly had a very enjoyable drive down here. This is some beautiful country. So what im going to do this evening, the mayor talked about perspective and what im going to share with you are actually two perspectives on the battle of antietam. Since im the opening speaker for three days of antietam information, we thought, kevin and i talked before we came down, it might be good to have a general overview of the maryland campaign. Im going to do a broad brush stroke to have some perspective