The well-regarded National Museum of Civil War Medicine has announced that that the National Park Service has withdrawn its responsibility for administering the Pry House at Antietam National Battlefield. The museum is located in Frederick, Md., just an hour from the Pry House. The Pry House was used as a field hospital during and after the battle, and the museum demonstrated medical care for wounded soldiers on its grounds. Here is the release from the museum on the termination:
“The National Museum of Civil War Medicine (NMCWM) announced today that it will no longer staff and manage the Pry House Field Hospital Museum at Antietam National Battlefield for the National Park Service.
Following a recent meeting with National Park Service (NPS) leadership and regional representatives, NMCWM was informed that changes in Federal directives and administrative priorities have rendered previous cooperative agreements void. Under current guidelines and conditions, the NMCWM is currently unable to enter into or support a new agreement for the operation of the Pry House site.
“This transition marks the close of a significant chapter for the Museum,” said NMCWM Executive Director David Price. “For more than 15 years, we have been honored to interpret this extraordinary place on the Antietam National Battlefield — where General George B. McClellan established his headquarters, where the Pry Family was forced out of their home and into financial ruin, where Dr. Jonathan Letterman directed the medical response to the bloodiest day in American history, and where Abraham Lincoln visited personally.
Price added, “Though we regret that the only historic house and barn which was open to the public on the battlefield will no longer be accessible, we are equally inspired to be able to continue to interpret the property itself on a case-by-case basis and continue sharing the vital and enduring history of Civil War medicine. The innovations that were first implemented on that site continue to be seen in mass casualty and disaster relief that occurs around the world far too often.”
The NMCWM will continue to offer educational battlefield programming at the site to student groups, as well as professional development for emergency relief organizations from around the world, and military medical programs, as we’ve done since our inception. The interpretation of the Pry House medicinal garden with Master Gardener Greg Susla will also continue.”
I have tried to contact both the Interior Department and the museum to clarify what “changes in Federal directives and administrative priorities” impacted on the site. The Interior Department and the National Park Service have issued several manuals to the parks to remove exhibits and programs that go against the president’s Restoring Sanity Executive Order from last year. Whether this order was involved, I have not gotten any response from the parties involved.
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