Letter to National Park Service from Historian Critical of “Militia” Occupation of Gettysburg

Photo of peaceful anti-racism procession at Gettysburg on July 19, 2020. h/t Jake Wynn

Dr. Jennifer M. Murray is Professor of History at Oklahoma State University and the author of a study of the history of Gettysburg National Military Park. Yesterday, she and others who treasure the park held a vigil at Gettysburg to condemn the occupation of the park by hundreds of armed self-styled “militiamen” on July 4, 2020. Yesterday she sent a letter to the park superintendent Steve Sims critical of the National Park Service’s response to the far-right militia occupation. Dozens of people prominent in the area of Gettysburg and Civil War history joined her letter as co-signatories. Below is the letter and the names of those who joined her. 

July 19, 2020

Superintendent Steven Sims

Gettysburg National Military Park

1195 Baltimore Pike

Gettysburg, PA 17325

 

Dear Mr. Sims,

Congratulations on your appointment to the superintendent position of Gettysburg National Military Park. You are now a steward of one of the nation’s most treasured and hallowed landscapes. This is both a privilege and a burden. 

After the demonstrations at Gettysburg on July 4, 2020, the eyes of the Civil War community, and indeed the nation, are upon you. Many people are outraged at the defilement of the battlefield landscape and in particular the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Allowing (or at least tolerating) armed vigilantes to roam at will through the battlefield landscape and into the grounds where over 3,500 Federal soldiers are buried is unconscionable. In addition to the gun-toting “militiamen” and roaming dogs in the cemetery, visitors to Gettysburg on July 4, 2020, saw Trump flags draped over the walls of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and Confederate battle  flags displayed throughout. You allowed the Soldiers’ National Cemetery to become a playground for partisan display. 

I worked at Gettysburg National Military Park as a seasonal interpretive ranger for nine summers, and I hold a Ph.D. in Civil War history. I am not only appalled at this behavior but also the agency’s continued silence. 

I refused to be silent and organized a demonstration at Gettysburg NMP on July 18th, in response. I applied for and received a 1st Amendment permit for a designated space at Meade’s Headquarters, just north of old Meade Avenue. Our group gathered at 2:00 p.m., in a corral (amidst a raging pandemic and 100-degree heat). Attendees spoke openly and powerfully about history, the battlefield, equity, and justice.  There we were, as the event was titled, “The Better Angels of Our Nature.”

Our event concluded. Standing in our corral, I thanked people for attending and braving the heat. Some of our protestors then departed. Then, now as non-demonstrating citizens, we walked north into the Soldiers’ National Cemetery to pay respects to the Union dead. No sooner had we stopped at the Soldiers’ National Monument, we were met by your chief law enforcement ranger. As the organizer of the event, he informed me that we had violated our 1st Amendment permit. In a fairly condescending tone, with unnecessary refrains of “okay?” at the end of every sentence, he informed me that our group needed to leave because we had brought signs into the cemetery and vacated our 1st Amendment corral.  

Individuals who had signs displayed in the corralled area had rolled them up and carried them under their arms. In no way were they boldly displaying signs or ephemera (unlike the demonstrators on July 4, 2020).

We were evicted from the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Escorted out. Not one, not two, but three GNMP patrol cars responded to our presence in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Where were GNMP LE rangers in escorting out those protesters on July 4, 2020, who seemingly violated multiple park regulations and policies?  

Perhaps this is an occasion for the park staff at Gettysburg to pause and reflect on the agency’s mission. The 1916 Organic Act states, “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” In opening the gates to armed vigilantes on July 4, 2020, you abdicated your authority and tainted your mission.  

I ask that Gettysburg NMP conduct a review of the events of July 4, 2020 and issue a statement to the American people explaining what occurred on the battlefield and how such events might be prevented (or at least contained) in the future.  The demonstrations of July 4, 2020 were not an aberration and similar events will occur again.  Additionally, I ask that GNMP conduct a review of the excessive response to our demonstration on July 18, 2020.  And, finally, I welcome the opportunity to open a dialogue between myself and the leadership at Gettysburg National Military Park.  I am sure many of the individuals below would also volunteer to be part of this conversation.  Gettysburg is, afterall, a national park.

You have a lot of “unfinished work” before you, Gettysburg National Military Park. I hope you are up to the task. 

 

Dr. Jennifer M. Murray, Professor of History, Oklahoma State University 

 

The following signatories share the above sentiment and encourage the agency to rethink their complicity in the events on July 4, 2020, and the treatment of peaceful protestors on July 18, 2020.

 

Michael J. Waricher, Stillwater, Oklahoma

 

John R. Heckman, Doctoral Candidate, Western University

 

Richard Hourigan, History Lecturer, Coastal Carolina University

 

Jake Wynn, Washington, DC

 

Judith Giesberg, Professor of History, Villanova University

 

Anne Sarah Rubin, Professor of History, University of Maryland Baltimore County

 

Susannah J. Ural, Professor of History, University of Southern Mississippi

 

Michael Rallo, MD

 

Charlene Hines Rallo, Doctoral Candidate, Auburn University.

 

Veronica Brestensky, Esq., Gettysburg, PA

 

Kathleen Brestensky, Gettysburg, PA

 

Ryan P. Schwartz, Dover, Delaware

 

Eric J. Wittenberg, Columbus, Ohio

 

Susan S. Wittenberg, Columbus, Ohio

 

Phillip L Spaugy, Vandalia, Ohio 

 

Gretchen A. Adams, Assoc Professor of History, Texas Tech University

 

Brooks D. Simpson, ASU Foundation Professor of History, Arizona State University

 

Nathan Provost, Kansas City, Missouri

 

Daniel W. Stilley, Overland Park, Kansas

 

Deborah Neff Cross, Baker, Florida

 

Louise Arnold Friend, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 

 

Evan A. Kutzler, Asst. Professor of History, Georgia Southwestern State University

 

Kenneth W. Noe, Draughon Professor of History, Auburn University

 

Rebekah Oakes, Rensselaer, New York

 

Dr. James R. Beeghley, Harrisburg, Pa

 

Brittany Murray, Morgantown, West Virginia

 

Donald Leech, Assoc. Professor of History, University of Virginia’s College at Wise

 

Linda Zufelt, Alexandria, Virginia

 

Richard J. Keehner, Youngstown, Ohio 

 

Terry Beckenbaugh, Millbrook, Alabama

 

Andrea Pike, Union, Kentucky

 

Ian Isherwood, PhD, Gettysburg, PA.

 

Patrick J. Fuller, Baltimore, Maryland

 

Renee Celeste, Beaumont, Texas

 

Ryan T. Quint, Williamsburg, Virginia 

 

Joanna Quint, Williamsburg, Virginia 

 

Kyle Windahl, Gettysburg, PA

 

Jocelyn Windahl, Gettysburg, PA

 

Albert T. Mackey, Jr., Colonel, USAF (Retired), Mechanicsburg,

William White, Villanow, Georgia

 

Guy W. Gane III, Gettysburg, PA

 

Michelle Donarski, Frederick, MD

 

Joseph J. Cook, Bogota, NJ

 

Scott Thompson, PhD candidate, West Virginia University 

 

Allen J. Kowalcyk, Willoughby Hills, OH

 

Amanda C. Clift, Oakdale, MN

 

Lesley J. Gordon, Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History, Univ of Alabama 

 

Jeffrey Allen Smith, Berea, Ohio

 

Shoshana Bee, Sacramento, Ca

 

Jeremy D. Brandt, Lebanon, PA

 

Bruce M. Neylon, Gettysburg, PA

 

Jeanne M. Neylon, Gettysburg, PA

 

Christopher A. Graham, Ph.D, Richmond, Va.

 

Robert C. Baumgartner, Blackwood, NJ

 

Edward J. Wienhoff, Waterloo, IL 

 

Garrett S. Kost, Freeland, PA

 

Andrew M. Korber, Richmond Hill, NY

 

Daniel A. Masters, Perrysburg, Ohio

 

Kara Brown, London, Ontario, Canada 

 

Thomas Martin Sobottke, Ph.D, History, Milwaukee, WI

 

Amy Haines, PhD student, History, CU Boulder

 

Jennifer S. Nash, Captain, USN (Retired), Newport, RI

 

William D. Hickox, Lawrence, Kansas

 

Brian Schade, Gettysburg, Pa.

 

Fletcher L. Hill, La Veta, Colorado

 

Casey T. H. Hulbott, Madison, Wisconsin

 

Roger Heller, Gettysburg, PA

 

Lynn Light Heller, Gettysburg, PA

 

Alexander Martin, Bendersville, PA

 

Samuel R. Beeghley, Westminster Md.

 

Keith B. Cross, Pensacola, FL

 

Niels Eichhorn, Ph.D., Macon, GA

 

James H.Lamason Middlesex NJ

 

Andrew W. Kirk, State College, PA 

 

Caitlin A. Rizzo, State College, PA 

 

Patrick A. Lewis, Ph.D., Louisville, Kentucky

 

Doug Schonour, Reading, PA

 

Tyler McGraw, Fredericksburg, VA

 

Sean P. Sullivan, Greenlawn, NY

 

John Armstrong, Metamora, IL

 

John Cummings, Spotsylvania, VA

 

Claudia A. Davis  Fairview, OK

 

Robert Skeel, Harrisburg, PA

 

John U. Rees, independent scholar, New Hope, PA

 

William Eichler, Washington, MI

 

Leslie J. Tarczynski, Niagara Falls, NY

 

William Knight, Annapolis Maryland

 

Becky Snow-Baker, Beaver, PA

 

Dan Casella, Cedarville, NJ

 

Jonathan A. Noyalas, Director, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute

 

Matthew A. Mickletz, Landenberg, PA

 

John M.Saporito, Appomattox, VA

 

Jeffrey R. Hayes, Hagerstown, MD

 

Alexander M. Stowe, Syracuse, NY

 

Andrew M. Camporeale, Richmond, VA

 

Kyle Dalton, Frederick, MD

 

Tracey McIntire, Boonsboro, MD

 

Lisa A. Shower, Gettysburg PA

 

Constance Hall Jones, Raleigh, NC

 

Joseph Rizzo, Executive Director, Loudoun Museum 

 

William H. Brown, Clayton, NC – Registrar, State Archives of North Carolina

 

Nina Silber, Professor of History, Boston University and Co-President, Society of Civil War Historians

 

Eric W. Zolnak, Altoona, PA

 

Wendy J. Zolnak, Altoona, PA

 

Alex Kerchner, Lumberton, New Jersey

 

Alyce J Gray, Librarian, College Park, MD

 

David Geister, Minneapolis, MN

 

Marilyn C Dolly, Arendtsville, PA

 

Andreas Allcock, US Army (retired)

 

Timothy J. Orr, Associate Professor of Military History, Old Dominion University

 

Lindsay Lipps, MA (History), Wise, VA

 

Juliana Espensen, Lancaster, PA

 

Allison Seyler, Public Historian, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Keith Toney, Charlotte, NC

Angela M. Riotto, Historian, Fort Leavenworth, KS

Christopher C Hawkins.  Martinsburg Wv.

Sarah A Silveira , Rumney NH

Fred Grogan, Leesburg, VA

Rachel A. Shelden, Director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center, Penn State 

Patrick Lynch, Greendale, WI

 

Ty Dasher, Seven Valleys PA

 

Mark Fastoso, Annandale, VA

 

Megan Kate Nelson, Ph.D. Writer and historian, Lincoln, Massachusetts

 

Sarah E. Gardner, Ph.D., Bethlehem, PA

 

Sean Kelleher, Historian, Saratoga, NY

 

Marie L. Caron, Pipersville PA

 

Ron Grogg, Former Historic Site Interpreter, Saint Paul, MN

 

Doug Currington, Captain, US Army (retired), St. Louis, MO

 

Holly Karibo, Ph.D., Stillwater, OK

 

Jay M. Howlett Williamsburg Virginia 

 

Todd Dickinson,  Hillsborough, NC

 

Justin R Mays,  Middletown Ohio 

 

Thomas G. Clemens, PhD, Keedysville, MD

 

Angela Clemens, Keedysville, MD

 

Theodore J. Zeman Chalfont PA

 

Matthew Thorenz, Washingtonville NY

 

Jeffery S. Prushankin Ph.D. Historian/Author. Doylestown, PA.

 

Sarah Handley-Cousins, Clinical Assistant Professor of History, University at Buffalo

 

Mike Rinehart, Lambertville, Michigan.

 

Christopher Drohan, PhD. Teaching Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Stillwater, OK.

 

Julianne Herczeg, Museum Site Manager, Duke Homestead State Historic Site

 

Linda Stark, Retired, Virginia Beach, Virginia

 

Beth A. White, Dunbar, West Virginia

 

Tammi L Duis, Franklin, Indiana

 

Luke Harlow, Associate Professor of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

 

Tyler Stump, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania

 

David C. Williard, Associate Professor of History, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN

 

Peter J. Herman, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

 

Arthur Hutcheson, Nazareth, Pennsylvania

 

Michael Dreese, McAlisterville, Pennsylvania 

 

Ulric Dahlgren, Bradenton, Florida

 

Thomas Eishen, Spring, Texas

 

Robert Golden, State College, PA

 

Kenneth Pepper, Gettysburg, PA

 

Thomas Eishen, Spring, TBeth L. Bonacci, Jessup, PA 

 

Sean Barron, Downingtown, PA

 

Kelly Arlene Grant, PhD Candidate, Concordia University, Montreal

 

Gary Dombrowski, Erie, PA

 

Jeff Becker, Gibsonia, PA

 

Sean M. Considine, PMP, Westminster, MD

 

Scott L. Mingus, Sr., Civil War author and lecturer, York, PA

 

Richard Story, Marietta, GA

 

Sarah Griswold, Assistant Professor of History, Tulsa, OK

 

Shari Thomas, Beaver Falls, PA

 

Matthew White, PhD Student, Hershey, PA

 

Kevin M. Levin, Educator and Historian, Boston, MA

 

Jonathan D Bratten, Historian, Portland, ME

 

Noah W.R. Zolnak, Altoona, PA

 

Jonah S. Zolnak, Altoona, PA

 

Polly Robinson, Ed.D., Tacoma College

 

Sheryl Low, DPT, DSc., California State University, Northridge

 

Andrew Duppstadt, Education & Interpretation Supervisor, NC Division of State Historic Sites/Adjunct Instructor of History, UNC-Pembroke

 

Denise E. Messinger, Arendtsville, PA

 

David C. Kinsella, History Teacher, Prince William County Schools, Manassas, VA

 

Casey Stedman, Major, USAFR 

Youngstown ARS, Ohio 

 

Ken L. Allers Jr. 

Cedar Rapids, IA 

 

Dennis Wolenski, Summerville, SC

 

Nicholas R. DeWitt, MA-History, Pittsburgh, PA

 

Christopher S. Morano, Gettysburg, PA

President Civil War Chronicles 

 

Brody D. Karn, Esq., New York City 

 

Gary A Chilcote, Laurel, MD

 

Melissa A. Winn, Centreville, VA

 

Gerry and Beth Hoffman, owners of the Jacob Weikert Farm, Gettysburg, PA

 

Sean F. Coykendall, Fredericksburg, VA

 

Lauren Siegert, Boston, MA

 

Alton Bunn Jr, Seaford, VA

 

Eric Campbell, Knoxville, MD

 

Marykay Clarke, Ponte Vedra FL

 

Laura J. Arata, Stillwater, OK

 

John Thielmann, Educator, Milwaukee Public Schools

 

Kevin Boughter, Morgantown, PA

 

Dori Gorczyca, Browning, MT

 

Lindsey Foster, NAI Certified Interpretive Guide, Williamsburg, VA

 

Christine Wolfe, Gettysburg PA

 

Matthew J. Sparacio, Instructor of History, Southeastern Oklahoma State University

 

Tim Cavey, Stevensville MT.

 

Tedra Ulmer, Brady TX

 

Shane Reich Sr, Beavertown,PA

 

Walter Wells, State College PA

 

Paul E Steinmiller III, Pittsburgh PA

Katharine LaChance, Taylor, TX

 

Jim Abels, York, Pennsylvania

 

J Robert Williams, Wilmington, DE

 

Ian and Carolyn Brown, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

 

James F. Epperson, Ann Arbor, MI

 

Jim Coyle, Palenville NY

 

Wade Sokolosky, Beaufort, NC

 

Robert Buenger, Greenfield,  IN

 

Justin Runyon, Nashville TN

Org. of American Historians

Co. of Military Historians.

 

Brandon T. Benner, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

Geoffrey M. Elliott, North Canton, Ohio

 

Dr. Audrey Scanlan-Teller, Middletown, MD

 

Mark Dudrow, Summit Point, WV

 Charles T. Joyce. Esq., Media, PA

Senior Editor, Military Images Magazine 

 

Timothy Willging, Fredericksburg, Virginia

 

David S Lentz, Claridge, PA

Ellen Gutmaker, Syracuse NY

 

Patrick Brennan, Wilmette IL, Author of Secessionville: Assault on Charleston

Wendy Sauers, Lewisburg, PA

 

Steven Stanley, (Formerly of Gettysburg, PA) St. Cloud, FL

 

Leon Reed, Little Falls books, Gettysburg, PA

 

Gregory Eatroff

Portsmouth, VA

 

Christine Kennel, Youngstown, OH

 

Andrea M Quinn, BA History and Director of Operations BILH, Rockport, MA

 

1. David Petruzzi

Brockway, PA

 

Eric Smallwood, Morgantown WV

 

Suzanne R. LaTulipe, Willimantic, CT

 

Theresa H. Brasko, Maple Shade, NJ

 

Nathan Marzoli, Washington DC

 

Cheryl Epp, Gettysburg, PA 

 

Jim Epp, Gettysburg, PA

Annie Clark, Willimantic, CT.

 

Brian Pickering, Highspire, PA 

 

Jeff Boorom, Ft Snelling, Mpls MN

 

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