If you are interested in spending a semester away from your home institution but don’t feel like heading for western Europe, and are a Civil War buff, the Gettysburg Semester is probably right for you.  The Gettysburg Semester, directed by Lincoln Scholar Allen C. Guelzo, is a semester designed to dive students into Civil War Era studies at Gettysburg College.  The Semester offers an array of courses dealing with the American Civil War, including a “field studies course,” in which students explore the many battlefields not far from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The Gettysburg Semester is a great alternative to the traditional study abroad semesters offered by many colleges.

Interested in all things Lincoln?  The city of Ottawa, Illinois’ webpage houses a pdf entitled The OttawaLincoln Knew.  This file pulls most of its information from Aletia Tisler’s book, “Lincoln was Here,” using only facts and anecdotes pertinent to the town of Ottawa.  Although the section focuses mainly upon the Lincoln-Douglas debate that took place there in 1858, it also showcases Lincoln’s first meeting with Douglas in the courtroom.  At the bottom of the file, the site includes a map of modern day Illinois with location markers that specify places made famous by Lincoln’s presence.  This site would be especially helpful for someone trying to create a unique family vacation seeped in history.

From late June to early July of 1864, a fierce battle raged between Johnston and Sherman’s armies.  This battle was fought around quiet Kennesaw Mountain. Last February, the National Park Service gained a key piece of land on which this battle was raged.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution informed readers that Sam Hensley recently sold 35 of his 70 acres to the Trust for Public Land.  In turn, the National Park Service gained this valuable land.  Hensley had moved onto the land in 1957 and quietly expanded his private property.  After the death of his wife in 2003, Hensley decided that he wanted to be sure that the land was preserved after his death.  Therefore, he sold his land for $3.5 million, nowhere near the estimated commercial value of the property.  Luckily, the National Park Service won in the endless battle to preserve our nation’s past.

Civil War Traveler offers audio tours given by National Park Service historians.  These tours can be accessed directly through the site or via a free subscription in iTunes.  Each podcast episode follows a historian as he walks along a famous Civil War battlefield or location such as Antietam or the Appomattox Court House.  Since they record each episode live at the battlefield as the historian walks the site, you can download these audio files to a portable music device and use them as your own personal guide at each historic site.  The website also has downloadable maps of each historic location in pdf form to help you stay in sync with your guide.  This site would be great for bolstering field trips or for teachers who enjoy using their imagination.  Students can listen to the tour and follow the guide’s route on the map for a rather engaging experience.

USA Today reported yesterday that two new markers for the Civil War Trail were placed at Andrew Jackson’s homstead, The Hermitage, and a near by Confederate Soldier’s Home.  The Hermitage is linked to the Soldier’s Home because Jackson’s former homestead offered land for the use of the home, which operated until 1933.  These two markers are part of the larger Civil War Trail, which is dedicated to showing different state’s involvement and importance during the Civil War.  These markers are just two of dozens that are in the works for an extended Trail, which will cross not just Tennesse, but Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well.  This certainly is an exciting time for Civil War buffs who are looking forward to the sesquicentennial of the war.

Susan Montoya Bryan of the Associated Press informed readers of the Dallas Morning News this morning about the opening of the Glorietta Battlefield Trail, which traces the Battlefield of Glorietta Pass, the “Gettysburg of the west.”  The battle occurred in late March of 1862 and resulting in stopping an attempt of Confederate troops to move West towards Santa Fe and California, and thus trying to extend the Confederacy.  Had the Confederates succeeded in this attempt, they would have changed the whole course of the war.

Finally, the National Park Service has made the battlefield available once again for safe public visitation, after years of acquiring the land needed to preserve the battlefield.  This is one of many fights that the National Park Service and many other organizations, such as the Civil War Preservation Trust, have fought to preserve the precious history of our nation.

Northern Illinois University’s site Lincoln/Net offers scholarly interpretation of Lincoln with a focus on both biographical information about Lincoln and historical themes relevant to his endeavors.   The format of these items includes texts, images, sound clips and videos.  Lincoln/Net also provides classroom help for teachers in the Teacher’s Parlor.  This section of the website lays out lesson plans focused on engaging students through the use of primary documents as well as scholarly video and audio interviews.  Lincoln/Net would be a great resource for any teacher to consider incorporating into their classroom repertoire.

When it comes to history, preserving it is as important as learning it.

Preserving the hallowed grounds of the Civil War is the mission of the Civil War Preservation Trust. The mission of this non-profit organization is “the preservation of our nation’s endangered Civil War battlefields” and to promote “educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war’s history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it.”

Not only does the Trust’s website explain the group and its mission, it also has a number of useful tools and pages. This includes an extensive collection of videos of various battlefields, an interactive library of Civil War books, and a classroom and history center. It is clearly evident that the Civil War Preservation Trust is doing great things to preserve and teach this important era in our nation’s past. �

A New York Historical Society exhibit that opened last month provides visitors with a variety of Lincoln-related documents and items. Entitled “Abraham Lincoln in His Own Words,” the exhibit features such items as a draft of the “House Divided” speech, an encouraging telegram to General Ulysses S. Grant, and other papers, letters, and original documents from all periods of Lincoln’s life. In addition to documents attributed to Lincoln are other period objects including photographs, testimonies, and sculptures. A full description of the exhibit can be found on the New York Historical Society’s webpage.

Also, according to a NY Times article, the Smithsonian Museum of American History has answered an age-old question regarding one Lincoln artifact; his gold pocket watch. According to the article, a secret message was engraved within the watch by watchmaker Jonathan Dillon when he repaired it in 1861. Part of the watch’s inscription reads “Jonathan Dillon April 13- 1861 Fort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels on the above date.”

Although this find is not a radical discovery by any means, it is another addition to Abraham Lincoln lore and can only make us wonder as to what other interesting and peculiar things can be discovered from the Civil War era, even after almost 150 years.

The New York Times just published an interesting article about a new museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The David Willis House, which opens tomorrow (February 12, 2009), was where President Abraham Lincoln spent the night before he gave the Gettysburg Address. Yet as Sean Hamill explains, “the museum’s larger purpose…is to tell what happened after the Civil War battle [in July 1863], when dead and wounded soldiers outnumbered the town’s 2,400 residents by 11 to 1.” You can find out more about this museum at this National Park Service website.