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VHC Begins Research on
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“Sharing Our Past — Shaping Our Future” Since 1974 |
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VHC Receives NEH Civil War Grant |
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Office in Montpelier
11 Loomis Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 802.262.2626 Fax: 802.262.2620 E-mail: info@vermonthumanities.org |
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“The breadth of the Vermont initiative, and its clever interweaving of a wide array of cultural threads, makes it uncommonly attractive. . . . Vermont seems well-suited to this effort, which might serve as a model for others to emulate.” – Robert Krick, Civil War author and historian |
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VHC has begun a wide-ranging effort to identify sites throughout Vermont related to the home front of the Civil War, interpreting their history for the public, helping heritage tourists locate these sites, and enabling educators to make use of the sites in the teaching of history.
Awarded a $45,000 Interpreting America’s Historic Places planning grant earlier this year from the National Endowment for the Humanities, VHC has undertaken the project in anticipation of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which begins in 2011.
So far as is known, no state in which major fighting did not occur has ever undertaken such a comprehensive inventory of its Civil War sites. VHC hopes this project will serve as a model for similar efforts in other states.
“Vermont is a treasure trove of Civil War sites, though it takes some digging to find them,” said Vermont historian and author Howard Coffin, who has traveled the state seeking out sites of significance large and small. “With this grant, we can discover them in every one of our towns and cities.”
Coffin is researching and writing a comprehensive guidebook on sites in Vermont related to the Civil War. Building on this effort, VHC is undertaking this broader and multi-faceted effort, of which his book would be a key part. The project seeks to both deepen people’s historical understanding and broaden interest in the Civil War period, local history, and history in general to more Vermonters and visitors. Using the sites as a starting point, the project will explore the humanities themes related to the Civil War home front.
Announcement of the project generated strong enthusiasm throughout the state and beyond.
“Heritage tourism is enormously important to Vermont,” wrote Governor Jim Douglas in a letter to the NEH endorsing the project. “This project. . . affords Vermont a wonderful opportunity to strengthen tourism, communities, and education by presenting to a variety of public audiences the best of what Vermont really is—a state blessed with a beautiful landscape that is rich in heritage and vital communities.”
Kevin Graffagnino, executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, wrote, “This is a creative and distinctive project. . . . It has wonderful possibilities for scholarship, for collaboration and coordination among cultural heritage organizations, and for community involvement throughout the state.”
The VHS will be making its museum and Civil War collections available to the project and is making Vermont’s Civil War history the central theme of a future Vermont History Expo, an annual VHS event that the Vermont Humanities Council supports through its grant program.
Robert Krick, an author of 15 books on the Civil War and for 31 years Chief Historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia, one of the largest preserves of its kind in the world, considered the Vermont project innovative. “The breadth of the Vermont initiative, and its clever interweaving of a wide array of cultural threads, makes it uncommonly attractive,” Krick wrote. “Vermont seems well-suited to this effort, which might serve as a model for others to emulate.”
Although a search for Vermont Civil War home front sites has only begun, it is clear that Vermont contains a rich collection of such sites. Some relate to important events or entire towns, others capture the eccentricity of history and humanity.
Examples include soldiers’ homes, Underground Railroad stops, drill fields, monuments, hospitals, factories that made war materials, cemeteries, and halls where war meetings were held and abolitionists spoke. Information about such sites and assistance in identifying and researching them is needed.
Vermont is an ideal state to undertake such a project for a number of reasons, including its manageable size, rich Civil War history, well-preserved natural and man-made landscape, and excellent archival resources. The project will spur myriad community projects related to specific sites and to the Civil War generally.
Among the activities VHC plans is a fall conference that will include national scholars on the Northern Civil War home front, particularly but not exclusively in Vermont. The conference takes place November 9-10. The Civil War topic aptly follows VHC’s 2006 conference that explored Vermont’s sense of place.
A Web site will be the primary interpretive tool for conveying information on Vermont’s Civil War history, supplemented by brochures, maps, informational pamphlets, and other resources.
Participate using VHC’s Civil War Site Research Kit
Civil War Grant Guidelines and Application
Howard Coffin Essay: “Vermont in the Civil War”
VHC 2007 Fall Conference: The Northern Civil War Home Front
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