Visit. Discover. Understand.

For the fifth year in a row, the Ford Motor Company Fund partnered with the Gettysburg Foundation to sponsor Ford Family Day—a day of free educational programs at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. This past Saturday, August 4, more than 4,000 visitors enjoyed free admission to the Museum, Film, and Cyclorama experience, as well as free, family-focused educational programming and living historians recreating what life was like in a Civil War-era camp. The day generated record visitation to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center in 2018. 

Thanks to the support of the Ford Motor Company Fund, this year’s Ford Family Day featured expanded educational programming, which included living historians reading stories highlighting the Underground Railroad and the experiences of African-Americans during the Battle of Gettysburg.  

“The Gettysburg Foundation is grateful to the Ford Motor Company Fund for its commitment to our efforts to educate the public about the role of the Civil War in shaping today’s society,” said Dr. Matthew C. Moen, president of the Gettysburg Foundation. “The generosity and ongoing support of the Ford Motor Company Foundation has allowed more people than ever to attend this year’s Ford Family Day and learn new stories about the Civil War focused on inclusion, civility and leadership.”

Since the establishment of the "Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center" at the heart of the Museum and Visitor Center when it opened in 2008, Ford Motor Company Fund has been an integral part of community events and education initiatives at the Gettysburg National Military Park. A decade later, the Ford Education Center is central to Gettysburg Foundation educational efforts, including Ford Family Day activities. More than two million on-site visitors have participated in educational programs at the Ford Education Center and millions more students have visited Gettysburg virtually through National Park Service distance learning programs.

“We are impressed by the success that the Gettysburg Foundation and the National Park Service have had in not only preserving Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site but also educating the public about their importance,” said Yisel Cabrera, Government & Community Relations Manager at the Ford Motor Company Fund.  “Ford Motor Company Fund is proud to again support Ford Family Day, which gives all visitors access to learn critical lessons from America’s history that are still relevant today.”

The Gettysburg Foundation participated this week in the Big History Project (BHP), bringing Gettysburg’s powerful lessons of civility, inclusion, and healing to thousands of middle-school and high-school teachers around the world.

BHP is co-founded by Bill Gates and Dr. David Christian and “is a joint effort between teachers, scholars, scientists, and their supporters. It is a multi-disciplinary approach to knowledge for learners around the world. In addition to developing a full curriculum for high school students, this course is designed for curious members of the public who are seeking answers to big questions about the history of our Universe and the origin of our species.”

Gettysburg Foundation president, Dr. Matthew Moen, authored a blog for Big History entitled: "Bloodshed at Gettysburg: Why Does Civility Matter, Anyway?" It focused on what occurred immediately after the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, as local citizens began to care for the wounded. It outlines the broad pattern of healing that occurred over the next 155 years at Gettysburg, including the creation of a tent hospital called Camp Letterman; Quaker nurses streaming into town to tend to the injured; President Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address; visits by thirteen other presidents of the United States to Gettysburg to speak of conciliation; reunions of Civil War veterans; and the dedication by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938 of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial that still burns brightly on the grounds of Gettysburg National Military Park.

The blog was released to BHP teachers on July 20 and several members of the Gettysburg Foundation participated in a three-day Online Exchange where teachers had the opportunity to interact, ask questions, and learn more about Gettysburg’s broader narrative. Angelina Kreger, Big History Project Outreach Coordinator, was pleased with the success of the Exchange stating, “We learned a lot and enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the correlations between a profound moment in U.S. History and Big History.”

“We would like to thank the BHP for this opportunity to interact with educators and to discuss one part of the powerful Gettysburg story that is less examined than the battle,” stated Dr. Moen. “The battle and the related civil rights struggle of the Civil War will always be the signature storyline here, of course, but there are many other dimensions to Gettysburg such as healing that are worth discussing in the days ahead.”

For more information, please call 717-338-1243 or visit our website for event details. Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center is located at 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 17325, and is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To begin your Gettysburg experience, visit the Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA. Open daily 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

At its annual June meeting, the Gettysburg Foundation unanimously elected two new board members, Pamela L. Rogers and Lance D. Bultena.

Rogers is founding partner with the Law Office of Pamela L. Saia, PC, located outside Boston. She received her JD from the Massachusetts School of Law and her LLM in Intellectual Property from the University of New Hampshire School of Law. She is a licensed attorney with over 17 years in private practice and extensive litigation experience in both state and federal courts. She has extensive government experience as a legislator in the New Hampshire General Court, consistent with a lifetime commitment to public service. Pamela is the supervising attorney for the Essex County Bar Advocate Association.

Bultena is senior counsel with Hogan Lovells law firm in Washington D.C. With a background in regulation and public policy, Lance helps clients evaluate the impact of public sector developments on businesses, develop strategies to optimally manage that impact, and influences regulatory and legislative outcomes. Prior to joining the firm, Lance served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of South Dakota, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a Doctorate in Politics and Masters in Economics while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.  

“We are delighted to welcome Pam and Lance to the Gettysburg Foundation board,” chairman Eric B. Schultz said. “Pam’s ancestors have lived in the Gettysburg area since the early eighteenth century. She brings a passion for history and a commitment to public service. Lance’s expertise in economics and strategy, and his extensive national and international networks, will be assets to the work of the Foundation.” Schultz added, “Both Pam and Lance will strengthen the board as we redouble our efforts at public education, and to engage Americans in respectful, non-partisan dialogue about leadership and citizenship, conciliation and civility.”

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is teaming up with the Gettysburg Foundation to deliver an executive development program built around and using lessons from the Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. 

The new series—The Gettysburg Experience—focuses on organizational and personal leadership, teamwork, and strategic agility for a powerful, unique learning experience leveraging the historical and academic resources of both Smith and the foundation, say its organizers. Customized, 1-3-day-long programs at Gettysburg will explore Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and “Current Conversations about the Battle of Gettysburg.” The latter includes “Civil Rights and the legacy of the Civil War,” “Women and the War,” “the Civil War in a Global Context,” and more.

“Gettysburg will always be remembered as an epic battlefield—and rightly so. But, its significance to the American democratic experiment runs much deeper,” says Gettysburg Foundation President Matthew Moen, PhD “For 155 years Gettysburg represents a place of remarkable healing, civility, inclusion and responsibility.”

The series incorporates the Gettysburg Foundation’s existing program of field-based training for Smith’s Executive Development clients. This arrangement builds on Smith professors independently directing executive development program participants and executive MBA students in onsite, Gettysburg-themed leadership classes. “Learning happens in varied contexts and needs to be increasingly impactful to keep adult learners engaged,” says Christine Thompson, Ed.D., executive director of Smith’s Executive Development programs. “It’s exciting for the Smith School of Business to rekindle a partnership with the Gettysburg Foundation to uniquely impact leadership development experiences for organizations and leaders.” 

The new partnership is “a unique, flexible means for conveying the lessons of leadership and teamwork unavailable elsewhere,” Thompson adds. “Smith’s educational resources— facilities, faculty, and expertise—provide a solid delivery mechanism for translating the lessons of the Battle of Gettysburg into meaningful and relevant business training for organizations of all types.” The Gettysburg Experience is designed specifically to meet client needs based upon consultation between the client, the foundation and Smith. The programs may involve an expertly guided and experiential battlefield tour; facilitated debriefs and deep dives into select topics, networking dinners and more. Participants experience the program through Gettysburg locations McPherson Ridge, Eternal Light Peace Memorial, Little Round Top, The Peach Orchard, Pennsylvania Memorial and High Water Mark. Leadership topics broadly include communication, team building, empowerment, adaptability, strategic and visionary thinking, decision-making under pressure, accountability, execution and strategic agility

In addition, the Gettysburg Foundation will work with Smith to build open enrollment programs and alumni events that bring groups of executives to Gettysburg through the partnership program. “We are excited to dive deeper into these broader leadership themes, as well as those taught on the battlefield, through our partnership with UMD,” says Moen.

Smith Dean Alex Triantis says: “The Smith School is proud to partner with the Gettysburg Foundation to create meaningful and high-impact programming for today’s and tomorrow’s leaders. Experiential and lifelong learning is an integral part of the Smith School’s core mission and we look forward to continuing this partnership for years to come.”

For more information about The Gettysburg Experience program, write to [email protected]. For more on Executive Development at Smith go to https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/programs/executive-education.

About the Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

The Gettysburg Foundation and other agenices signed in support of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s proclamation in support of National Pollinator Week, recognizing the National Park Service’s role in encouraging the health of resident and migratory pollinating animals in North America, an important example of collaborative conservation. The purpose of National Pollinator Week is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education and research. The Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center plan called for consideration of the environment, and the Gettysburg Foundation continues to think and act "green" in operating its LEED-Gold Museum and Visitor Center. The Pollinator Pledge also supports Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s proclamation in support of Pollinator Week, encouraging all citizens to protect and encourage pollinator habitats to ensure the continuation of species that are essential to our habitats, economy, and lives.

Thus far, 26 other local organizations have signed the Pledge.