With summer behind us and the leaves beginning to change, we look forward to autumn here in Gettysburg. Autumn is a beautiful time to enjoy everything Gettysburg has to offer. And Gettysburg is the perfect place to start new traditions and make memories with friends and family. I invite you to spend time with us throughout the season and enjoy some of the Gettysburg Foundation’s exciting and unique events.
The upcoming Columbus Day weekend offers a few autumn days filled with events the whole family can enjoy. Start the weekend with Fall Family Day at Spangler Saturday, October 8. Visitors to Gettysburg and the local community can enjoy history, exploration and family-friendly programming at the historic George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The 80-acre farm will be open for the last opportunity for the public to visit the site this year. We will have living history encampments, Civil War era music, historic barn preservation presentations, civilian and Spangler family stories, local favorite Mr. G’s Old-fashioned Ice Cream and more.
Then, on Sunday, October 9, at Children of Gettysburg 1863, experience a “Victorian Fashion Show & Tea Party,” co-sponsored by Civilians of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Foundation. From 3 to 5 p.m., living historians with the Civilians of Gettysburg will entertain and present ladies’ and gentlemen’s Victorian and Civil War era fashions for all ages. We invite guests to attend in modern or formal Victorian-era attire and sample period food and family-friendly beverages. Advanced reservations are required.
Rounding out the weekend’s events, I invite our local community back to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center Monday, October 10, for “Adams County Day.” Local residents have the opportunity to view our new temporary exhibition, “A Rough Course Life: The World of the Civil War Soldier,” in the Gilder Lehrman Special Exhibits Gallery. Complementing the Museum, the new exhibit covers more intimately soldiers’ lives, experiences and memories during the American Civil War – detailing what service meant to those joining their respective ranks of the Union and Confederate armies and how their lives were affected during and after the war. Sponsored by Barley Snyder Attorneys at Law, Adams County residents can enjoy free admission to the Film, Cyclorama & Museum Experience at the Museum & Visitor Center. Show your proof of residency and enjoy artifacts, treasures and highlights related to Adams County throughout your experiences.
A new and unique opportunity for those interested in learning more about Civil War medicine is coming soon. On Saturday, October 15, the Blue & Gray Hospital Association and the Gettysburg Foundation will co-sponsor and present the inaugural “Civil War Medicine Symposium” at the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital. Covering topics on Civil War medicine and its importance in the overall study of the American Civil War, presentations offer details about people who served as caregivers, medical equipment used, disease impacts on soldiers, roles of field relief organizations and more. Learn about the fight that took place behind the lines – the struggle to save lives. Register in advance for either in-person or virtual attendance options online or call us at 717-334-2436.
Visit our website at GettysburgFoundation.org to learn more and register for events. We look forward to seeing you in Gettysburg.
Wayne E. Motts
President and CEO, Gettysburg Foundation
First appeared in the Gettysburg Foundation's column in the Sept. 26, 2022, edition of the Gettysburg Times