Sacred Trust

United Lutheran Seminary Chapel | Tickets are not necessary to attend the July 2 programs | CJ’s Food Truck will be on site

2 p.m. | United Lutheran Seminary Chapel (directly next to Seminary Ridge Museum)

Talk & Book Signing - A Hell of a Regiment: How the Twentieth Maine Created Their Gettysburg Story with Jared Peatman, Ph.D.–Moderated by Codie Eash

How did the story of the Twentieth Maine’s stand on Little Round Top come to be? Was it created for the movie Gettysburg in 1993? Perhaps by novelist Michael Shaara for his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels in the 1970s? Perhaps by Joshua Chamberlain in the early 1900s? In this conversation based upon his brand-new book on the Twentieth Maine, Jared Peatman uncovers how the story of the unit’s stand on Little Round Top was created and shaped from 1863 until the present as it passed from history to memory to folklore. From the first accounts written in the days after the battle–both private accounts and those intended for wider audiences–through those written fifty years later, we see how the men mediated their differing perspectives to arrive at a mostly complementary narrative of their fight on July 2. Along the way we hear how they fought with one another and with their old Confederate foes as they sought to secure for posterity the hard-won reputation they had earned during the war.

Jared Peatman, Ph.D., is a graduate of Gettysburg College with a master’s degree from Virginia Tech and docterate degree from Texas A&M. Jared’s first book was The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (2013). For that project he was named the Organization of American Historians and Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Doctoral Fellow and received the Hay-Nicolay Dissertation Prize for the best work on Abraham Lincoln or the Civil War. His second book, A Hell of a Regiment: To Gettysburg and Beyond with the Twentieth Maine, will be published by Stackpole Books in 2026. In his day job, Jared provides training events that use history as a metaphor to examine current leadership and performance challenges. He is the founder and president of Four Score Consulting and a Senior Fellow at George Washington University’s Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. He has delivered more than 1,000 leadership seminars at sites including Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, President Lincoln’s Cottage, Jamestown, Valley Forge, the Alamo, Waterloo and many others.

6:30-11 p.m. | United Lutheran Seminary Chapel (directly next to Seminary Ridge Museum)

‘The Great Anniversary Festival’: A July 2nd Independence Celebration at Seminary Ridge

6:30-7 p.m. | Indoors - United Lutheran Seminary Chapel (directly next to Seminary Ridge Museum)

Opening Remarks by Judy Morley, Ph.D. | Reading of The Declaration of Independence by Codie Eash

7:30-8:30 p.m. | Indoors - United Lutheran Seminary Chapel (directly next to Seminary Ridge Museum)

Panel on Historical Legacy with Tom McMillan, Jake Wynn, Erin Pearce and Dan Vermilya–Moderated by Judy Morley, Ph.D.

9-11 p.m. | Indoors - United Lutheran Seminary Chapel (directly next to Seminary Ridge Museum) | Supported by the Gettysburg Film Commission

Screening of the episode Independence from the award-winning HBO miniseries John Adams

John Adams predicted, “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.” Of course, Adams was off by two days regarding the date Americans associate with independence. But for the semiquincentennial of the United States, you are invited to honor the 250th anniversary of our nation’s birth on July 2, when a vote on the Declaration of Independence officially passed the Continental Congress. 

Join Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg National Military Park and Gettysburg Foundation for a memorable evening on Gettysburg’s historic United Lutheran Seminary Campus. The commemoration includes a reading of the Declaration of Independence, a panel discussion focused on the history and legacy of the occasion and an outdoor screening of the episode “Independence” from the award-winning HBO miniseries John Adams. This unique celebration honors the man whose name inspired Gettysburg to become the seat of Adams County, the nation that Adams and his fellow founders helped create and the lasting meaning of the Declaration of Independence throughout the past 250 years in Gettysburg and beyond.

Codie Eash has been part of the Seminary Ridge Museum staff since before the institution’s opening. Prior to his current role as Director of Education and Interpretation, he served numerous roles from Communications Intern up to Director of Education and Museum Operations. In 2014, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication/Journalism from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where he also completed a minor in History. In 2024, he began working on a Master’s in American History at Gettysburg College through The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In addition to museum tours and interpretation, he lectures for American Battlefield Trust conferences, National Park Service sites, historical societies, Civil War roundtables, educational groups and other organizations. Codie is a founding contributor to Pennsylvania in the Civil War, reviews books for Civil War Monitor and Emerging Civil War, writes articles for W. Britain’s The Standard and serves on the Gettysburg Magazine editorial board.

Tom McMillan spent a lifetime in sports media and communications, but his true passion is history. The Year That Made America is his fifth book on American history, following Flight 93: The Story The Aftermath and The Legacy of American Courage on 9/11 (2014); Gettysburg Rebels (2016); Armistead and Hancock: Behind the Legend of Two Friends at the Turning Point of the Civil War (2020); and Our Flag Was Still There (2023). Tom has served on the boards of Pittsburgh's Heinz History Center, the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial and the Antietam Institute, as well as the marketing committee of the Gettysburg Foundation. He recently retired from a 43-year career in sports media and communications, including 25 years as VP of Communications for the five-time Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. A former newspaper sports writer and radio talk show host, Tom covered the Olympics, the Stanley Cup Finals, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Final Four, various major college bowl games and numerous other major (and minor) sporting events. He grew up in Bellevue, Pa. near Pittsburgh, and earned a degree in journalism and communications from Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Tom and his wife, Colleen, who assists him with research, split their time between Pittsburgh and Gettysburg.

Jake Wynn is currently working as a tourism marketing professional in Frederick, Md. He is formerly the Director of Interpretation at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office. He is a 2015 graduate of Hood College with degrees in history and communications arts. He has formerly worked with Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area. Jake is a public historian and communicator with a passion for making history accessible and engaging. He has dedicated more than a decade to writing about American history online, with a particular focus on Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region and the Keystone State’s role in the Civil War. He writes extensively here, at Pennsylvania in the Civil War, and at Visit Frederick, blending detailed research with compelling storytelling to bring forgotten tales to life. Jake is a native of Williamstown, Pa., and currently lives in Frederick.

Erin S. Pearce is a public historian and museum professional based in Gettysburg whose work focuses on connecting communities to history through education, preservation and public programming. Originally from Massachusetts, her passion for public history was shaped while growing up in the Boston area and its rich revolutionary heritage. Erin holds degrees from Framingham State University, Tufts University and Johns Hopkins University. She has worked with organizations including Gettysburg Foundation, Gettysburg National Military Park, Eisenhower National Historic Site and Seminary Ridge Museum to create meaningful visitor experiences and make history accessible and engaging for audiences of all ages.

Dan Vermilya is a Civil War historian and Park Ranger at Eisenhower National Historic Site. He also has previously worked at Gettysburg National Military Park, Antietam National Battlefield, and Monocacy National Battlefield, and has performed volunteer work for the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. In 2012, Daniel was awarded the first Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholar Award by the Save Historic Antietam Foundation.  He is the author of several books on the American Civil War, including The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (History Press, 2014), James Garfield and the Civil War: For Ohio and the Union (History Press, 2015), and That Field of Blood: The Battle of Antietam (Savas Beatie, 2017).

Judy Morley, Ph.D. moved to Gettysburg to follow her passion for Civil War history and be closer to her only daughter, who lives in Philadelphia. Judy holds a docterate degree in American History and a Master’s Degree in Conscious Leadership. She taught history at the University of Colorado at Denver and has held multiple executive roles in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. As an entrepreneur, Judy has done leadership consulting for private and public companies. She is also the owner of the Gettysburg Cookie Company. Her prior non-profit experience includes executive roles in development, communications and operations for six organizations, including the Western History Association, the Downtown Denver Partnership, the Carroll County Arts Council and the YWCA of Gettysburg and Adams County before joining the Seminary Ridge Museum in October 2024.

Tickets are not necessary for July 2 programs taking place indoors at the United Lutheran Seminary Chapel (directly next to Seminary Ridge Museum) brought to you in partnership with the Seminary Ridge Museum & Education Center.