“A Fitting and Proper Gettysburg Renovation” read the headline in the Washington Post on April 14th, just hours before the National Park Service opened the doors to its new museum and visitor center at Gettysburg National Military Park.
More than 100 visitors were waiting at the doors at 8 a.m. when park superintendent John Latschar and Gettysburg Foundation president Bob Wilburn greeted the first visitor with a gift basket and local news media captured the moment.
The new facility brings to life the most extensive Civil War collections in the NPS through exhibits, interactive, and hands-on experiences that immerse visitors in the story of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War. By chance, visitors to opening day at the museum and visitor center were also able to participate in “Old Glory’s Journey of Remembrance,” a special flag-raising ceremony to honor America’s fallen heroes, organized by the White House Commission on Remembrance.
“The purpose of our new museum – like Old Glory flying above us – is to remind us all of the challenge laid down by Abraham Lincoln 145 years ago – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” said Latschar in his remarks during the ceremony.
The museum and visitor center offers a new Gettysburg experience, inspiring visitors to learn more about the battle’s significance in American history and to draw connections between the events that occurred here and what is happening in their lives today. In addition to the new museum and visitor center, the battlefield itself is undergoing a multi-year, multi-million dollar rehabilitation to restore its historic integrity and create a sustainable environment by improving its wetlands, water quality and wildlife habitat.
