Tag Archives: Civil War

History, Restored: Gettysburg’s first Black history museum will highlight the area’s vibrant community

January 29, 2026 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

Jack Hopkins

Gettysburg and American history go hand in hand, but one group of people often has been left out of the story.

Soon, that will change, as the Hopkins House Museum is set to become the town’s first museum devoted entirely to Black history.

Once home to Jack and Julia Hopkins, the 1840s log cabin is the last surviving Civil War-era house in Gettysburg historically owned by Black residents. The cabin, which was dilapidated and condemned just a few years ago, is in the process of being restored and expanded with a state-of-the-art museum addition, which will tell the story of Gettysburg’s Black community from slavery to the present day.

Celebrating Community

Jack Hopkins, a well-known figure in the Gettysburg community, worked for more than two decades as a janitor at what is now Gettysburg College.

“He was very much loved by the students and the faculty,” said Jean Howard-Green, president of the Lincoln Cemetery Project Association and a trustee of the local history nonprofit, Gettysburg History. “It was called the PA College at that time. When you read his obituary, you can see that they gave him an honorary VP title.”

Hopkins’ son, Edward, fought with the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War.

“The fact that they fought for their country, despite not being fully recognized as citizens themselves, speaks to their caliber,” Howard-Green said.

Edward later went on to become Gettysburg’s first Black elected official.

As a Gettysburg native, Howard-Green is well-versed in the aspects of the area’s history that have been overlooked and believes the museum will fill in those gaps.

“We want people to know what our little community was all about—from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond,” she said. “At one time, we were relegated to three streets—but they were three incredible streets.”

Those streets boasted everything the community needed: barbershops, restaurants, pool halls and other amenities.

“That’s what made living in this area great—we had things to do and places to go,” she said.

Howard-Green added that, although those streets were predominantly Black, they did live alongside white neighbors.

“We lived peaceably with each other,” she said.

Andrew Dalton, CEO and president of Gettysburg History, said that the museum will highlight lesser-known figures like Mag Palm, a local washerwoman and Underground Railroad figure who fought off kidnappers, even biting off one attacker’s thumb. Another is Basil Biggs, a tenant farmer and self-taught veterinarian, whose grim job during the Civil War was to disinter and re-bury about 3,000 Union soldiers after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Dalton said that Black families were largely confined to the Third Ward for decades.

“Realtors wouldn’t show them properties,” he said. “That went on from the beginning of the town’s history and, incredibly, until the 1960s.”

The Hopkins House is partnering with the Lincoln Cemetery Project Association to connect the stories of everyday life with the stories of those buried in the region’s historic Black cemetery, ensuring that Black legacies are honored holistically, both in life and in death.

Collections & Exhibits

During the restoration, crews discovered more than 100 artifacts within the walls of the home.

“We also have artifacts that were donated to the Historical Society over the years,” Dalton said.

Howard-Green added that community contributions continue to play a role.

“We’ve been reaching out to the community for additional artifacts and are gladly in the process of accepting more,” she said.

If anyone has artifacts to share, contact [email protected], she added.

Howard-Green mentioned a recent acquisition—an oral history of an older Black woman, now deceased, who was active in St. Paul AME Zion Church.

The goal of Gettysburg History is to raise $2 million for the museum project. They are currently halfway there thanks to grants and private donations.

Howard-Green said that the project is deeply meaningful to her.

“When you are a person of color and you know your history hasn’t been fully told, to be part of bringing the full story to fruition is something that makes me very happy,” she said.

The Hopkins House Museum is located at 219 S. Washington St., Gettysburg. For more information, including how to donate, visit www.gettysburghistory.org/hopkins-house.

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National Civil War Museum to celebrate Juneteenth with Community Free Day this weekend

June 20, 2024 | by Jolie Lloyd

The National Civil War Museum

This weekend brings a new opportunity to celebrate Juneteenth through crafts, music and history.

The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg will host a Juneteenth Community Free Day on Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring various events and activities.

Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, was officially celebrated on June 19.

At the community day, a group of about 20 Black quilters will showcase their craft all day, demonstrating quilting techniques and answering questions from attendees.

At 1 p.m., a choir composed of members of Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Harrisburg will perform in the ballroom.

Thompson’s Independent Battery C, an artillery reenactment organization, will honor those who sacrificed their lives in the Civil War through demonstrations at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. They will fire a mountain howitzer, a type of cannon used in the Civil War.

“This initiative allows individuals to come together and honor the significance of Juneteenth while enjoying a day filled with educational experiences and community engagement,” according to a release from The National Civil War Museum.

For more information visit the National Civil War Museum’s website.

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Lincoln’s Last Journey: Stone Gables Estate hosts funeral train re-enactment

March 31, 2021 | by Gina Napoli

Gettysburg isn’t the only local burg with a claim to important Civil War-era events.

President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train chugged through southcentral Pennsylvania on April 22, 1865, making stops in Harrisburg and Elizabethtown. Now 155 years later, Elizabethtown’s role in the well documented funeral train procession is re-enacted at Stone Gables Estate, site of the Star Barn.

Re-enactors at the upcoming two-day event aimed to make the event’s elements historically accurate, with only few variances.

According to records, the locomotive pulled in to Elizabethtown at 12:15 p.m. for a quick, 15-minute stop to refuel, using the wood and water from the “tender” car. Onlookers swarmed the platform to get a better view of the benediction, speakers and ceremonies. Then the train headed to Philadelphia for another casket viewing, stopping every 20 miles to refuel.

The “United States” was Lincoln’s private presidential train car, later carrying his casket. Unfortunately, the train was destroyed by fire in 1911, forever lost to history.

According to Shannon Brown, event coordinator, only two existing structures at Stone Gables Estate were around when the original train came through.

“Whoever lived in the old stone house on the knoll could have watched the funeral train from 400 yards away,” she said. “That, and a retaining wall.”

Brown served on the 30-person team that brought the replica train to life. David Kloke spearheaded the effort as an educational outreach. He spent 3½ years building it from scratch in his workshop in Illinois. Weighing 67,000 pounds and measuring 9-feet wide, 13-feet tall and 48-feet long, the replica can chug easily over U.S. standard rails that didn’t exist in 1865.

Of everything offered at the re-enactment, “the ambience of that car has the biggest wow factor,” Brown said. “It feels very period, which was the intention. It sets the mood. It sets the stage for what happens next.”

Quite Powerful

The passenger car smacks of opulence and attention to detail germane to yesteryear craftsmen unconcerned with schedules or cost.

Curtains, carpets and interior crimson silk fabrics were specially designed and hand-rendered. Painters matched the original paint colors, hand-lettering and drawing embellishments from photographs. Blacksmiths hand-forged the railings, and woodworkers carved countless details. Decorators hung period paintings and sconces resembling oil lamps on the walls.

“Walking through the Pioneer Coach passenger car, there are walkover seats flipped so you can ride in either direction,” Brown said. “When people get to the funeral car, the coffin is the last thing they see. It’s quite powerful—draped in mourning, black crepe, flowers. It’s incredible to see people’s reactions, wiping away tears.”

You’ll also find period artisans at the event, like a lady making lye soap, another making Victorian hair jewelry, and a metalworker forging all kinds of metal wares.

The second oldest municipal band in the nation, the New Holland Band, will play period music. The band can trace its history back to 1829 to a fife and drum corps for the 51st Regiment, Pennsylvania State Militia.

“In all the records I’ve seen, there was some type of music at the train stops,” Brown said. “Bands played dirges, and, if they didn’t have instruments, people sang hymns.”

Re-enactors and lecturers will roam the grounds, giving demos, giving wagon rides, doing drills in the encampments, and demonstrating what life was like in 1865. Some play a simultaneous role of re-enactor and lecturer.

“At the inaugural event, a gentleman who looks like General Grant was on horseback giving people a tour,” Brown said.

No Civil War re-enactment would be complete without a military presence. To keep the ranks well rounded, there’s a nice mix of infantry, artillery, dismounted cavalry, civilians and sutlers. Jeffrey Cohen, commander of the 6th New York Independent Battery, will return with his co-ed unit of 35 to demonstrate the drill, military protocol of that time, campsite cooking, how to use small arms, and even an authentic cannon that fires.

The cannon is an original model 1857 bronze Napoleon, weighing over a ton, with cannonballs the size of shot puts. Cohen recruits kids from the audience to put on uniforms, and he puts them in a popular scenario of the day, such as a 16-year-old running away to enlist. Observing all safety measures, the re-enactors encourage the kids to perform soldiers’ tasks: pulling the cannon by the rope, operating the sponge rammers, or throwing the cannonballs.

“You really get to teach the public. People are coming to see us, so you want people to see an accurate picture of everything,” Cohen said. “It’s been alleged that we hijacked the train. There were no photos, so it’s a lie.”

The Lincoln Funeral Train Commemoration takes place April 23 and 24 at Stone Gables Estate, 1 Hollinger Lane, Elizabethtown. For more information, visit www.stonegablesestate.com.

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Honoring Hari: Inaugural Hari Jones Hidden Histories Program to address, “Who caused the Civil War?”

February 4, 2020 | by Karen Hendricks

It’s a lingering question, more than 150 years old: Who caused the American Civil War?

The topic will be discussed during two programs offered by the Dauphin County Library System this month.

“It’s no longer a debate—the facts and evidence show the answer is slavery,” said Scott Hancock, associate professor of history and Africana studies at Gettysburg College (pictured).

Hancock will be speaking at Harrisburg’s East Shore Area Library the evening of Feb. 11 and, a week later, at the city’s Madeline L. Olewine Memorial Library the evening of Feb. 18.

“Black men, women and children—the most powerless people at the time—making the decision to escape to the north causes the Civil War,” Hancock said. “How and why people at the bottom of society can cause a war is the focus of the talk.”

Titled “The American Civil War: A War for Freedom,” the event is the first in what the library is calling the “Hari Jones Hidden Histories Program.” In honor of Black History Month, the program pays homage to noted historian Hari Jones, who impacted the lives of many in Harrisburg and passed away in 2018.

“Hari was a guy with a salt-and-pepper beard and dreadlocks from Oklahoma—a Marine who was conservative and Constitutional,” said Dauphin County Commission Chairman Jeff Haste. “And Hari came to love Harrisburg because of the history that was here.”

It was Haste who approached the library with the idea to honor Jones’ legacy. Jones served as assistant director and curator at the African American Civil War Freedom Foundation and Museum in Washington, D.C., and as a board member for Harrisburg’s National Civil War Museum. He was also instrumental in guiding the county’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2013 and MLK 50 Commemoration in 2018.

When it came to history, Hari Jones was especially known for one catch phrase: “Go to the original sources.” “I heard that a hundred times from him,” Haste said.

That encouragement, to dig into history and locate original historical accounts and documents, describes Hancock’s methodology as well.

“Hari Jones focused on primary sources and using those to bring out the stories of the marginalized, those we don’t usually think of having important roles in society,” Hancock said. “Most of what I do is like that.”

In addition to the program series, the library has established the Hari Jones Hidden Histories Collection, a curated companion collection of books and materials.

“We didn’t want to put up a plaque—we wanted to do something that was a living honor to him,” said Karen Cullings, the library system’s executive director.

Public programs where people can explore new ideas—such as the Hari Jones Hidden Histories Program—are, in fact, an essential component of the library system’s strategic plan, about to be released.

“We’ve been going out, talking to community groups and individuals about what kind of community they want to live in,” Cullings said. “One of the most common themes to come out is that people feel disconnected and isolated. So, we want to give people the opportunity to reconnect and the ability to talk about different topics…with the library serving as a community catalyst for positive change.”

And learning about history, Hancock said, helps people better understand the present.

“People who often say history is all in the past…often have a selective desire to ignore certain parts of history,” Hancock said. “If you don’t understand why we still have residential segregation or schools, or how those things developed, any answers you have for meeting those problems will be oversimplified and won’t work.”

Additionally, “hidden histories” are still being discovered, revealing new insights and casting history in a new light.

“Related to my own personal identity and belief system, I would argue that we’re all made in the image of God, so all stories matter,” Hancock said. “Black women and men in the poor bottom of society are important…giving voice to those stories matters because that’s how we would all feel.”

“The American Civil War: A War for Freedom,” the inaugural Hari Jones Hidden Histories Program, will be held at the East Shore Area Library on Feb. 11 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and at the Madeline L. Olewine Memorial Library on Feb. 18 from 6 to 7 p.m. Registration is available at dcls.org/harijones.

Michael’s Mission: Harrisburg man devotes his life to tracking down artifacts of slavery.

January 31, 2020 | by Karen Hendricks

Michael Doub describes it as a hunger.

He has a need to know more. He wants to know the truth about a single, vital subject—the history of slavery in the United States.

Over 30 years, he has sought, discovered and amassed a collection of historical artifacts that is believed to be one of the largest privately held collections of its kind in the country.

“I’ve always had a love of history,” said Doub, who lives in Harrisburg.

It was during his travels for the U.S. Navy that he began exploring museums. He was drawn to exhibits that focused on African Americans and slavery, but he realized that something was missing from the exhibits. While there were words and stories to read, there were few artifacts.

“It became a hunger for more information, and the more I got into it, the more I found myself questioning things,” he said. “It increases, because when you learn about slavery, you learn about the Civil War.”

So began his quest. He pointed to a brown case.

“That was my first item—my first set of shackles,” he said. “They are child’s shackles I bought at an antiques store in Mechanicsville, Virginia.”

He pointed to another set of shackles in the same case.

“If you look closely, you can see damage—someone tried to escape from these,” he said.

Doub thinks they’re about 200 years old. In all, he has about a dozen pairs of shackles. They’re similar to handcuffs, heavy, made of iron with D-shaped pieces that fit around wrists, connected by thick, chained links. There’s a progression in size, from the child’s shackles to those used on women and men.

His Passion

Michael and Ruby Doub have been married for 30 years and describe a “tight-knit family” of children and grandchildren. His career with the U.S. Department of Defense has stretched 41 years, focused on information technology for the Navy’s Trident nuclear submarines.

Ruby Doub is employed by Dauphin County and serves as the assistant to commission Chairman Jeff Haste. She’s also a former board member of the National Civil War Museum and Gamut Theatre, and, in fact, the couple enjoys attending Harrisburg’s arts, theater and history-focused events.

“I wasn’t supportive at first,” Ruby said, of her husband’s avocation. “I didn’t understand why he was spending money on these things, and he wasn’t always upfront with me.”

One time, Doub dropped his wife and daughter off at a soccer tournament in New Jersey. Rather than parking right away, he retraced their route to a roadside yard sale where an artifact had caught his eye. He purchased it and returned to his daughter’s soccer game.

“As I grew into my love for history throughout the years, I’ve become more and more proud of the collection and his passion for history,” Ruby said.

The collection is comprised of more than 100 artifacts—all of them mounted in plain brown cases. Each one required a search on Doub’s part. He tracked them down through magazine and newspaper ads for “relics,” at estate and yard sales, antique stores and barns. He traveled by car, train and airplane, purchasing tickets and gas, covering many miles through the Carolinas, Maryland, Georgia—primarily the southern states—but one local item hailed from Lancaster County.

He pictured one journey, in North Carolina. It’s where he purchased shackles, mixed with tractor parts, found in an old barn. He described the driveway, where red clay got stuck in his tires.

Some sellers acknowledge the artifacts’ uses, while others were oblivious, he said. Some were reluctant to say much at all.

Primarily constructed of metal, the artifacts look cold and heavy—physically, as well as in subject matter. Each artifact stands as a visual reminder of slavery. Although varied, each one was used to exert control.

Rattlers were attached around a slave’s legs or neck. They made noise if a slave tried to run; some cut into a slave’s legs with movement. Some items prevented slaves from eating—they were primarily used on women preparing food in a master’s kitchen. There are slave collars. Many of the items have bells, locks, or prongs. One bears the mark of the British crown.

Real, Raw

Some of the artifacts have been publicly displayed—at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg University, Messiah College, Penn State Harrisburg as well as Penn State University’s main campus and the National Civil War Museum. Doub often includes a talk titled, “The Danger of Forgetting.”

“There is a limitation to what people really want to know about slavery,” he said.

That’s why he believes that many museums don’t display artifacts like his; they’re too “real” and “raw.” But to him, they’re also “priceless.”

One question he cannot answer is whether his own ancestors were slaves. But he has wondered. A genealogy deep dive may be his next quest.

Has Wayne Motts, National Civil War Museum CEO, ever seen anything like Michael’s collection before?

“Never. Not in any museum,” Motts said. “Finding slavery-related items is rare. I don’t think it has to do with museums not wanting to display them—I think it’s finding them [that’s difficult].”

Motts was quick to point out that, when the museum was built in 2001, it was the first of its kind to put the issue of slavery “up front” as the cause of the Civil War.

“Slavery is a painful story, but that pain needs to be discussed,” he said. “The significance of Michael’s collection cannot be understated. They are historical materials, educational materials, artifacts to be preserved, interpreted, to tell the stories of slavery.”

All museums and historical collections begin with an individual—someone who sees the value in preserving the past. Someone who has a hunger for the truth. Someone like Michael Doub.

“Anyone who says one person can’t make a difference, can look at this,” Motts said.

Indeed, Doub said that his artifacts often have a profound impact on those who see them.

“People have multiple reactions—tears, questions, religious responses and some people just stare,” Doub said. “They say, ‘We knew about slavery, but we didn’t know about this.’”

To contact Michael and Ruby Doub about exhibiting their artifacts or presenting “The Danger of Forgetting,” you may email them at [email protected]. For more information on the National Civil War Museum, One Lincoln Circle, Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, visit www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org.

A Voice for the Ages: Frederick Douglass biographer David W. Blight kicks off Black History Month in Harrisburg.

January 31, 2020 | by Karen Hendricks

David W. Blight wrote his first book about Frederick Douglass 30 years ago and never dreamed there would be another—let alone a full biography.

However, “some lives are, in a way, made for biography,” Blight said during a recent interview.

Over the years, much of Blight’s work intersected with that of Douglass (1818–1895), a larger-than-life historical figure who escaped from slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to rise to prominence as a civil rights leader. Douglass was considered an eloquent writer and orator whose words advocated for the abolishment of slavery and equality for all.

Blight—a renowned historian, professor and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale University—has written or edited a dozen books and garnered numerous accolades.

But it wasn’t until a visit to Savannah, Ga., 12 years ago that he felt compelled to write a book that would become what’s now considered the definitive biography of Douglass. It’s all thanks to a man named Walter Evans, who Blight met during that visit. A historical artifact collector, Evans spread a treasure trove of information about Douglass across his dining room table for Blight to examine.

“I realized this was an, ‘Oh my God moment,’” Blight recalled. “At the core of this collection were nine Douglass family scrapbooks kept by his sons during the last third of Douglass’ life…They were stunning in their scale.”

Blight visited Evans’ dining room table as often as he could for about six years, pouring over the previously undiscovered material. At the beginning, he used a flip phone to take photos and transcribe hundreds of pages of information. It took him another six years to write “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” which earned him the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in history.

Area history and book lovers have the opportunity to hear and meet Blight on Feb. 1 during an appearance at Harrisburg’s Midtown Scholar Bookstore. Alex Brubaker, the bookstore’s manager, calls Blight’s appearance an “exciting kickoff to Black History Month” and one of the highlights of the bookstore’s 2020 calendar.

“We’re such fierce advocates for good books and stories here at the Scholar, but this one stands out as a must-see event,” Brubaker said. “There’s so much to learn from the past to help illuminate our present conditions, and to have one of our current leading historians tackle such a renowned American figure—it feels extra significant when we look out across our 2020 event series.”

A Prophet

Douglass was known for expressing his rage with words rather than physical violence, Blight said. And the Bible had a “profound effect” on Douglass’ words, which in turn, inspired Blight’s choice of book title.

“I always felt like Douglass had a prophetic voice; he was a wielder of words,” said Blight. “‘Prophet’ means he was a voice in the 19th century, a voice like no other about America’s greatest problems—Civil War, slavery and the transformation of our Constitution.”

Blight was quick to point out, that for all his attributes, Douglass also had his flaws, including a dysfunctional family.

“I’m not trying to suggest he had it all figured out,” said Blight, “But he often faced what we don’t want to face—that’s the role of a prophet.”

Blight stressed that the book, though more than 900 pages long, is written for a general audience, for “good history and story—what all biographies should do.”

The Rev. Dr. David T. Miller, pastor of Harrisburg’s oldest African American congregation, Wesley Union African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church, said he is “definitely elated” about Blight’s visit to Harrisburg.

Miller has read and studied countless sermons and speeches written by Douglass, who was an ordained minister within the A.M.E. Zion Church.

“When you look at the sermons he wrote, to encourage and inspire individuals, Douglass would say, ‘The way we are being treated is not right, but there is a way to address it…[channeling] being mad and upset into what is called righteous indignation,’” Miller said.

Douglass’ words are enduring, Miller said, because they encouraged Americans to work collectively to tackle societal issues, especially by focusing on youth.

“The same things that resounded then still make sense today,” Miller said, citing familiar Douglass quotes: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress,” and, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

Words Reach

Douglass actually spoke in Harrisburg several times, according to Lenwood Sloan, longtime Harrisburg area community activist. One of those appearances occurred in 1859 at the invitation of abolitionist Dr. William Rutherford whose family owned farms—in what is now Allison Hill—that served as stations on the Underground Railroad as escaped slaves made their way north.

“In 1859, we were at the edge of the century moving into the crisis that would become the Civil War,” said Sloan, who has portrayed Douglass.

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act created a bounty office at 3rd and Walnut streets, where the post office is today. Douglass spoke a block away, at 4th and Walnut streets, a location that now is the proposed site of the Commonwealth Monument Project. That bronze monument, honoring four prominent Harrisburg abolitionists and suffragists, is slated to be unveiled on June 15.

“We have records of Douglass coming back to Harrisburg in 1882 to speak about the safety of voters, and this is a conversation we’re still having today about suppression of voters and the struggle to preserve the safety of our citizenship,” said Sloan.

Many of Douglass’ words reach across the decades.

“‘As long as heaven allows…I will use my voice, my pen, or my vote’ is a quote I use often because it’s timeless,” Blight said. “We all have a voice and a vote, and some of us have a pen. That’s all Douglass ever had. He had no other form of power.”

David W. Blight will appear on Feb. 1, 5 to 7 p.m., at Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For more information, see midtownscholar.com.

War & Wine: Boonsboro, Md.–Come for the charm, stay for the medical history.

June 28, 2019 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

Some of the most interesting places are discovered by accident.

Such was the case with Boonsboro, Md., a small town that I drove through while visiting Sharpsburg last year during the holidays. I was particularly drawn to a cozy little inn decorated in dozens of twinkly Christmas lights. It drew me in like a hug, and I vowed to return when the weather warmed.

That opportunity occurred last month when I cleared my schedule, booked a room at the Inn Boonsboro and set out to find what other gems were waiting to be discovered in the historic little town.

Turn the Page

One of the first things I learned upon arriving was that bestselling author Nora Roberts lives in nearby Keedysville, and several Boonsboro properties have connections to the prolific writer.

Fans of Roberts will find a comprehensive collection of her works at Turn the Page bookstore, located just off the square in a pre-Civil War townhome. Nora’s husband, who owns the business, works with local authors to promote their works, and Nora herself sometimes can be spotted signing books there. Fans can schedule their visit well in advance by keeping an eye on the website.

Downtown Boonsboro is also home to a number of boutique shops, offering everything from apparel to jewelry to home décor. Those seeking a unique item for a special someone will likely to find it at Gifts Inn Boonsboro, a shop that works with 75 different artists who specialize in items like jewelry, fiber art, pottery and more.

Antique enthusiasts will find a plethora of interesting items at Market Place Antiques & Collectibles, located just a short drive away. The sprawling shop features 130 vendors selling everything from Civil War memorabilia to furniture, ephemera and Victorian-era items.

History Lessons

Those who enjoy learning about old buildings will find a walking tour map in a weatherproof box downtown. The brochure lists 34 historic places, with interesting details about each structure.

Among the standouts is a log home located at 14 N. Main St., which seems to sigh with the burden of age, but has nonetheless managed to stand the test of time, operating as a grocery from 1802 to 1983.

A short drive away takes visitors to another historic property, known as the Pry House Field Hospital Museum. What was once a peaceful farm turned into a scene of chaos for the Pry family, whose lives were forever changed when Union Gen. George McClellan decided to use the house as his headquarters during the Battle of Antietam. The Pry’s best parlor furniture was tossed out onto the lawn, fences were knocked down, and livestock were taken to feed the army. One of the exhibits memorializes the family’s extensive war claims, which were never fully paid.

The museum inside the well-preserved home focuses on the history of hospitals and medical care during the war. On the second floor is a collection of graphic photos taken in the aftermath of the battle, considered the bloodiest single day in U.S. history.

The family barn, located a short walk from the house, offers an additional glimpse into what took place during the occupation of the property, with stretchers and a Civil War ambulance on display.

Eat, Drink, Stay

Big Cork Vineyards is worth the 15-minute drive from Boonsboro to Rohrersville. From the bucolic setting amidst the rolling hills to the sleek, contemporary décor to the exceptional wines, it’s a visit you’ll share with your friends upon returning.

For $10, visitors can taste a total of six wines, most of which are dry, all of which I found to be excellent. The off-dry “Russian Kiss” is described on the tasting menu as a “one-of-a-kind blend of Muscat and Russian grape varietals.” All I know is that it’s delicious, with a unique flavor derived from vines that hail from eastern Europe.

The vineyard also offers quite a lineup of musical entertainment. On tap for this summer is the “Big Concert Series,” with tributes to Frank Sinatra, ABBA and Bruce Springsteen.

Another local business steeped in history is the Old South Mountain Inn perched atop Turner’s Gap in Boonsboro. The inn was founded in 1732, and speculation has it that Gen. Edward Braddock, accompanied by a young Lt. George Washington, may have passed by on his way to Fort Duquesne.

The South Mountain Inn served as a stagecoach stop for traffic passing on the National Road after it was surfaced in the 1820s. In the years that followed, the inn had its share of high-profile visitors, including statesmen like Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and several presidents.

In 1859, the inn was captured and held overnight as an outpost by abolitionist John Brown’s followers and later became the headquarters of Confederate Gen. D.H. Hill during the Battle of South Mountain, which preceded the Battle of Antietam and was, in fact, the first Civil War battle fought in Maryland.

Today, the inn is as popular for its food as its history. Visitors come from miles around for old-school favorites like crab imperial, chicken marsala, beef Wellington and pasta primavera.

I stayed at the Inn Boonsboro, which originally drew me to the area. It’s owned by none other than Nora Roberts, who named each of the eight rooms for couples in literary works. I stayed in the Eva and Roarke room, named after a couple in Robert’s “In Death” series, written under her pen name, J.D. Robb.

I was impressed with all the extra touches, from the scones and cookies in the dining room to the accessible decanter of whisky for guests to indulge for a nightcap. As is often the case in Boonsboro, the inn has an interesting history.

These are just a few recommendations for a long weekend in the Boonsboro area. If you’re like me and love walking around small towns, patronizing local businesses and learning about old buildings and the history behind them, you can’t go wrong in the quaint town of Boonsboro.

For more information

Inn Boonsboro: www.boonsboroinn.com
Turn the Page: www.ttpbooks.com
Pry House Field Hospital Museum: www.civilwarmed.org/pry
Big Cork Vineyards: www.bigcorkvineyards.com
Old South Mountain Inn: www.oldsouthmountaininn.com
Gifts Inn Boonsboro: www.giftsinnboonsboro.com

One Family, One History: In the month of Juneteenth, descendants of Civil War veteran Ephraim Slaughter reflect on the ties connecting their family, their city.

May 31, 2019 | by M. Diane McCormick

Family members Yvonne Pittman, Keith Mitchell and Dr. Sharonn Williams pose with a statue of Ephraim Slaughter at the National Civil War Museum.

Young Yvonne Pittman never knew that homes on the other side of her neighborhood lacked indoor plumbing until she walked into a friend’s house.

She asked her mother, “Why do they have a bathtub in the kitchen?”

“Don’t you ever say anything to them about having outdoor bathrooms,” her mother admonished.

“I didn’t realize that we didn’t have an outhouse,” Pittman says now. “We had a bathroom.”

The story of African-American life in Harrisburg encompasses integration, business and prosperity, and the power of community. It is also a tale of segregation, deprivation and loss. Three family members descended from Dauphin County’s longest-living Civil War veteran carry the legacy. All share a belief that enhanced attention to the small stories of the past can enrich the region’s historic tapestry.

They are:

Yvonne Pittman. Her grandfather, Ephraim Slaughter, was an escaped slave, Civil War veteran who lived to age 97, respected businessman and philanthropist. His story and statue are enshrined in a National Civil War Museum exhibit.

Keith Mitchell. Pittman’s younger brother. He’s a retired official from the state and federal labor departments and a National Civil War Museum board member, giving him the rare distinction of serving for a museum where an ancestor is honored.

Sharonn Williams. Pittman’s daughter, contributor to the museum’s 2016 African-American Oral History Project, and an experienced genealogist whose ancestral sleuthing uncovered links between Southern plantations and Harrisburg’s African-American community.

Why Harrisburg?

Pittman remembers Slaughter. She rode with him in Memorial Day parades. They walked hand-in-hand around their neighborhood, the 4-year-old serving as eyes for the nearly sightless elderly man.

“Pop-pop” Ephraim was actually Pittman’s step-grandfather, married to her grandmother, a widow named Georgiana Jenkins. Ephraim and Georgiana were separated by 43 years, married in a fond union that came with a quid pro quo. She would care for him in his old age, making the most of his Civil War pension. He would deed her his considerable property—an estate worth $10,000 upon his death in 1943.

Slaughter escaped slavery from a North Carolina plantation in 1863. He served with what would become the 37th U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). In 1869, he moved to Harrisburg.

Why Harrisburg?

“That’s the big question for us,” Williams said.

Maybe it was his association with the Grand Army of the Republic or the railroads rumbling through the city. Or maybe it was the age-old quest for work, including the spot he landed at the legendary Lochiel Hotel, hangout of state Capitol pols and lobbyists.

Ephraim owned homes on Boas, Capital and Forster streets, in the Capitol-area neighborhood now known as Fox Ridge. Mitchell remembers going door-to-door in the 1950s with grandmother Georgiana.

“It really didn’t hit me until later that she was actually collecting rent,” he said.

Georgiana shared Ephraim’s entrepreneurial spirit.

In a peripatetic early life in West Virginia, Williamsport and Harrisburg, she cooked on a riverboat, worked in a boy’s school and as a live-in maid, and ran a beauty salon catering to white women during the day and African-American women in the evening. She sewed dresses for her granddaughters. She could turn anything into a flowerpot, including Ephraim’s spittoon, the one he never missed even as his sight was failing.

Georgiana cooked elegant Sunday family meals of pig tongue or stuffed fish—plus her hand-churned ice cream for dessert—but saved one pot exclusively for soapmaking. She ran a boarding house catering to traveling African Americans, lodging those barred from whites-only hotels.

She also took the bus to tend her garden in Susquehanna Township and then shared its potatoes and cabbages with families living along the dirt roads of the township’s Edgemont neighborhood. She sent her children and grandchildren to the best schools available. She put her sister through college. She was auxiliary president, serving with black and white women, at Ephraim Slaughter American Legion Post 733.

“And she wasn’t even 5 feet tall,” said Pittman.

Mitchell and Pittman grew up in Harrisburg’s integrated neighborhoods and schools. Pittman befriended the sheriff’s daughter from a white family living near the Broad Street Market.

“I went to her house, and she came to my house,” she said. “We didn’t know any different.”

Mitchell, 12 years younger than his sister, moved to Susquehanna Township when his parents built a home there. In the township’s schools, most of his classmates were Jewish.

“There was never any hatred based on religious beliefs and all that,” he said. “If you had disagreements, you had disagreements because of some other reason.”

In the lives of Pittman and Mitchell, the merger of Harrisburg’s high schools dissolved longstanding friendships, while “white flight” helped reverse the integration that they knew.

“We’ve gone right back to segregation,” said Pittman. “It happened so gradually that people didn’t pay attention. Because blacks were moving to the suburbs, too, people didn’t know who was being left behind in the urban areas.”

Floodgates

As a new Civil War Museum board member, Mitchell’s “number-one priority” is closing a gap between the 18-year-old institution and the community. There, younger generations can learn the history not told in textbooks, because “you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been.”

“Even though the museum sits in Reservoir Park, it has not become part of the community,” he said. “It’s kind of up there all by itself.”

The museum is poised to “open up the floodgates” to visitors and volunteers, agrees museum board Chairman Kelly Lewis. The 2017 agreement that settled simmering differences with the city helped guarantee preservation of the museum’s artifacts collection, and digitizing will provide access to researchers worldwide, he said.

The museum can be storyteller of not only the Civil War but its tragic aftermath, when Jim Crow laws backtracked on the freedoms won over spilled blood, Lewis said. In a play on the term Juneteenth, which recognizes emancipation, the museum is developing a “Junetruth” program countering the “Lost Cause” myth.

“There’s still aspects of the Civil War that are being fought in today’s world,” playing out in such areas as inequitable school funding, Lewis said. “It was an all-encompassing civil war, but much of the story told is about generals and battles, not about everyday people and the huge migration of slaves after the Emancipation Proclamation and the humanity of it all.”

On the museum board, Mitchell replaced revered African-American historian Harry Jones after Jones’ sudden death. Lewis hopes to expand the board, enticing more women and “people of all races and creeds to help us tell this story.”

Williams, who offers genealogy workshops, sees hidden aspects of African-American history citywide—say, in the housing project named after black abolitionist William Howard Day, and in Downey School, developed specifically as an integrated institution. Her own work—and the diligent and coalescing efforts of such locals as historian Calobe Jackson, Jr. and activist Lenwood Sloan—are bringing hidden details to light.

“It seems like they only talk about black history during February, but black history is American history,” she said. “It needs to be incorporated all the time. Harrisburg has a very rich history.”

The National Civil War Museum is located at 1 Lincoln Circle, Harrisburg. This month, it notes Civil War Days with tours of Harrisburg Cemetery and the Capitol Preservation Committee’s flag laboratory on June 21, and free admission, with demonstrations and a talk on Juneteenth by the Smithsonian’s Kelly Elaine Davies, on June 22. More information, including a schedule, can be found at www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org.

Taste of History: Savor Gettysburg Food Tours whets the appetite of foodies, history lovers.

April 30, 2019 | by Karen Hendricks

Photo by Karen Hendricks.

Gettysburg reminds Lori Korczyk of Epcot.

Just like the Disney park’s microcosm of world cultures, Gettysburg’s downtown streets are dotted with eclectic and ethnic restaurants, from Thai to Mexican, Italian to Irish, plus plenty of American eateries that blend cuisines—like melting pots—with culture and history.

The Adams County town’s crossroads drew Union and Confederate soldiers together during the pivotal 1863 Civil War battle and sealed its role in American history. Today, “the most famous small town in America” continues to draw more than a million visitors annually.

Korczyk saw an opportunity to establish Savor Gettysburg Food Tours (SGFT) six years ago, to appeal to foodies and history lovers alike.

“I always tell people to make a food tour the very first thing you do when traveling, because it gives you the lay of the land, maps out paces to eat and visit, and answers so many questions a traveler needs to know,” said Korczyk.

Keep It Fresh

During Korczyk’s “Historic Downtown Gettysburg Food Tour,” which spans three hours and about one mile, attendees visit and sample dishes from six restaurants.

Tour-goers try some of the best specialty dishes from downtown bistros and restaurants. A winery shop pairs wines with local fruit and cheese; an ice cream shop delivers a sweet ending.

Along the way, Gettysburg’s historic backdrop provides the tour’s flavor. Korczyk explains what the town and its civilians experienced during the Battle of Gettysburg.

“I knew there were remnants of the war, but I had never seen the cannonball or all the bullet holes in the brick walls,” said Amy Boothroyd of Hanover, who took a tour last October with her husband Josh to celebrate their anniversary. “Our tour guide pointed everything out.”

It was history that drew the Korczyks to Gettysburg for their retirement years—now they’re both tour guides. With a background in the retail and food service industry, Lori developed SGFT. Her husband Larry, a lifelong history buff, is now a licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park who also leads SGFT.

To keep it fresh, Korczyk occasionally shifts the tour lineup. But, she said, the Garryowen Irish Pub has been on the tour since day one, serving up shepherd’s pie and Magners Irish Cider.

Owned by Irish transplants Joanne and Kevin McCready, the Garryowen has racked up numerous awards and accolades, including “Best Irish Food Experience in North America” by Irish Pubs Global in 2017.

“Growing up in Ireland, we’re used to bars and restaurants being one thing, and that’s what we tried to do—not make an Irish bar, but to just make it a bar,” said Kevin, who was a carpenter in Ireland, then in Manhattan. “That way, it’s authentic.”

The couple, “together since we were both 16 in ’84,” said Kevin, moved to Gettysburg to be closer to friends and to open the Garryowen in 2007.

“It’s the longest I’ve ever had one job in my life,” Kevin remarked.

Tour-goers hear plenty of tales in the pub. Then there’s the authentic shepherd’s pie, Joanne’s mother’s recipe, and the extensive menu of 112 Irish whiskeys. And you may notice the hundreds of police and fire department patches tacked into the pub’s rafters.

“A guy who used to hang out here worked for the National Park Service,” McCready said. “He gave us a patch, and it snowballed from there.”

There’s Irish history, too. A wall mural pays homage to the 1916 Easter Rising leaders, who paved the way for today’s Republic of Ireland. The restaurant’s new courtyard showcases Irish-themed memorabilia, including a tin Titanic sign, a nod to Joanne’s great-grandfather, who worked on the iconic ship.

This year, a new addition to SGFT is the Hoof, Fin & Fowl, which features authentic seafood dishes by Baltimore native, chef/owner Jeff Jurkowski.

“We’ll feature one dish from the sea and one from land—our popular lamb lollipops,” said Jurkowski, who grew up in a family of Chesapeake Bay watermen.

After operating a popular roadside crab business in York for years, Jurkowski opened the Hoof, Fin & Fowl last September. His seafood experience guides his menu, which he describes as “adventuresome,” with fresh rockfish, pan-seared duck breast, authentic Maryland crab cakes and more.

He said that one of the best things about being on the tour is the personal connection with attendees.

“People always like to meet the owner,” he said. “The hope is people will enjoy their samples, remember us, and come back for dinner.”

Total Story

Annually, about 1,500 people attend 120 SGFT events, April through November. In December, Korczyk offers Christmas-themed food tours. Additionally, her daylong, summertime “Field-to-Fork Agritourism Experience” has transported past attendees to the Adams County countryside to pet goats and sample goat cheese, pick mushrooms and apples, sample wine and cider, and meet farmers and makers along the way.

“I’m definitely a foodie,” said Korczyk, who began baking alongside her mother at the age of 8.

And she’s enjoyed food tours in Rome, Venice, Quebec, Orlando, Vermont and—one of her favorites—Savannah, Ga. Korczyk has gleaned techniques and tips from all of them, woven into SGFT. Her downtown tour script, written out, spans 45 pages of material—all memorized—from the local historical society, battlefield guides, plus restaurant owners and chefs.

“Food tastes so much better when you know the total story—when you can talk to the restaurant owner, learn about the business and recipes,” Korczyk said. “And that’s what gives you memories.”

For more information on Savor Gettysburg Food Tours, visit www.savorgettysburgfoodtours.com.

Beauty & Sacrifice: Step back to another time, another way of life, at Ephrata Cloister.

September 28, 2018 | by Don Helin

Conrad Beissel was a loner. Some today would call him a hermit.

Beissel, though, also was a natural leader who drew others to him.

In 1732, he founded the Ephrata Cloister, meant as a retreat from worldly distractions where devoted members could follow a disciplined life designed to prepare them for a heavenly existence. Beissel viewed life on earth as the time to prepare for the second coming of God, which he felt would happen during his lifetime.

Eventually, he built his movement up to the extent that it included some 250 acres and 40 buildings. Today, 28 acres and nine of the original buildings, built mostly between 1740 and 1770, survive and make up the historic Ephrata Cloister.

“The Ephrata Cloister complex was the town of Ephrata for many years,” said Museum Educator Michael Showalter. “The modern town didn’t even exist until the railroad arrived during the Civil War.”

By the 1750s, the community consisted of nearly 300 members, with about 80 celibates, termed brothers and sisters. Around 200 married members lived on nearby farms. These members chose Beissel as their spiritual leader, but were not willing to make the sacrifices demanded of the solitary life.

In contrast, the celibate members lived a very rigid lifestyle. They could sleep no more than six hours per day with a two-hour worship time at midnight. They believed sleeping was their weakest time, when the devil could arrive. Therefore, they slept on hard, wooden benches with a wooden block for their pillow. They ate a sparse, vegetarian diet.

“However, the celibates were very talented,” Showalter said. “They built a five-story meeting house, many would now call a skyscraper by early colonial standards. In 11 years, they built eight of these tall buildings.”

At Ephrata, Beissel’s view of God as both male and female gave the celibate women almost equal status with men, a novel idea for the day. They taught in the schools and were partially supported by the married community. The largest book in colonial America, at 1,500 pages, titled the “Martyr’s Mirror,” was printed by these talented people, using their own handmade ink and paper.

“The early celibates composed 1,000 songs, being one of the first to compose four-part harmony in America,” Showalter said. “These musical compositions and the German calligraphic writing, called frakturschiften, were viewed by members as a discipline of both body and soul. Some of the first female composers in America were from this group.”

Today, the Ephrata Cloister Chorus brings to life the music of the Ephrata Cloister as a special educational program. Wearing white robes patterned after those worn by the brothers and sisters of Ephrata in the mid-18th century, the modern chorus performs throughout the region.

In addition to works from Ephrata’s past, the group performs compositions from other early American communities, including the Shakers, the Moravians, the Harmonists, the Kelpius Community, the First New England School and African-American spirituals.

Another program is “Winter History Class,” a nine-week lecture series that has grown to an audience that stretches the capacity of the auditorium, with nearly 90 people registered last year. The Saturday night after Thanksgiving, at the Candlelight Open House, visitors are welcome to stroll the grounds, explore the buildings, visit with craftsmen, and hear the chorus.

Showalter said that “Christmas at the Cloister” in mid-December is one of the most popular programs. The “Lantern Tour,” part of the Christmas program, is a special theatrical event that takes visitors back in time to the Ephrata Cloister as it may have appeared in the 1700s.

The cloister, a National Historic Landmark administered by the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission, in partnership with the nonprofit Ephrata Cloister Associates, is, of course, not without its challenges, Showalter said.

“Like other nonprofits, finding staff and volunteers is always a pressing challenge,” he said. “We strive to share the story of Ephrata, its people and achievements, with our visitors—about 15,000 annually, from around the world.”

The Ephrata Cloister is located at 632 W. Main St., Ephrata. For more information, visit www.ephratacloister.org or call 717-733-6600.

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