Background post: 2008 York CWRT schedule
Mark your calendars!!! The March 19, 2008, meeting of the York Civil War Round Table will be an interesting look at the monumentation at the Gettysburg National Military Park. Dick Simpson will be talking on "Gettysburg: America's Great Art Park." He will take a close look at the outstanding carved and cast battlefield monuments, and will show slides of many popular monuments.
As always, the event (and parking) is free to the public. It will be at 7 P.M. 3/19 at the York County Heritage Trust on East Market Street in downtown York.
Here is Mr. Simpson's promotional verbiage: "Over 1,400 monuments stand silent and unmoving on the Gettysburg battlefield, yet they speak volumes. They dominate the battlefield landscape, providing mute testimony to the three terrible days in July 1863 that left 51,000 American soldiers dead, wounded, or captured. Gettysburg became the greatest battle this continent had ever seen.
These monuments were erected by the survivors and were designed by the finest sculptors and produced by the finest companies America had to offer in the late 19th Century. Included in that famous group of sculptors is Gutzon Borglum, whose work includes the massive carving of the presidents on Mount Rushmore.
You will be amazed at the massive equestrian statues and the many life-sized individual works. You will also see monuments depicting the Cavalry, the Artillery, animals and monuments that are so unusual that you have to stop and look twice. As the program ends, you will hear the ultimate tribute to those who fought at Gettysburg... Lincoln's Gettysburg Address set to slides of the battle's aftermath and music from the movie Gettysburg."
I have never had the privilege of meeting Dick Simpson, who splits his year between Westmore, Vermont (May until October) and Lancaster, PA (November to April). He is a volunteer at the Lancaster County Historical Society in the winter, and works at various historical sites in Vermont during the summer and autumn. He is a past president and long-time trustee of the Northport Historical Society on Long Island, New York, where he lived for 37 years. He was the founder of the Northport Historical Museum.
Simpson is a frequent Civil War speaker and lecturer, and is also a living historian portraying Vermont's war-time governor, Frederick Holbrook. He is also active in raising funds for various battlefield preservation efforts. He is retired from a position as Vice President of Graphic Design for InterContinental Hotels.
Leave a comment