CWI Partners with Center for Public Service for Civil Rights-Themed Immersion Trip

In January 2013, CWI Associate Director Jill Ogline Titus will serve as the faculty advisor for a Center for Public Service-sponsored Immersion Trip to Alabama. Over the course of this nine-day trip, Dr. Titus and seven Gettysburg College students will visit some of the sites that played a central role in the 20th-century black freedom struggle: Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the small towns of Lowndes County, home of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. In addition to exploring the history of civil rights, the group will participate in service projects, spend several nights with host families, and delve into the relationship between the triumphs of the movement and contemporary civil rights issues, including immigration policy, voting rights, economic injustice, and educational policy.

Sponsored by Gettysburg College's Center for Public Service, Immersion Projects offer off-campus, educational service opportunities at sites in the United States and abroad. Students travel to a site where they work and serve in a community different from their own. Each project seeks to foster a dialogue between the College community and the host community around issues of social justice. By working alongside people and sharing their stories, students learn about themselves and the world. For more information about CPS Immersion Trips, please visit the Center for Public Service.

Four New Sites to Host Pohanka Interns for Summer 2013

A dozen Gettysburg College students recently returned to campus after a successful summer on the front lines of history, serving as the summer 2012 Brian C. Pohanka Interns. The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College is pleased to announce that four more sites have joined our growing list of partners hosting Pohanka Interns for the summer of 2013. Petersburg National Battlefield (Petersburg, Virginia), Andersonville National Historic Site (Americus, Georgia), the Civil War Trust (Washington, DC), and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum (Norfolk, Virginia) will all have Pohanka Interns in the field, along with existing partners Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Gettysburg National Military Park, Richmond National Battlefield Park, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, Manassas National Battlefield, Appomattox National Historical Park, and Stratford Hall. These students provide much-needed staffing for the sites they serve, all while gaining invaluable hands-on experience in the field. Interested in applying for an internship at one of these incredible historic sites? Visit our Internships page for details!

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Sharon Ewell Foster Wins the 2012 Shaara Prize for Civil War Fiction

Sharon Ewell Foster was announced as the winner of the annual Michael Shaara Prize for Excellence in Civil War Fiction for her book, The Resurrection of Nat Turner Part One: The Witness. The truth has been buried for more than one hundred years. Leading a small army of slaves, Nat Turner was a man born with a mission: to set the captives free. When words failed, he ignited an uprising that left over fifty whites dead. In the predawn hours of August 22, 1831, Nat Turner stormed into history with a Bible in one hand and a sword in the other. His rebellion shined a national spotlight on slavery and the state of Virginia and divided a nation's trust. Turner himself became a lightning rod for abolitionists like Harriet Beecher Stowe and a terror to slave owners. In The Resurrection of Nat Turner Part One: The Witness, Nat Turner's story is revealed through the eyes and minds of slaves and masters, friends and foes. In their words is the truth of the mystery and conspiracy of Nat Turner's life, confession, and death. The novel spans more than sixty years, sweeping from the majestic highlands of Ethiopia to the towns of Cross Keys and Jerusalem in Southampton County. Using extensive research, Sharon Ewell Foster breaks hallowed ground in this epic novel, revealing long-buried secrets about this tragic hero.

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Historic careers: Students intern at Civil War sites

Eight Gettysburg College students worked on the front lines of American history this summer, completing internships at four National Park Service Civil War sites.

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