Gettysburg Foundation
What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, July 11, 2018:
The site of the bloodiest battle ever fought on North American soil may not seem like a logical place to have a discussion about peace and civility. But that’s exactly what we’re doing on Wednesday’s Smart Talk.
A Smart Talk Road Trip travels to the George Spangler Farm on the Gettysburg Battlefield Wednesday. During the program, we’ll be talking about peace and civility. How does that tie in to the Gettysburg Battlefield?
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Eternal Peace Light Memorial on the battlefield. It was dedicated on July 3rd, 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt. On that day, President Roosevelt said, “Sometimes the threat to popular government comes from political interests, sometimes from economic interests, sometimes we have to beat off all of them together. But the challenge is always the same- whether each generation facing its own circumstances can summon the practical devotion to attain and to retain that greatest good for the greatest number which this government of the people was created to ensure.”
The front of the memorial says, “An enduring light to guide us in unity and fellowship.”
Those words were referring to the Civil War, but they just as easily could be describing what’s needed in today’s society that is divided politically and often harshly.
During the Smart Talk broadcast, we’ll discuss civility with Dr. Matthew Moen, President of the Gettysburg Foundation, Dr. Jean Pretz, Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at Elizabethtown College and Lucie Shiffman, one of the award winners for the 2018 Student Prize for Civility in Public Life at Allegheny College.
Also, the George Spangler Farm was used as a field hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Up to 1,900 men from both the Union and Confederate armies were treated at the Spangler Farm when it was a field hospital. Some lived but others died, including Confederate General Lewis Armistead. This summer, visitors are getting an opportunity to see an 1863 working farm and what a field hospital looked like in 1863.
Joining us on the program are Paul Semanek, Site Coordinator, the George Spangler Civil War Field Hospital, Harry Sonntag, 2nd Corps, Field Hospital, Confederate States of America and Ron Kirkwood, Historian and Spangler Farm Volunteer.
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