Nate Hess contributes his last blog post for the summer and wraps up his discussion of historical interpretation
Well, summer's almost over, and so is my internship here at Gettysburg. For my final blog posting before heading back to 'dear old state' in a couple of weeks, I'd like to touch on the primary way that interpretation is conducted: ranger programs. Every national park's interpretive staff conducts free ranger programs every day. At Gettysburg alone, there are usually about 15 free programs that happen every day during our peak operating summer season. They present fewer programs during the off-season, but still, there are programs going on every single day. These programs might well be the most important work the ranger staff conducts, because it is the main source for providing visitors with important historical interpretation.
Nate Hess conducting a ranger program at the Gettysburg battlefield
For example, let's take the program that I've been doing for most of the summer, the Day Three program. As you've probably guessed, this program is centered on the fighting on July 3rd, the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is famous for Pickett's Charge, the Confederates' courageous but unsuccessful attempt to break through the center of the Union lines. One might think that for this program I would just talk for an hour on the tactics of the charge, who was where, when they were there, who fired at whom from what place, etc. That is not interpretation, however; it's simply the regurgitation of facts. While it is important to know the facts of the battle, merely telling what happened during the battle will not have much of an impact on the visitor. In order to inspire the visitor to a visceral reaction and a deeper link with our battlefield resource, the interpreter must go deeper. How I accomplish this through my third day program is by focusing on the theme of family. I give the visitors basic information on Pickett's Charge itself, but mostly I recite human interest stories about family members that fought together, either on the Confederate side making the charge, or the Union side repulsing it. These stories have a much greater emotional effect on the visitor than hearing a recitation of how many men were coming across the fields.
Nate relating the personal stories of individuals and families in battle at Gettysburg
Hopefully, discussing the experiences of individual soldiers and the effects of this battle on their families personalizes this immense battle for our visitors. I hope it makes members of my audience think of their own families, and perhaps spark a thought of how they would feel if one of their family members fell in combat right beside them. This allows me to shift my visitors' focus from large, impersonal armies to individuals and families whom they can relate to emotionally. That would surely evoke some sort of emotional attachment to our battlefield. Either way, hearing stories about the men (and in some cases women) that fought on the fields of Gettysburg is much more interesting than hearing a bunch of dry facts. Interpretation is so much more than that, and I feel honored to have been able to have spent my summer doing what I love, making an impact on visitors, forwarding my own knowledge of the Battle of Gettysburg, and doing it all in the name of Penn State University. It has been an absolutely great summer, and I can't wait to see if I can come back next summer, possibly as a seasonal park ranger. Till then, "For the Glory..."
Well, summer's almost over, and so is my internship here at Gettysburg. For my final blog posting before heading back to 'dear old state' in a couple of weeks, I'd like to touch on the primary way that interpretation is conducted: ranger programs. Every national park's interpretive staff conducts free ranger programs every day. At Gettysburg alone, there are usually about 15 free programs that happen every day during our peak operating summer season. They present fewer programs during the off-season, but still, there are programs going on every single day. These programs might well be the most important work the ranger staff conducts, because it is the main source for providing visitors with important historical interpretation.
Nate Hess conducting a ranger program at the Gettysburg battlefield
For example, let's take the program that I've been doing for most of the summer, the Day Three program. As you've probably guessed, this program is centered on the fighting on July 3rd, the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is famous for Pickett's Charge, the Confederates' courageous but unsuccessful attempt to break through the center of the Union lines. One might think that for this program I would just talk for an hour on the tactics of the charge, who was where, when they were there, who fired at whom from what place, etc. That is not interpretation, however; it's simply the regurgitation of facts. While it is important to know the facts of the battle, merely telling what happened during the battle will not have much of an impact on the visitor. In order to inspire the visitor to a visceral reaction and a deeper link with our battlefield resource, the interpreter must go deeper. How I accomplish this through my third day program is by focusing on the theme of family. I give the visitors basic information on Pickett's Charge itself, but mostly I recite human interest stories about family members that fought together, either on the Confederate side making the charge, or the Union side repulsing it. These stories have a much greater emotional effect on the visitor than hearing a recitation of how many men were coming across the fields.
Nate relating the personal stories of individuals and families in battle at Gettysburg
Hopefully, discussing the experiences of individual soldiers and the effects of this battle on their families personalizes this immense battle for our visitors. I hope it makes members of my audience think of their own families, and perhaps spark a thought of how they would feel if one of their family members fell in combat right beside them. This allows me to shift my visitors' focus from large, impersonal armies to individuals and families whom they can relate to emotionally. That would surely evoke some sort of emotional attachment to our battlefield. Either way, hearing stories about the men (and in some cases women) that fought on the fields of Gettysburg is much more interesting than hearing a bunch of dry facts. Interpretation is so much more than that, and I feel honored to have been able to have spent my summer doing what I love, making an impact on visitors, forwarding my own knowledge of the Battle of Gettysburg, and doing it all in the name of Penn State University. It has been an absolutely great summer, and I can't wait to see if I can come back next summer, possibly as a seasonal park ranger. Till then, "For the Glory..."
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