On April 12, the anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter came alive with the blasting of email promotions, Twitter messages, and Facebook postings to call our attention to the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Although most of the military action of the Civil War took place in the South, there will be no shortage of commemoration throughout the Mid-Atlantic over the next four years. Our region includes major fields of battle in Maryland and Pennsylvania, of course, and urban centers that transported and supplied the Union army. More than past anniversaries of the Civil War, the days ahead will focus attention on the experience of the northern home front and the diversity of the American population in 1861 and 2011.
In the Mid-Atlantic, we also bring to this commemoration our memory of other anniversaries in which our region stood more at the center of the stage — the Bicentennial of the Constitution in 1787 and especially the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence in 1976. In the interest of reflective practice, might we look back to the 1976 Bicentennial, especially, as a lesson in the meaning and significance of commemoration? Now thirty-five years in the past, the Bicentennial remains in living memory but has receded far enough into the past to allow for historical perspective on the nation’s celebration of its founding. Among the lasting legacies of the Bicentennial are the challenges of sustaining historic sites created in 1976 as we now confront a period of diminished government funding.
What are the legacies of 1976? What is the potential impact of today’s commemoration of the Civil War? We opened this discussion at the recent Middle Atlantic American Studies Association Conference, “Heritage and the State,” with presentations by Todd Bennett of East Carolina University; Max van Balgooy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and Barbara Pollarine of Valley Forge National Historical Park. Please add to their thoughts about the Bicentennial, its lasting legacy, and any connections or contrasts you see with the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War.