| Abstract | Discusses ways in which ceremonies and festivities (or "play") at the Gettysburg National Military Park in the late 19th and early 20th centuries contributed to racism. Black excursion groups from Baltimore, usually sponsored by black Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) posts, came to Gettysburg by the thousands each September to celebrate Emancipation Day at Round Top Park. Newspaper reports criticized these groups because of bad behavior and rowdy enthusiasm. Official ceremonies rarely addressed slavery and its legacy, effectively excluding African Americans from any national memory of the war.
|
