Civil War History Activities
Due to its close relationship to a crucial battle in the American Civil War, Gettysburg College hosts a number of activities and awards:
- Pennsylvania Hall, located in the center of campus, was occupied by both Union and Confederate forces during the Battle of Gettysburg. Today, a Civil War era-style flag (for the year 1863) flies above the building, which was used as a lookout position and a field hospital during the battle.
- In 1982, professor and historian Gabor Boritt founded the Civil War Institute, which hosts annual seminars and tours on Civil War themes. Scholarships are granted to high school students and history teachers to attend the week-long summer event.
- Since 1998, the Gettysburg Semester, a semester-long immersion in Civil War academic study has been offered.
- Gettysburg College students may elect to pursue a unique interdisciplinary minor in Civil War Era Studies. Requirements include a general introduction course about the Civil War and a capstone senior-level seminar. Students must also select four classes of at least two disciplines. Some of the classes offered include (but are not limited to): military history, Economics of the American South, Civil War Literature, films about the Civil War, and Gender Ideology in the Civil War.
- The Lincoln Prize has been awarded annually since 1991 for the best non-fiction historical work of the year on the Civil War.
- Starting in 2005, the Michael Shaara Prize has been awarded for excellence in Civil War fiction. (Shaara was the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels.)
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