Tips and resources for attending Dedication Day activities
Information compiled by Anna Seils
This year commemorates not only the 150th
anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, but also the Gettysburg Address. The Dedication
Day ceremony will take place on November 19, and this year’s event brings
with it crowds.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson will speak at the event, which also features Gov. Tom Corbett, a reading of the Gettysburg Address by Lincoln portrayer James Getty and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will administer the Oath of Allegiance to 16 new citizens. The ceremony will last approximately 90 minutes and is free; no ticket will be required to enter.
Parking: Free parking is
provided at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center,
1195 Baltimore Pike, and numerous satellite parking areas with free shuttles. When
the Museum and Visitor Center lots are full, vehicles will be directed to the
Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg, 1863 Gettysburg Village Dr., and then to other
lots as needed. Temporary signs will be in place to direct cars to the overflow
lots as needed.
Accessibility: A limited number of
handicapped parking spaces will be available in the National Cemetery south
parking lot. People with mobility impairments should use the cemetery entrance
on Taneytown Road.
Shuttle/Transportation: The York Adams
Transportation Authority will provide free shuttle buses from satellite parking
areas beginning at 6 a.m. and running until 8:30 p.m.
Charter
Bus Parking and Drop-off: Charter buses and motor coaches must drop off and park
along Hancock Avenue via United States Avenue.
Additional
Viewing Areas for the Public: Due to limited viewing space for the
public in the National Cemetery, additional free viewing areas for a live
simulcast are available. An outdoor viewing area with 2,000 chairs will be set
up on the lawn north of Meade’s Headquarters in Gettysburg National Military
Park. Indoor viewing areas are available at the Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle
St., and at the Gateway Gettysburg Theater, 20 Presidential Circle. No tickets
are required for these locations. Theater seating is available beginning
at 8:30 a.m.
Live coverage of the event begins at 9
a.m. with a musical prelude and the ceremony beginning at 10
a.m. Live coverage will be available via the Internet by following links
from the park website and the Gettysburg Foundation website.
Here’s
a summary of more events taking place on November 19:
From Lincoln’s Desk: A Special Display of Signed Documents – A
special exhibit in the Gettysburg Address Gallery of the Museum of the American
Civil War including the following documents: pages with signatures of
individuals who attended the November 19, 1863 Dedication Ceremony in Gettysburg;
a letter from President Lincoln to a member of his administration specifying
remarks in a newspaper; and a signed pardon from President Lincoln. Opening Saturday,
November 16, at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor
Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike. Admission is included in the price of the
Cyclorama, Film and Museum ticket. Open daily, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Graveside Salute to the U.S. Colored Troops – On November 19 at
noon in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at the grave of Charles H. Parker,
located along the west side of the cemetery. Keynote speaker is Scott Hancock,
associate professor of History and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College.
Sponsored by “For the Cause” Productions and Gettysburg National Military Park.
For more information, go to www.gettysburghistories.com.
Bliss Farm Tree Planting Dedication – On November 19 at 2:30
p.m., the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, in collaboration with
Gettysburg National Military Park and The Pennsylvania Department of
Conservation and Natural Resource’s TreeVitalize program, will conduct a tree
planting ceremony at the Bliss Farm on the fields of Pickett’s Charge. The tree
planting is part of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership’s Living
Legacy Project, an initiative with the goal of planting one tree for each of
the 620,000 soldiers that died during the American Civil War. The ceremony is
free and open to the public and includes remarks by park Superintendent
Bob Kirby, keynote remarks by General Gordon R. Sullivan (USA – Retired),
a former Army Chief of Staff and a performance by the West Point Alumni
Glee Club. The event takes place on Long Lane just west of Steinwehr Avenue. More
information can be found at www.hallowedground.org.
Gettysburg
Addresses Lincoln Event – On November 19 at 4 p.m. at the Gettysburg Presbyterian
Church, 200 Baltimore St., Brian M. Jordan, Civil War scholar and adjust
instructor in Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, will speak on “The
Unfinished Work: Union Veterans, The Gettysburg Address, and the Meaning of the
Civil War.” Call 717-334-0753 for more details.
