National Park Service Launches Civil War Website at NPS.gov

[Eric Ward - URLwire]

Announce Date: April 4, 2012
National Park Service Launches Civil War Website at NPS.gov
URL: http://www.nps.gov/civilwar

As part of its commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial and
coinciding with events marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of
Shiloh, the National Park Service has launched a Civil War themed
website at www.nps.gov/civilwar that provides an overview of the war,
with special emphasis on the Civil War sites administered and
preserved by the National Park Service.

The website features a wide range of richly-illustrated content,
including stories of the Civil War, ranging from causes of the
conflict to its consequences; biographies of notable individuals
associated with the war, both military and civilian; places within the
National Park System that interpret the Civil War; and information on
the ways in which the National Park Service preserves Civil War
battlefields, objects, landscapes and other historic resources. New
content will be added regularly, so visitors are encouraged to check
back to the site often.

“More than a quarter of all national parks preserve Civil War sites or
tell stories related to the war. This website offers a single online
point of reference for the National Park Service’s Civil War resources
and will be an invaluable tool for both students of the Civil War and
visitors to our historic sites,” said National Park Service Director
Jonathan B. Jarvis. “It also gives the war and events that occurred a
century and a half ago meaning to 21st-century Americans.”

Among other features of the new website are:

Plan Your Visit – An interactive trip planning tool includes more than
1,700 Civil War sites around the country, including more than 100
national parks with Civil War themes. With just a few clicks of the
mouse, visitors can plan a trip to Civil War sites from northwest
Washington state (San Juan Island National Historical Park, where
General George Pickett first made a name for himself - http://go.usa.gov/mbU)
to the Florida Keys (Fort Jefferson, where Union prisoners were held,
today part of Dry Tortugas National Park - http://go.usa.gov/mbP) and
more than 1,700 partner sites in between, including state and
privately administered Civil War-themed historic sites and museums.
The Plan Your Visit tool provides maps, distances, turn-by-turn
directions, and a description of and links to additional information
about each of the sites.

Timeline – A comprehensive, interactive timeline of the causes, events
and Civil Rights legacies of the Civil War spanning nearly 400 years
of American history, from the foundations of slavery with the arrival
of the first Africans in America in 1619 to the present day.

Civil War Reporter – Follow the adventures of Beglan O’Brien, a
fictional Civil War era correspondent, whose daily reports on events
from 150 years ago are streamed to the website via Twitter. In
addition to the nps.gov/civilwar website, he can also be followed
directly on Twitter (search CivilWarReportr) and Facebook (search
Civil War Reporter). From the politics of the day to eyewitness
accounts of events to fashion of the Civil War, O’Brien’s nose for
news promises to deliver fascinating updates, rumor and information of
the Civil War era.

Related Resources – The website also includes links to other National
Park Service Civil War resources, including the Civil War Soldiers and
Sailors System, the more than 100 National Parks that tell the story
of the Civil War and its enduring legacies, and Then & Now features
showing how the events of 150 years ago continue to influence the
America of the 21st century.

For further information contact Contact: Mike Litterst, mike_litterst
-at- nps.gov or 202-306-4166


Posted by Eric Ward on 4/04/12
Archived URLwire page: http://www.urlwire.com/news/040412.html