Gettysburg Museum Director shares importance of community support and preservation of history

The Spark

Andrew Dalton is the Executive Director of the Adams County Historical Society and Beyond the Battle Museum. As a Gettysburg native, Dalton has always been drawn to history.

“We have a lot of people who are connected to Gettysburg through family history, whether their ancestors lived here or there are millions of Americans undoubtedly, who had an ancestor that fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. And so, connecting those people to Gettysburg is something that I really enjoy because, you know, I found my own connection early on.”

Andrew’s passion for history began as he grew up at what was once the Gettysburg Country Club. With a curious spirit, he soon learned about the story of what happened on that property before, during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg.

“A 16 year old girl lived there and wrote an incredibly vivid account of her experiences during the battle. Her name was Amelia Harmon. And because this happened literally just a few hundred yards from where my modern-day house sat, I was just captivated by her, what happened to her? And that Confederate army burned her home during the battle she survived was basically sent out in the midst of all of it on the first day of the battle with her aunt to flee the scene as their house was left behind in flames. And so, she wrote this incredible account when she was an older woman in the early 1900s. And I really thought it hadn't seen enough tension. And so that's actually what drew me into the Adams County Historical Society at first, because these human-interest stories of civilians are often not given the attention that I think they deserve in the larger mixture of what people see and hear about when they come to Leesburg. So, I was just fascinated by her story turned into a book. But more importantly, it led me into this organization where, you know, I was able to, you know, uncover and learn many other stories of, you know, incredible heroism during and after the Battle of Gettysburg by our local community members. So just to put that into perspective, we have like 2000 people living in the town of Gettysburg at the time of the battle a little over 2000. And, you know, massive armies, hundreds of thousands of soldiers show up on their doorsteps, 50,000 plus casualties in three days. For a small town, it was just an unbelievable event that stayed with them for the rest of their lives. And so many of them wrote about it. We have hundreds of letters and diaries, and newspaper accounts left by these people. And that's really what got me hooked on learning more about Gettysburg and sharing those stories.

The Beyond the Battle Museum was named best new museum in the United States in 2023. The museum has 12 exhibits including a “Caught in the Crossfire” immersive experience. Dalton credits the community for their support of the museum.

“We rely on members and donors to do all that we do. And I really think history is just such an important and sometimes undervalued part of the community. You know, the identity of every community is. Tied to its history. And we're so fortunate in Gettysburg that we have not just local history, but national and even internationally significant history. And so we appreciate the support that comes to us. You can visit our website at npr.org. Or I think we just added Gettysburg history.org, if you want an easier link. But we are just so honored that people who have helped us make this dream come true for a new home, a new museum, a new space for us to preserve our collection. And, you know, we're preserving people's lives, you know, people, our ancestors, even, you know, parents and grandparents. If you think about it more closely, when they pass on, you know, people really treasure what's left. You know, a scrapbook or, you know, a personal item or a letter or a diary. And people cherish and hold on to these things and oftentimes pass them down for generations. And so, you know, we've become a permanent home once, you know, families have decided that they want something, you know, that might be even more lasting and guaranteed in terms of protecting that item. And so, we take about 100 donations every year. You know, it could range from an artifact to a grouping of letters or, you know, of a piece of furniture if there's a story attached to it, you know, that's important to someone in their life, in their legacy. You know, we want to make sure that that's protected. So we that's what we do with the support that we receive from the public. We invest that in keeping these stories and these people's legacies alive. And, you know, we're just grateful for the support we've received and hope that we'll continue to earn people's respect and trust and support in the future.”

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