New interpretative center.

[Tompre]

Make your voice heard!

Two community engagements sessions will be held on Nov. 20 to introduce the public to a new interpretive center being planned in conjunction with the Vicksburg National Military Park.

The project is a collaboration of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign (FOV), and the National Park Service at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

"From these sessions, the public will have opportunities to learn about the partnership project, our goals, and engage with us as we move forward with the development of the new center," said Megan Bankston, Vicksburg project manager at MDAH.

By preserving and sharing the rich stories of the Vicksburg Campaign, the new interpretive center will connect visitors with a pivotal chapter in American history, exploring its legacy and its impact on the America we know today.

Feedback and comments are welcome at both public sessions.

• Nov. 20, at noon. Katie Blount, director of MDAH, will present "MDAH Project Updates" as part of the "History Is Lunch" series in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The program will also stream live on the MDAH Facebook page and YouTube channel. Vicksburg project representatives from architecture firm Perkins&Will and exhibit design firm Gallagher & Associates will provide special project overviews.


• Nov. 20, at 5:30 p.m. The session will be held in the orientation theater at the Vicksburg National Military Park Visitor Center in Vicksburg. Vicksburg project representatives from architecture firm Perkins&Will and exhibit design firm Gallagher & Associates will provide project overviews.

The new interpretive center in Vicksburg has a projected 2028 opening.

 

[Bradley]

Unfortunately, I have lecture and cannot attend.

 

[UCVRelics]

Thanks for posting this. I will be sure to watch it live but wish I could attend as I have talked to several folks including Gordy who told me that the plan was for it to be inline with the type Interpretive Centers done at Corinth and Shiloh which I am NOT a big fan of.

 

[Tompre]

Thanks for posting this. I will be sure to watch it live but wish I could attend as I have talked to several folks including Gordy who told me that the plan was for it to be inline with the type Interpretive Centers done at Corinth and Shiloh which I am NOT a big fan of.

I'm afraid of how this one is going to turn out.

 

[Championhilz]

What is it about the Shiloh and Corinth interpretive centers that you don't like?

I'm afraid of how this one is going to turn out.

 

[UCVRelics]

What is it about the Shiloh and Corinth interpretive centers that you don't like?

The question is, who is doing the interpretation.

 

[Bovina17]

Yea, this isnt a good idea. Id rather them procure money for battlefield preservation and grass cutting.

 

[WestCoastSB]

Yea, this isnt a good idea. Id rather them procure money for battlefield preservation and grass cutting.

Bingo. I don't know why we moderns, collectively, have such a fascination with popping up as many structures as possible.

 

[Bradley]

What is it about the Shiloh and Corinth interpretive centers that you don't like?

I've been pretty outspoken here about my disappointment with the Corinth center.

...literally walls of text with the occasional little reproduction/fake artifact glued to the wall. And a broken fountain in the back.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

told me that the plan was for it to be inline with the type Interpretive Centers done at Corinth and Shiloh which I am NOT a big fan of

I understand the dissatisfaction with Corinth, but Shiloh less so.

The question is, who is doing the interpretation.

NPS.

Yea, this isnt a good idea. Id rather them procure money for battlefield preservation and grass cutting.

Vicksburg visitor center is woefully inadequate for the size of the battlefield and the location just off an interstate highway.

 

[Tompre]

I understand the dissatisfaction with Corinth, but Shiloh less so.



NPS.



Vicksburg visitor center is woefully inadequate for the size of the battlefield and the location just off an interstate highway.

I don't believe NPS is doing all the interpretation, this is a joint venture with the City of Vicksburg and MDAH. There is no historian at the Vicksburg park, and the people there know very little about the campaign.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I don't believe NPS is doing all the interpretation, this is a joint venture with the City of Vicksburg and MDAH. There is no historian at the Vicksburg park, and the people there know very little about the campaign.

Given other battlefield parks do have a staff Historian it would be strange for Vicksburg not to have one.

Who do you think should be doing the interpretation if not NPS or MDAH? Besides Timothy Smith in a consulting role? (He's extremely knowledgeable about the Vicksburg Campaign, but probably not about exhibit design.)

 

[Tompre]

Given other battlefield parks do have a staff Historian it would be strange for Vicksburg not to have one.

Who do you think should be doing the interpretation if not NPS or MDAH? Besides Timothy Smith in a consulting role? (He's extremely knowledgeable about the Vicksburg Campaign, but probably not about exhibit

So you question my knowledge of the VNMP? I live in Vicksburg and am the former manager of the Port Gibson Battlefield and Grand Gulf. Terry. Winschel was the last historian the park had, and he retired years ago. He offered to volunteer his help but was turned down. As for me, I had a GG grandfather in the 36th Ms, one in the 3rd La, and a G grandfather in the 37th Ms. . I would like the info to be fair and balanced, with no politics, but I doubt it will be

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Id rather them procure money for battlefield preservation and grass cutting.

Agreed !

Keeping the grass cut at VNMP would work wonders. But that's a topic for a different thread.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

So you question my knowledge of the VNMP? I live in Vicksburg and am the former manager of the Port Gibson Battlefield and Grand Gulf. Terry. Winschel was the last historian the park had, and he retired years ago. He offered to volunteer his help but was turned down. As for me, I had a GG grandfather in the 36th Ms, one in the 3rd La, and a G grandfather in the 37th Ms. . I would like the info to be fair and balanced, with no politics, but I doubt it will be

I merely pointed out that the absence of a park historian was strange.

Ironic that you ask for "fair and balanced, with no politics" when the expression "fair and balanced" has been ruined by politics.

 

[Samwisep86]

Given other battlefield parks do have a staff Historian it would be strange for Vicksburg not to have one.

Who do you think should be doing the interpretation if not NPS or MDAH? Besides Timothy Smith in a consulting role? (He's extremely knowledgeable about the Vicksburg Campaign, but probably not about exhibit design.)

Not many battlefield parks have a "historian" as a position on staff anymore. The only park that I'm aware of that still has a position of Historian is Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP (that also includes Gettysburg NMP...their historian retired about 5-10 years ago). All of the parks DO still have very knowledgeable rangers and staff that know their parks.

 

[Tompre]

"Fair and balanced, with no politics" almost always means "don't talk about slavery." Which in a state like Mississippi that made it so explicitly clear why it was seceding is out of

Not at all what I was thinking, but thank you for proving my point that the South is constantly badmouthed, and shown in a bad light. I realize that Mississippi and other southern states had slavery as one of the reasons for leaving the union. I would just like for the south to have a fair shake in the new interpretation center. If you would follow the VNMP fb site, you will see that almost all of their postings are about the Union. And when they have living history, it is almost always Union reenactors. At a parade in Vicksburg all the riders on the float are dressed in Union uniforms.
It used to not be that away, both sides were represented.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

All of the parks DO still have very knowledgeable rangers and staff that know their parks.

Who trains the park staff on the park's history? Who answers history questions the regular park staff doesn't know the answer to? Especially on a large park like Gettysburg or Vicksburg?

 

[Samwisep86]

Who trains the park staff on the park's history? Who answers history questions the regular park staff doesn't know the answer to? Especially on a large park like Gettysburg or Vicksburg?

Pretty much other knowledgeable rangers, but each park will have a supervisory park ranger in charge of the interpretive division.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Pretty much other knowledgeable rangers, but each park will have a supervisory park ranger in charge of the interpretive division.

So nowadays the 'interpretive division manager' has to not only be a department manager but also the de-facto park historian? That seems like a big ask. Experts are rarely the best leaders.

I mean no disrespect to the National Park Service. I'm just surprised by their organizational structure.