"History Kid's" Reading Adventure

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg Na......More

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Join us inside the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center Theater. Ask at the National Park Service Information Desk in the main lobby for more details.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: If These Things Could Talk- Objects from the Collection of the Gettysburg National Military Park

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Every artifact has a voice—if we’re willing to listen. If These Things Could Talk invites you to explore the powerful personal connections that Gettysburg National Military Park staff have with objects in the park’s museum collection. In this special interpretive program, rangers and staff members share the stories behind their favorite artifacts—some well-known, others rarely seen—offering unique insights into the people, events, and legacies of Gettysburg. Join us to uncover how even the smallest item can speak volumes about the past, and reflect on what stories the objects around us might one day tell.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: Outside of Lincoln's White House- Civil War Era Men and Women of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Ranger Bryan Cheeseboro, Civil War Defenses of Washington DC Most histories of Washington, D.C. during the Civil War only talk about President Lincoln, Congress and the familiar national landmarks of the city.  Most people know very little about the District of Columbia (which in 1861 was the same size as Gulfport, Mississippi today) and the ordinary people who called Washington City and the surrounding Maryland and Virginia countryside home during the War of the Rebellion.  Using photographs, original writings and other researched information, U.S. Park Ranger Bryan Cheeseboro brings to light the stories of “everybody else” and presents a diversity of Union and Confederate men and women, Blacks and Whites, and free and enslaved in and around Washington during the war.  

"History Kid's" Reading Adventure

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg Na......More

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Join us inside the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center Theater. Ask at the National Park Service Information Desk in the main lobby for more details.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: Captured at Gettysburg! The Prisoner of War Experience at the High Water Mark of the Civil War

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Ranger Christopher Gwinn, Chief of Interpretation and Education, Gettysburg National Military Park What was the experience of those taken captive during the Battle of Gettysburg? This program explores the harrowing experiences of Union and Confederate prisoners of war—from the moment of capture to their uncertain fates beyond the battlefield. Join us as we examine how the Gettysburg National Military Park memorial landscape remembers, reveals, and sometimes overlooks this important chapter in the Gettysburg story.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: "My heart yearns to have his remains" Dr. J.W.C. O'Neal and the Repatriation of the Confederate Dead at Gettysburg

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Ranger Dan Welch, Gettysburg National Military Park Although much is known about the creation of the National Cemetery and the reburial of the Union dead thereof, little has been written or remembered about the Confederate remains left behind on the battlefield. One of several important figures to this story, Dr. John W.C. O'Neal, worked diligently to record the locations of these dead and their identities. He further worked with families across vast distances and periods of time to locate their loved ones remains and have them shipped back to their hometown and family cemeteries. Learn more about Dr. O'Neal, his work with the Confederate dead, and the stories of closure he brought many southern families. 

"History Kid's" Reading Adventure

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg Na......More

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Join us inside the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center Theater. Ask at the National Park Service Information Desk in the main lobby for more details.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: A National Shrine- The History of Gettysburg National Cemetery

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Ranger Daniel Vermilya, Eisenhower National Historic Site Well known as the location of Lincoln's famed Gettysburg Address, Gettysburg National Cemetery has a deep and powerful history beyond November 19, 1863. This cemetery's evolution from a small-town hill to a battleground, to a necessary burial ground, to iconic hallowed ground, encapsulates how Americans have fought, sacrificed, and cared for their fallen for generations. As part of the America 250th commemorations, join Eisenhower NHS Ranger Dan Vermilya to explore the history and meaning of Gettysburg National Cemetery and those who are buried there. 

2026 Winter Lecture Series: The Boy Major- Joseph W. Latimer in the American Civil War

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Historian Billy Griffith, Gettysburg Foundation Brentsville, Virginia native Joseph White Latimer was one of the rising stars in the Confederate Artillery when his life was tragically cut short at age 19 following a mortal wound received at the battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. When the Civil War commenced, Latimer was in his second year at the Virginia Military Institute. He did not return to complete his studies, however, and instead joined the Courtney Artillery in September 1861 as a second lieutenant. His star rose quickly despite his young age, and he was made a major in R. Snowden Andrews’ Battalion by the spring of 1863. Affectionately referred to as the “Boy Major,” Latimer’s decision to join the fight, which he made while home in Brentsville in August 1861, placed him on the path to Gettysburg and towards an untimely death.

"History Kid's" Reading Adventure

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg Na......More

“History Kids” Reading Adventures Club includes books and activities for kids ages 4 to 10, and this year’s theme is “250 Years of Change-Makers” to commemorate 250 years of American history.All programs are free of charge.Join us inside the theater at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Join us inside the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center Theater. Ask at the National Park Service Information Desk in the main lobby for more details.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: Finding R.H. Weakley

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Ranger Susan Ashman, Springfield Armory National Historical Park During and after the Civil War, thousands of firearms were sent back to Springfield Armory. Some of these with soldier’s names, battles fought, artwork, and sweethearts – all carved in the stock. Similar to books on a library shelf, historic firearms have a story to tell. Most remain silent, but some are waiting for their story to be told, anonymous no longer. From a family farm in Tennessee to the Battle of Franklin, Finding R.H. Weakley is one of those stories. Sadly, not all have a happy ending.

2026 Winter Lecture Series: The Legends and Lies of Joe Hooker

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held a......More

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.This week:Ranger Karlton Smith, Gettysburg National Military Park Join Ranger Karlton Smith as he peels back the layers of myth to explore the real man behind the lore. Through contemporary accounts and evolving historiography, this engaging talk reexamines General Joseph Hooker's controversial choices during the war and confronts the legends that have long clouded his legacy. Come ready to question what you think you know about "Fighting Joe" and discover a story as complex as the Civil War itself.