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| author | Bryan Michael Toth |
| title | Phantom Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Ghost Stories, Dark Tourism, and a Memory of the Civil War |
| abstract | Gettysburg has long captivated historians, Civil War reenactors, and the American public. President Lincoln's dedicatory address,
the monuments scattering the landscape, and the battle's pivotal role in the internecine conflict have elevated Gettysburg to a sacred place in the nation's memory
of the Civil War. In their study of the battle, however, scholars have overlooked the rich body of supernatural folklore—ghost stories—which have arisen
on the battlefield and in the surrounding town. In the years following the battle, ghostly encounters reported by tourists, park rangers, and Gettysburg residents
have become popular with some visitors to the battlefield. The ghost stories consumed and perpetuated by these groups offer evidence of a new twenty-first century
memory of the Civil War that is alive at Gettysburg. These ghost stories feature themes, characters, and narrative traits common to the traditional schools of Civil
War memory, while highlighting new, more contemporary themes emphasizing the Union and Confederate soldier as well as doctors, women, and children-the war's
noncombatants. The comingling of traits from the traditional schools of memory with themes not emphasized in early remembrances of the war are evidence of a
new school of memory perpetuated and consumed at and about Gettysburg. Furthermore, the appearance of themes from this new twenty-first century war memory in popular
supernatural-themed television shows suggests this new school of war remembrance is not solely confined to a small group of Gettysburg tourists, but is consumed by
an American public which is continually shaping and redefining their memory of the Civil War. This dissertation argues that through a contemporary interpretation of
these supernatural folk narratives the historian better understands how tourists drawn to the battlefield, and the general public, are remembering the Civil War more
than one hundred and fifty years after the Appomattox peace.
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| school | The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University |
| degree | D.Litt. (2018) |
| advisor | William Rogers |
| committee | Michael Gialanella |
| full text | BMToth.pdf - requires Drew uLogin |
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