For Virginia History forum participants who may be interested in the fate of
post-Army Fort Monroe, below are shortened versions of two messages that
I've circulated in the last few days to decision-makers, journalists and
many others. I'm glad to add that by e-mail, Adam Goodheart, whose New York
Times Sunday magazine article appeared two weeks ago, promised to send a
public statement about Fort Monroe's future. More about that if he follows
through. (I imagine he's pretty busy, with his book just out -- _1861: The
Civil War Awakening_ (http://knopfdoubleday.com/goodheart/). Thanks.
Steve Corneliussen
MESSAGE CIRCULATED LAST FRIDAY EVENING:
Here's some more good news for Fort Monroe from the New York Times.
You'll recall that two weekends ago in the Times's Sunday magazine, an
article (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03CivilWar-t.html)
appeared that told the Fort Monroe Freedom Story in a way that affirms Fort
Monroe's national and even international historic importance. It didn't
mention Fort Monroe's future, unfortunately, but now a letter to the editor
from Fort Monroe advocate Scott Butler has appeared to take care of that. A
copy appears below, after the dashed line.
Too bad that in Scott's letter, the magazine editors chose to cite the
headline that appeared in the magazine, "The Shrug That Made History," which
puts the emphasis on General Butler. Too bad they couldn't instead use the
far better headline that appeared online, "How Slavery Really Ended in
America," which puts the emphasis on the self-emancipating Americans who
made the first decisions actively -- before the general ever had a chance to
make the crucial, clever, indispensable but nevertheless second decision
reactively.
But obviously, it's great to see this letter appear, no matter which
headline the editors cite.
Thanks.
Steve Corneliussen
- - - - - - - - - - - -
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17replyall-t-THEACCIDENTA_LETTERS.html
The Accidental Abolitionist
Adam Goodheart's article ("The Shrug That Made History") did a wonderful job
of explaining the significance of little-known Fort Monroe to the outcome of
the Civil War. I hope that despite current economic problems, Congress will
see a Fort Monroe National Park as an opportunity to memorialize and
celebrate the most resonant theme of our history, the desire for a more
perfect union.
H. SCOTT BUTLER
Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park
Newport News, Va.
MESSAGE CIRCULATED LAST SUNDAY EVENING:
Here’s yet more good news -- possibly huge news -- about the prospects for
post-Army Fort Monroe.
A Chesapeake Conservancy press release
(http://www.chesapeakeconservancy.org/whats_new/30/Make+Fort+Monroe+nation%27s+next+National+Monument+or+Park.html)
shows the first big payoff from efforts to create a coalition that, it can
be hoped, could exert great influence thanks to its great diversity.
Please consider the breadth of that diversity as reflected in one of the
release’s key sentences, a quotation from the conservancy’s chairman,
Charles Stek: "The Conservancy is proud to join with the Citizens for a Fort
Monroe National Park, Preservation Virginia, Fort Monroe National Park
Foundation, the Fort Monroe Authority, the National Parks Conservation
Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Mayor of the
City of Hampton, the Governor of Virginia and others to support the
establishment of a new unit of the National Park System or a National
Monument at Fort Monroe."
I hope this means that we’ll soon see a still broader coalition, adding the
full bipartisan Virginia congressional delegation and the full Hampton City
Council, and that the future consensus will be not just for establishing an
undefined “unit,” as mentioned above, but for establishing a national park
encompassing nearly all of Old Point Comfort, as hinted at in the release.
Thanks.
Steve Corneliussen
Co-founder, Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park (the self-created
grassroots citizens’ committee that gave the world Mark Perreault, who is
probably the single most important catalyst for what we may now be seeing)
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