Leaders & Legacies of the Civil War: The Grand Army of the Republic

Dr. Todd Arrington, the site manager of James A. Garfield National Historic Site, discusses the Grand Army of the Republic-one of the most important veterans groups in US history.
Each month, experts from James A. Garfield National Historic Site discuss a different facet of the Civil War's legacy during a free talk at our Main Branch. On Aug. 9, they'll discuss slavery, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction.

[@jackbuckley7816]

Was in Gettysburg recently & saw the statue of Woolson on Cemetery Ridge, quite near the preserved Bryan farmhouse. He's shown seated, holding a cane, gazing placidly across the fields toward Seminary Ridge & the intervening space comprising the once blood-soaked ground of Pickett's Charge. The text on the monument mentions that Woolson was the last surviving Union veteran of the Civil War. This opened-up for me a whole new area of interest---the postwar creation & history of the GAR, something of which I'd been aware but to which I've been oblivious nonetheless. I'm now delving into the subject in a major way, especially in terms of the origin of Decoration Day, its evolution into Memorial Day, & all the problems the Civil War vets suffered, both physical & mental. Many lived to surprisingly advanced ages---look at Woolson, for example---106 when he passed-on in 1956, golly---& the incredibly primitive services that existed in the way of helping them cope with life in the latter-half of the 19th-century & continuing on into the 1st several decades of the 20th, i.e., no hearing-aids, few helpful medications, awkward, or even painful, prosthetics or other ambulatory-aiding devices, crippling arthritis & rheumatism, failing eyesight, digestive issues, respiratory & circulatory problems, heart disease, blood pressure trouble, etc., etc. And no air-conditioning ANYwhere, in Old Soldiers' Homes, hospitals, offices, hotels, shops, train cars, NOwhere! Much of my newly-discovered interest stems from the fact that my 3-day visit to Gettysburg led into the Memorial Day weekend, & the Woolson statue really got me to thinking. Anyway, it's become a very fascinating subject to me, which I'm actively pursuing. I'll be in Ohio next week & hope to find & visit some of the old, still-existing GAR halls. I've only just learned there's one in Ironton, which won't be far off my route, so I'm planning to swing-by!

[@denimdemon9]

Really engaging speaker

[@skeleguns10oooooo10]

US Highway 6 is given the designation the “Grand Army of the Republic Highway

[@ordnance7222]

Bruh I thought this was star wars

[@MentorPublicLib]

Well, the Emperor did get Stonewall Jackson-ed.

[@popcornsutton7511]

Kind of neat i live in a house named after seth gard ...

[@mynsxt6]

Some great Moorish history

[@robertbroussard316]

mynsxt6 American and world😎

[@ajcase5732]

That's why I came here