Back to the Battlefields: An Introduction

Abstract

This short essay introduces the featured theme articles in this issue of Parks Stewardship Forum, titled "Back to the Battlefields: Historians Take a Fresh Look at American Sites of Conflict. In early 2022, we issued invitations to a select group of scholars who had written penetratingly on sites of conflict and commemoration. We asked them to travel to a particular site and take a look at it in a reflective mode, pondering what led to the conflict memorialized at that place and reflecting on the site’s meaning and how it has changed over the years, how their own personal understanding of the site has evolved, and the site’s relevance to America’s current socio-political situation. We also gave them license to analyze how well interpretation at “their” site presents historic events within a broader historical context, connects lessons of the site’s story (or stories) to contemporary issues and concerns, and encourages meaningful engagement from diverse audiences. The essays contained in this section should be approached with this request in mind.