Students in History Professor Denise Damico’s Civil War and Reconstruction class made a two-day trip to Gettysburg on Oct. 1-2.
The trip started with a trip to the Jennie Wade House. Wade was the only civilian casualty of the battle at Gettysburg. She was killed by a stray bullet on July 3, 1863. After touring the Wade House, the students arrived at the battlefield.
“Being able to see the battlefield and visualize the fighting helped me realize that history actually happened,” said Brody Buck. “It is not just a subject in school or a chapter in a textbook.”
The group had an SFU alumnus who had had previously interned at the national park join them on the trip. He told Damico’s class about the soldiers who were buried in the cemetery and about Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
“The experience allowed me to better understand the battle’s historical weight and human cost,” said Talis Marshall.
Gettysburg is one of the best-preserved battlefields from the U.S. Civil War thanks to the efforts of former combatant Daniel Sickles.
“I had a couple of students who said they’d both been to Gettysburg more than 20 times already,” said Damico, “and they still feel like they learned something new.”
