Altogether Fitting and Proper

About this book

In the century and a half since the Civil War, both private and public entities, have earnestly sought to safeguard the legacy of that seismic conflict through the preservation of its battlefields. In Altogether Fitting and Proper, Timothy B. Smith provides the most comprehensive synthesis ever written of the long history of those preservation efforts. Smith traces the story of battlefield park establishment from the war and the Reconstruction era through the "Golden Age of Preservation" at the turn of the century, to the New Deal period and well beyond. While Smith's primary focus is on the famous national parks, he also examines the endeavors of state and local governments, as well as an assortment of private organizations, to establish parks and monuments for lesser-known battle sites. The ongoing conflicts between preservationists and commercial developers form another key element of the narrative. As Smith makes clear, the story of battlefield preservation is in many ways a story of people - from Civil War veterans like Henry Boynton, the Medal of Honor winner who oversaw the development of the first national military park at Chickamauga, to JIm LIghthizer, the president of the Civil War Trust, the private charitable organization spearheading the twenty-first-century preservation movement. In their dedication to this cause, such individuals and the groups they represent have kept a central event in American history alive in our collective memory. -- from back cover.