The Camp Letterman Medical Museum & Visitor Center is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jonathan Letterman, the major figure in Civil War Medicine for the United States. The museum will serve as the focus for
Vision: Our vision is to provide a national focal point for the discussion, interpretation, and education of various publics on Civil War Medicine. The Museum will become a nationally recognized resource by authors, historians, reenactors, and the general public.
Mission: The mission of the Camp Letterman Medical Museum is to collect, preserve and interpret artifacts relating to the social, medical, and cultural experiences of the people as affected by the Civil War.
Goals of the Medical Museum:
A. To promote the general awareness of medicine during the American Civil War.
B. To establish educational sessions to promote further understanding of the historical period, 1861-1865, for students and adults in Illinois.
C. To encourage research in Civil War Medicine.
D. To facilitate communication and interaction among the reenactor public involved in historical interpretation of medicine.
E. To provide a structure for students, adults and teachers to understand the Civil War Medicine.
With these goals in mind, the Camp Letterman Medical Museum will meet its goals by its targeted efforts with the following publics:
A. K-12 School Students field trips: This audience will be provided with interactive field trips during the school year. These trips will be age/grade-level appropriate. The museum will be arranged with broad areas in which students can be seated around museum exhibits. Volunteers will be trained in the National Association of Interpreter's historical methods in order to provide high-quality, student orientated presentations. Technology will be incorporated for older students to use their “smartphones” to supplement their knowledge during presentations and to increase their personal database during their visit to the museum. WIFI on a patron museum account will be available for this component.
B. History Teacher Training – CPDU’s, Graduate Credit: As part of the educational component of the museum, Camp Letterman will pursue a strategic alliance with online graduate programs that will enable teachers to complete a Master’s degree in Civil War History with an emphasis in Civil War Medicine. The museum will utilize its facility after hours to provide space and Wi-Fi to enable graduate students to take courses. Courses will also be offered in person as needed to complete the degree. Dr. Steinbach has taught education graduate-level courses for three colleges since 1982. He will be the course supervision “on-site.”
C. Park Service/Historical Site Training: As part of initial training, many park service personnel and historical interpreters are required to be Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association of Interpreters (NAI). Camp Letterman will become a training institution for the NAI for this training. Once the training is complete, those with the Certified Interpretive Guide status are required to take additional training (CPDU’s) to maintain their status. Camp Letterman will offer these credits through weekend and summer workshops.
D. Educational Research - Masters level Thesis, Ph.D. level Dissertation: The museum will utilize its facility after hours to provide space and WI-FI to enable graduate students to complete research for their thesis. Data research systems like EBSCO and the National Archives (NARA) will be available for free to Camp Letterman members and their families.
E. Summer Arts/Theatre Programming: As part of the educational component, a summer stock program will be initiated at the museum. This will be used to produce original plays about the civil war and plays from the civil war period. The Camp Letterman Theatre Troop will provide nightly entertainment for the general public and hotel guests. The troop will enable these players to perform to live audiences. Students and adults from the community will be involved in these theatre experiences. While this has an educational focus, the opportunity for income from hotel dinner/theatre packages from May to October based upon weather conditions.
F. Summer History Experiences for Students and Educators: Life History Experiences will be offered on a day school basis during the summer months. From June to August, a series of courses will be offered to students in grades 3-8.
G. Archeological Research/Excavation Experiences: Based upon the availability, a strategic alliance with the University of Pennsylvania and the Society for Pennsylvania Archeology will be entered into to provide quality excavation of the sections of the property that were original Camp Letterman areas. These artifacts will be shared between the Museum and our alliance partners. Data from the site will be placed online. A camera will provide real-time viewing of the project for the public with the ability to advertise other opportunities available at the Camp Letterman site.
H. Historic Medical Interpreters & Reenactors Training: Training will be provided to historic medical interpreters and reenactors. An ongoing, “School of the Surgeon”, the experience will be scheduled from April to October. Participants will be provided a camping area during these weekend training or may stay at the Camp Letterman Hotel. This two-day experience will provide two-five hour experiences. In addition, participants may purchase tickets for a private tour of other private medical sites in the Gettysburg area.
I. Letter(man) Boxes: These self-contained shipping boxes will provide national educational opportunities to students in grades 4-12. The Letter(man) boxes will consist of a specific curriculum unit including links to National Standards in Math, Science, Reading/Language Arts, and Social Studies. Master copies of all handouts and web links (QR’s) for the instruction and “regalia” materials for students to touch, see, hear, or view in person. These boxes will be constructed and shipped to any school site for postage. The Letter(man) Boxes will extend the mission of the museum and provide knowledge of the museum for potential future visitors.
J. Technology & Museum integration training: The museum will utilize educational technology to promote student/visitor understanding of the importance of Dr. Letterman, the Gettysburg campsite, and Civil War Medicine in general. Camp Letterman will become a strategic site for the development of new electronic avenues for museums in general and provide museum education opportunities for other museum’s staff to gain knowledge in 21st Century systems that can engage and educate. K. Genealogy Search location - Civil War National Archives (NARA) hook-up: National genealogy websites and links will be made available for museum members to do personal research at the museum. This search capability will be unique to our museum as we will provide this service using current and future sites as they are created. There is the potential to create a “Kayak” like search system that would allow members to search our system which would gather data from all sites in existence with a single
