The Gettysburg Foundation is pleased to host author and historian Stephen Evangelista and Licensed Town Guide Ted Hirt for special after-hours programming Saturday, July 25, 2024, from 6:30 until 8 p.m. in the historic Rupp House, home of Children of Gettysburg 1863. The after-hours programming is free and open to the public and will take place inside the museum. The doors will open at 6:20 p.m.
Author and historian Stephen Evangelista will tell the fascinating story of the Gettysburg Gun, the only existing cannon known to have served in the Battle of Gettysburg, still in its original condition. Guests can hear the amazing account of the cannon’s perilous and profound journey across three centuries. An epic story of survival, sacrifice and honor is told in his new book, Forever Silenced: The Story of the Gettysburg Gun. At the close of the evening, copies of Forever Silenced will be available to purchase during a book signing with Stephen Evangelista.
Licensed Town Guide Ted Hirt will present “Thundering Artillery: The Gettysburg Civilian Experience.” Guests can learn how the battle changed the lives of Gettysburg citizens as the artillery rolled through the streets and thundered over the town during those hot days in July 1863.
Hirt is a Licensed Town Guide who has been interested in the American Civil War, and Gettysburg in particular, since his youth in the 1950s. He recalls visiting the battlefield during the July 1963 Centennial. Although his college degrees are in American History, Hirt has had a long law career, including 36 years in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Adams County Historical Society and is a re-enactor with Battery B, First Rhode Island Artillery, a unit that fought at Gettysburg. Hirt has been a Licensed Town Guide since 2018, and he enjoys sharing his love of local Gettysburg history with visitors.
Currently open daily, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and located at 451 Baltimore Street in downtown Gettysburg, the children’s interactive history museum can be explored by eventgoers before the after-hours programming on July 27.
Children of Gettysburg 1863 tells the engaging stories of children, teens, and young adults who lived in and near the town of Gettysburg during and after the Battle of Gettysburg. Visitors can experience history as they journey through the galleries with interactive exhibits and hear first-hand accounts from numerous young residents from 1863, including William Bayly, Albertus McCreary, Sadie Bushman, and Tillie Pierce.
Admission tickets for the museum adventure are available by phone at 877-874-2478 or 717-334-2436, online at GettysburgFoundation.org/Children-of-Gettysburg-1863, at the Ticket Counter inside the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg or on-site at Children of Gettysburg 1863.