Class Year
2016
Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Date
11-14-2014
Department 1
Civil War Institute
Abstract
In my most recent blog posts, I’ve adopted a rather unforgiving stance on the rampant consumerism that pervades the town of Gettysburg. Essentially, I have argued that the borough’s tacky gift shops sell odious little trinkets to gullible tourists and profiteer from the public’s morbid obsession with war and death. But while I firmly believe that this zealous consumerism is a persistent threat to healthy historical engagement, there is another side to the issue that demands to be recognized: Gettysburg kitsch is part of what has made Gettysburg into a town brimming with opportunities to broaden the public’s historical consciousness. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Lavery, Kevin P., "Gettysburg: A Town Built on Tourism" (2014). The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History. 74.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/compiler/74
Included in
Cultural History Commons, Military History Commons, Public History Commons, Tourism Commons, United States History Commons
Comments
This blog post originally appeared in The Gettysburg Compiler and was created by students at Gettysburg College.