Quartz and Prehnite: Minerals during the Renaissance

Minerals were displayed in wonder rooms for their beauty and used by apothecaries for their medical properties and artists, for sculptures and pigments. Minerals during the Renaissance were collected and displayed in wonder rooms to illustrate the beauty of nature. Humanists would have categorized minerals by their external qualities- color, transparency, form, luster, and smell. Over time, geologists continue to study these external qualities when they are first analyzing minerals, and the internal properties. Today the six major factors in identifying minerals are cleavage, the tendency of minerals to break into flat surfaces; color; crystal form or how the form of the mineral changes as the mineral crystallizes; hardness, the resistance to scratching to measure its strength; luster, the light reflection; and streak, the color of the streak left when a mineral is grinded on porcelain. [excerpt

A Tradition of Bells: Glatfelter Bell and Hall

Every hour, students and staff hear the tolling of a bell. Some students hear it and count the number of times it rings to see what time it is. Others hear it and realize they are late to class. And many come back after they have graduated and are happy to hear the bell toll once more. There are many times when the bell is rung today. The bell is rung at graduation, funerals in the Chapel, and alumni and donor recognition. The Glatfelter Bell has been part of the Gettysburg experience since 1892. This bell is housed in one of the most iconic buildings on campus—Glatfelter Hall. The hall was built between 1887-1889, before the college considered buying the bell. Both Glatfelter and its bell have a long history that began with the building initiative of the late 1800’s beginning under the presidency of Dr. Milton Valentine and that came to fruition during the presidency of Harvey McKnight

John B. Bachelder’s Artistic Vision for the Gettysburg Battlefield

John Bachelder was an important artist and historian to Gettysburg, shaping the early interpretation of the battle during the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association period (1863-1895). While he is mainly discussed as the first park historian, it is important to look at his career as an artist and how it influenced his career at Gettysburg. Looking at Bachelder’s entire career, one can see how Bachelder’s vision for the battlefield changed over time. Bachelder wanted to create a grand history painting of the battle, which ultimately became his Isometric Map of Gettysburg. He corresponded with veterans to get their accounts, leading Bachelder to learn more about the battlefield and to create his own interpretation of the battle. His early works, like the Isometric Map, the James Walker Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault, and guidebook (Gettysburg: What to See and How to See it) brought Gettysburg to the homes of Americans. This allowed Bachelder to become a more well-known name among veterans. Furthermore, these early works allowed Bachelder to begin his interpretation of Gettysburg. Ultimately, Bachelder saw Gettysburg as the most important battle of the Civil War, which culminated into the High-Water Mark of the Rebellion for the Confederate troops. This influences his later works, such as his history of the battle and his for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association as Superintendent of Monuments and Tablets. These later works focus on making Gettysburg a memorial landscape, and a battlefield park which visitors can understand by just looking at the field. Bachelder’s work is vital to understand the early interpretation of Gettysburg

Luxurious Surfaces: Chinese Decorative Arts from the 15th to the Early 20th Century

Luxurious Surfaces: Chinese Decorative Arts from the Fifteenth to the Early Twentieth Century is a highly anticipated exhibition that highlights student learning in the art history program. The curators, William Caterham ’20, Ashley Jeffords ’20, Merlyn Maldonado Lopez ’22, Sarah Paul ’22, James Raphaelson ’21, Megan Reimer ’22, Shannon Zeltmann ’21 and Tianrun Zhao ’20, are students enrolled in the Art History Method class in Fall 2019. The exhibition examines the quintessential characteristics and the meaning of Chinese decorative arts embedded in the luxurious surfaces of sixteen carefully selected works from Gettysburg College’s Asian Art Collection.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1032/thumbnail.jp

Gettysburg Cyclorama: A Digital Annotation

The massive Gettysburg Cyclorama painting, measuring 42 feet high and 377 feet in circumference, has immersed visitors in the fury of the battle since its completion in 1884. Painted by a team headed by French artist Paul Philippoteaux, the canvas depicts the bloody clash at the Angle, the culmination of the fighting at Gettysburg, through visual mechanisms that make the landscape appear to stretch on for miles, positioning the viewer at the center of the action. From this page, visitors are invited to explore the convoluted history of the painting, from years of sold-out crowds to neglect on a backlot to its current position as the centerpiece of the exhibit at the Gettysburg National Military Park and Visitor Center, and to visually trace the many stories embedded in the canvas. These digital explorations of the Cyclorama painting – using TimelineJS and StoryMapJS and embedded in Scalar – were created by students in Gettysburg College’s Fall 2018 HIST 301: Introduction to Public History course, taught by Prof. Jill Ogline Titus. These projects could never have been completed without the generous assistance and advice provided by painting historian Sue Boardman, Leadership Program Director for the Gettysburg Foundation and co-author of two books on the Cyclorama painting, the creative and technical guidance (and photography skills) of R.C. Miessler, Systems Librarian, Musselman Library, and the digital artistry of Julia Wall ’18. [excerpt