ShenandoahAtWar.org has been recognized by Juggle as one of the top national heritage sites on the web. Below you'll find an interview with Elizabeth Paradis Stern, Director of Policy and Communications for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District.
- How do you collaborate with the Battlefields Foundation to make the valley a major destination for Civil War travelers and what strategies have been employed?
Well, first of all, it is important to note that the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation is the management entity for the National Historic District—so I’m actually on the staff of the Foundation. We collaborate with partners throughout the District to work on making the valley a destination. The District is eight counties and four cities and we have partners throughout the region that we work with, not just in this heritage area, but beyond, to help visitors find the sites that tell the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War stories… and there are lots of them.
One of our tasks is to help visitors find the sites more easily—through the website and through a visitor's guide to the National Historic District, which is both a printed piece and available on the website. We've been trying to make it a lot easier for the visitor to plan Civil War travel to the Shenandoah Valley. And if we can make it easier for them then you remove that barrier to that travel choice.
- What resources and information does your website provide to help visitors explore and interpret the rich history of the valley?
We provide information about the various different sites, but I think first and foremost, we link that information to the history. So, there are lots of reasons why a visitor would want to come to the Shenandoah Valley.
The beauty of the valley is famed and it is especially known for its natural resources. Its rivers, the mountains, Skyline Drive at Shenandoah National Park, there are lots of things. But we also help them understand that there's this Civil War history that's extremely meaningful and fascinating.
So first we share that history to give visitors a quick look at understanding why this history is not only important, but also meaningful on an individual basis. We then provide information about the sites where that story can be experienced today. And so we provide resources both from a regional basis and historical basis.
We also have driving tours. We also have historic buildings that can be explored. So, depending on what the visitor likes to do we provide information on various different experiences.
- Why would visitors choose to take a battlefield driving tour and what makes this experience unique and worthwhile?
Well, the driving tours in the valley are especially compelling because the valley itself is such an exquisitely beautiful place. So a driving tour in the Shenandoah Valley is going to be a meaningful experience just in and of itself.
But, the Civil War driving tours provide another way to experience that landscape. Most of the battlefields here cover large landscapes and could be measured in square miles instead of acres. So this is the easiest, quickest way to wander around the battlefield landscapes. Many of the battlefields have interpretive stops or trails along the way where you can stop and get out of your car. The Third Winchester battlefield has a five mile walking trail and McDowell has a rigorous hike to the top of a mountain. So, if you really did want to get out of your car and wander around, you can do that too. The experience is tailored to you, but Shenandoah Valley lends itself to beautiful drives.
- Why was it important for the website to focus on the connection between the past and present significance of the Shenandoah Valley?
First and foremost, many of the battlefield areas in the Shenandoah Valley look almost untouched since the war, which is about 150 years. Most of them are farm fields, but some of them are in the downtown areas—some battles took place on town streets. Visitors can walk and stand in places on the battlefields today and many of them look very much as they did at the time of the battle.
The visitor is looking for an authentic experience, where you can stand where a soldier stood, or a farm family, and look at the landscape. I think it’s very important for a heritage tourist to be able to go to the places and connect them to the history that is being shared.
The other reason it's important has to do with the culture of the valley today. Like many of the heritage areas, we are a living landscape. People live and farm on these landscapes and in many cases are direct descendants of the families who were here during the time of the Civil War. So, relating the modern story to the past gives it even more relevance. I think that many visitors are especially moved by the notion that the people who are living on these landscapes today have a direct tie to the story that happened here 150 years ago. I think that's really compelling.
It helps us explain why history still matters to us today -- why it's relevant.
- Which battlefields are the most visited in the valley and how do you work to promote the smaller historic destinations?
Probably the most visited battlefield right now is the New Market battlefield. For about 30 years, there has been a park at New Market. The New Market Battlefield State Historical Park has been owned and stewarded by the Virginia Military Institute. VMI cadets fought at New Market in May of 1864 and these events are still included today as part of each cadet’s learning experience. So, in the 1960s, a VMI graduate protected the farm where the cadets fought and then passed it on to VMI, and they have run it as a park since.
Since it is a park, it is the easiest battlefield to experience and it has a fully staffed museum on the grounds. Probably the other most visited battlefields would be Kernstown battlefield, and Third Winchester, which has that five mile trail. Fisher’s Hill, Cross Keys, and Port Republic all have printed driving tours so it is difficult to estimate how many visitors do those tours but they are popular as well.
In terms of the more intimate destinations, the Shenandoah Valley is really a full package. When you come to the Shenandoah Valley, you will usually stop in at some of the other smaller attractions while you are visiting the larger battlefields.
- What other tools do you provide to help visitors plan their trip to Shenandoah Valley?
We work through our local tourism offices and the Shenandoah Valley Travel Association to ensure that they have all of the information that they need to help a visitor plan their trip.
We work through the Virginia Touring Corporation as well—we have information on the VTC’s website. We also work with the Guide to Virginia’s Civil War to make sure it has all the necessary information. It is a great resource for folks planning trips to the Shenandoah Valley.
- How do you choose which historic stories to feature on the homepage of your website?
We tend to focus on the historically important stories that have a site associated with them where a visitor can go today, but they also have meaning. One of my favorite stories that we have that I have not had an opportunity to highlight yet, since it doesn't have a site that is open to the public, has to do with a family who lived in Winchester near what became the Kernstown battlefield. The mother feared she may lost her young teenage sons in the midst of what became the first large battle fought in her area. Early in the day, they heard some skirmishing and she let them go check it out before realizing it was a full-on battle. She worried all day long—they actually came back after dark, but I think that as a mother myself that’s a really compelling story.
Ultimately, those are the kinds of stories that bring this rich history home to a modern audience. And our job is to ensure that we have places where people can go and experience that story in the place where it happened.
- How can visitors learn more about the preservation of the heritage area and how can they aid in its development and protection?
Most importantly we want to help visitors understand the story here, but we also hope that what we're doing is building what we call a preservation ethic. That by experiencing its importance and value, there's also a recognition that protecting these places matters for future generations.
So, in all of our publications and on the website, we ensure that we have at least a note about the ongoing preservation work.
The farm fields here in the valley are increasingly threatened by the spread of metropolitan areas. If we can provide opportunities for those farmers to continue their way of life through our conservation work it in turn helps the valley's economy and also keeps that land protected.
Therefore, we provide information about how folks can donate and volunteer opportunities throughout the valley for lots of the smaller organizations.
- Is there anything else you would like to tell us about either the website or the Shenandoah Valley?
Well, we are actually getting ready to do some improvements to the site and do some really exciting things in stages over the coming year or so.
We're going to have some new features by the beginning of the New Year, and we'll be doing some fun things as we go along through the course of the next year. So, if you enjoy the website now, come back, because it's just going to get better.