Artifacts bring stories to life
By Alex J. Hayes | Photography by Melissa Ring
Since childhood, Erik L. Dorr has been drawn to historical artifacts. He remembers sitting at his desk in kindergarten with a few Civil War bullets in his pocket that he had found in his grandfather’s 19th-century home on Gettysburg’s Baltimore Street. His family moved into the building after the federal government converted their property in Ziegler’s Grove to be part of the Gettysburg National Military Park.
His grandfather, former Gettysburg Mayor Fred G. Pfeffer, would sometimes give him a larger relic found on the family farm after Pickett’s Charge. Dorr would take it home, sit it on a shelf and stare at it for hours.
“When I put an artifact in my hand, I immediately connect with that history,” Dorr says.
The world’s history and Dorr’s history intersect at the Gettysburg Museum of History. There, Dorr displays artifacts from all eras of America’s story in the same building where he first found those Civil War bullets.
“I am the fourth generation in this building,” he says during a recent walk through the museum.
The front of the museum features the war that put Gettysburg on the map, the American Civil War. Unique pieces, such as a belt buckle struck by a bullet while being worn by a soldier in Company K 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, allow people to imagine the physical horrors of the battlefield. Photographs of brothers Wesley and William Culp touch on the emotional struggles caused by war. The brothers grew up in Gettysburg, but Wesley moved to Virginia in 1858 to become an apprentice in the carriage industry. There, he joined the local militia and eventually the Confederate Army. Shortly before the Battle of Gettysburg, he faced the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, of which his brother was a member.
“It’s the classic story of brother against brother,” Dorr says.
Letters Jenny Wade sent to her love, Corporal Johnston “Jack” Hastings Skelly, are among Dorr’s favorite items in the museum. They prove a romantic connection, Dorr says, but also that there is no correct way to spell Jenny. The Gettysburg resident who was killed on July 3, 1863, while baking bread for Union soldiers in her sister’s kitchen sometimes signed her name with a “G,” other times with a “J.”
The letters are personal, as is Dorr’s connection to them. He was fascinated with the Wade story as a child. Years before, his grandfather worked at the Jenny Wade Museum as a young man. More recently, Dorr unearthed an even more direct connection to Wade. One of the letters was written on the back of a ballot for a local social club signed by his great-grandfather.
A few feet from Wade’s love story, the museum takes a darker tone by featuring World War II artifacts that include the Nazi flag. Dorr also has on display a piece of the couch Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was sitting on when he killed himself. DNA tests have proven Hitler’s blood is on the artifact, says Dorr.
The Nazi pieces have a shock value, Dorr admits, but he does not feature them to spark controversy. He believes hiding history’s tragedies will lead to them becoming more mythological than real. Dorr is appalled that Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers exist and believes people need to be reminded about how horrific that period was.
“I think that it is important to keep that in people’s minds,” he says.
Dorr also takes pride in collecting items that are relatable to most visitors.
A hat worn by President Harry S. Truman, a briefcase carried by President Ronald Reagan, golf clubs owned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and a box that President John F. Kennedy used to store his cigars are similar to items many Americans can find in their own homes.
“They make you think more about the person,” Dorr says.
One room in the museum is entirely devoted to Kennedy. Dorr’s mentor, Robert White, assembled one of the most significant private collections of the late president’s effects, and Dorr purchased the items after White’s death in 2003.
The museum first opened in 2010 and continues to evolve.
Dorr’s more recent fascination with the 101st Airborne Division’s Easy Company—featured in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers—led him to collect what he believes is the world’s largest collection of Easy Company artifacts. He and Penn State history instructor Jared Frederick also co-authored a book, Hang Tough: The WWII Letters and Artifacts of Major Dick Winters.
The artifacts on display in the Gettysburg Museum of History have come from a variety of sources, Dorr says, including personal donations. The museum sells some artifacts to fund its operations, but Dorr assures donors that he never sells items that he receives at no cost.
With every room in the museum at 219 Baltimore St. packed full of items that tell a story, Dorr is ready to expand. He recently purchased 223 Baltimore St. and plans for that property are underway. He envisions a gathering space where historians can share the stories behind the artifacts.
The Gettysburg Museum of History is open to the public and admission is free. Its hours vary by season. Those who would like to support the effort can learn more and donate to the foundation established
for the expansion project at www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com.
