A Thousand Voices: The Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley

Draft design renderings of the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum’s new exhibit space.

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation/Riggs Ward

Recipient: Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation

Amount: $150,000

Nestled between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, the many acres of woods and pasture of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley beckon to those with an eye for nature’s beauty and a taste for relaxation and renewal. Yet, the Valley’s contemporary trails and roadways wind through the lives and histories leading to and from the devastation of the Civil War. Of strategic importance to the Confederacy as a movement corridor and source of supplies for their army and for the Union as well, the Valley’s noncombatant communities – both free and enslaved – bore the brunt of more than twenty battles and the scorched-earth tactics seeking to punish enemy armies and their civilian allies.

Their stories are not peripheral to the traditional accounts of military maneuvers and of famous generals, but rather are at the center of a national catastrophe that neither began nor ended on the battlefield. Stories of dwindling resources, enemy occupation, inundation with war-wounded and weary soldiers, and devastation and destruction during the war flowed into tales of resilience, recovery, and renewal as civilians – especially emancipated African Americans – turned to rebuilding lives, communities, and families throughout the Valley.

With assistance from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program’s Battlefield Interpretation Grant, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation will create exhibits at the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum centering on the Valley’s Civil War histories and legacies, from the messages soldiers scrawled on the walls of the Winchester courthouse to the stories of freedom inscribed in Black towns at Zenda, Anthony’s Burg, and Flood. The Foundation will harness dynamic technologies and traditional interpretive methods to craft a museum experience for visitors of all ages and learning styles. Together, the voices of the battlefield and the home front will narrate visitors experience of the Valley.

Battlefield Interpretation Grants from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program empower preservation partners nationwide to modernize and enhance battlefield interpretation – to inspire wonder, understanding and empathy at the places that witnessed some of our nation’s most challenging events. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Battlefield Land Acquisition, Preservation Planning, and Battlefield Restoration Grants. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.

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Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.

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