The 150-Year War: The Struggle to Create and Control Civil War Memory at Fort Sumter National Monument

In the century and a half since 1865, Fort Sumter and its home city have been the battlefield for another conflict, a struggle to control the memory—and the meaning—of the Civil War. Fort Sumter provides a telling case study in how the National Park Service has helped to shape the historical narratives of its sites, and how it participates in debates over the meaning of events. During both the centennial of the war (1961–65) and the sesquicentennial (2011–15), Charleston was the site of elaborate ceremonies that dramatized evolving interpretations of the conflict.