Gettysburg College To Host Confederate Flag, Lynching Exhibit
By Deborah Fitts
September 2004

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The "lynching" of a Confederate flag is scheduled to kick off a provocative new exhibit at the Gettysburg College art gallery Sept. 3.

Artist John Sims has plans to erect a 13-foot-high "gallows" outside the entrance to the gallery, at Schmucker Hall, for the 7 p.m. event. Dubbed "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag," it will be open to the public.

A Detroit native and an African-American, Sims is quoted in the Hanover Evening Sun stating that the mock lynching of the flag is "to say this has caused me major problems. I'm lynching it. And then I'm going to resurrect it and bring it back on my terms."

The exhibit is titled "Recoloration Proclamation: The Gettysburg Redress." It will feature Confederate flags in different colors, including the black, red and green of the African liberation movement, and lavender and pink to represent "drag flags."

Gallery director Molly Hutton said she recruited Sims for the solo show at the Schmucker Gallery.

"I thought it was very provocative, that it would get a good dialogue going about the presence of the Confederate flag at Gettysburg," she said.

Hutton said Sims "never had to confront a Confederate flag" until he took a job in Florida, where he is coordinator of mathematics at Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota.

"He was quite dismayed and surprised by the ubiquity of the flag in the South," Hutton said. "To some people it's about Southern pride or regional identity, and to some historians it's a battle flag. But to John and a lot of African-Americans it's a symbol of white power and the hate groups who have adopted it. It's a symbol of visual terrorism."

In preparation for the show, Sims came to Gettysburg for the first time in the spring, Hutton said, and was surprised to see Confederate flags openly displayed. Although his flag exhibit has been shown in Harlem, the "lynching" is a new aspect planned exclusively for this show, she said.

Other aspects of the exhibit include a "ReVote" installation featuring three voting booths used in Florida's disputed 2000 presidential election, and revised versions of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" and the song "Dixie."

News of the exhibit prompted swift reaction in the Civil War community.

Bill Synnamon, co-owner of the Union Drummer Boy relic shop in Gettysburg, declared that Sims's mock lynching was "despicable and it's divisive. He's using racism against a flag that's heritage, not hate."

"I'm not a Southerner," Synnamon added, "and let's be realistic - a lot of people use this flag for the wrong reasons. If he wants to argue his case in Georgia or South Carolina, that's another matter. But after the war, here in Gettysburg, there was reconciliation and reunions. The flags are not in this town for any symbolism other than the Civil War. It's a Civil War community."

Synnamon said he planned to "unleash the dogs of war" against Gettysburg College for supporting the show.

Kathi Schue, president of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association (GBPA), said she planned to attend the Sept. 3 event and "show my distaste."

"I get tired of that race card being thrown," said Schue. "The flag is part of our history. Eventually our association may want to fly a Confederate flag at the farm (GBPA's historic Daniel Lady Farm at Gettysburg), along with an American flag and a state flag, because a Confederate flag would have flown there during those days at Gettysburg."

Schue said she feared the exhibit could hurt the college's reputation. "Why is this coming here? Gettysburg has been a melting pot for Confederate and Union. This is the wrong time and the wrong place."

College sophomore John Rudy, an officer in the college's Civil War Club, posted an online message with the Gettysburg Discussion Group calling the exhibit "sickening." Rudy said the college appeared to be "trying to distance itself from the town by rejecting the Civil War past in which it is steeped."

Kendra Branchik of the college press office said there had been "quite a lot of reaction" from both supporters and detractors.

"Some feel it's anti-Southern heritage, and some feel it's free expression and that someone should be able to speak their mind," Branchik said.

Hutton, who has headed the gallery for two years, said the college has not hosted such a controversial exhibit before. "We have great support at the college," she said. "The administration fully supports our efforts."

Hutton said the college provost felt that since the college was present during the battle, it was fitting "to allow for reconsiderations" of Civil War-related objects and events.

"We'll see what happens," Hutton said. "I imagine we'll have some protests. This is certainly not intended to be divisive in any way. It's simply providing a forum for someone with a valid point of view."

The Civil War News could not reach Sims for comment.

A lecture focusing on the show, "Razing the Flag: Nationalism and Dissent in Contemporary Art," will be given at Schmucker Hall Sept. 16 at 5:15 p.m. by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, assistant professor of art, history and Afro-American studies at Harvard. The exhibit will close Sept. 26.

Schmucker Hall is located on North Washington Street adjacent to Pennsylvania Hall, which stood during the July 1863 battle of Gettysburg.

Hutton said the "lynched" flag may hang through-out the exhibition, but would be outside the front door of the hall and therefore probably out of sight of passers-by on Washington Street.