April National Geographic Focuses On Plight Of Battlefields
By Deborah Fitts
May 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. — National Geographic magazine highlighted the loss of Civil War battlefields in its April issue, bringing the concern to the attention of the publication’s millions of readers.

“It’s probably one of the most important articles, certainly in recent years,” said Jim Campi, spokesman for the nonprofit Civil War Preservation Trust. “It brings the plight of the battlefields to a whole new audience.”

The Trust was closely involved with National Geographic for a year in preparing the article, after the magazine approached the Trust for information on battlefields threatened by development.

“They’re very thorough,” said Campi. “They were very interested in talking with a lot of our partners, at Spotsylvania, Franklin and elsewhere. We also suggested they go to Antietam, to see the best-preserved battlefield in the country.”

The 24-page article features evocative photos of battlefields during the Civil War and today, and a large, folded map rich with detail on battle actions across much of the U.S. National Geographic media-relations manager Laura Reynolds said inspiration for the story came from the book Killing Ground, by photographer John Huddleston, which displays then-and-now images of Civil War battlefields.

Campi said the Trust bought up as many copies of the magazine as possible to send to legislators on Capitol Hill in early April with a letter pointing to the need for additional federal funding for battlefield acquisition. “I’m really looking to see the impact of this [article] on the Hill,” he said.

Reynolds noted that April featured a “split” cover, with newsstands in part of the country receiving magazines with a Civil War soldier on the cover, and the rest highlighting the discovery of a long-extinct species of human pygmy from Indonesia.

Reynolds explained, “Typically, we see strong regional newsstand sales when our magazine features a more local story on the cover.” Since battlefields are mostly in the South, the Civil War cover was distributed south of the Mason-Dixon Line. All other newsstands, along with the 6.4 million National Geographic members in the U.S., received the “World of the Little People” edition.

Those interested in obtaining a copy of the April issue, with the “Little People” cover, may contact the National Geographic warehouse at 1-800-NGS-LINE. Reynolds cautioned that the press run for the Civil War cover was so small it was “unlikely” to be available.

The article is just part of a larger collaboration between the Trust and National Geographic. National Geographic is turning its online mapping resources to the Civil War, and plans to mount battlefield maps and myriad other information, with much of the content provided by the Trust. The National Park Service is also part of the partnership.

According to Allen Carrol, chief cartographer for National Geographic, the new map-based Web site will allow users to interact with a map similar to the Civil War map included in the April issue. The site will be launched this summer and will be found at nationalgeographic.com/maps.

In an e-mail explaining the project, Carrol wrote, “You’ll be able to zoom into the map to access more detailed map information, including modern topographic maps, and to click on icons representing all the major Civil War sites. That will lead to summaries of each battle and links to further information from the National Geographic Society, Civil War Preservation Trust and National Park Service.”

He added, “Our hope is that this site will represent a first phase, and that we’ll be able to expand and enhance the site as we approach the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.”