Public History Magazine

Option 2:        “For those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we are grateful that such men and women were among us” (Buyer 2022). In a previous assignment, I discussed the legacy and history of my great Uncle Carmen. Carmen was a seventeen-year-old boy who wanted to fight in the war and contribute to the World War II war effort. To get approval to fight in the war, his mother had to sign paperwork and give her approval for him to fight in the war effort. After his training, Carmen was stationed in the Pacific and fought in multiple smaller conflicts, however, his first major battle was the battle of Iwo Jima, which today is known as “one of the bloodiest fights in the entire war effort.” Until the battle at Iwo Jima, Carmen wrote to his family twice a week about the war effort, what he was hearing, and just wanting to check in with them and how he was proud to be serving the best country on earth. In his final letter, Carmen informed his family he was being...

                            The public history exhibit I decided to choose is right near my backyard located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. I chose the Fort Lee Historic Park under the umbrella of the Palisades Interstate National Park Commission located mostly in North Jersey and a small section of New York. Brief information about Palisades Interstate Park, it was founded in 1900 under Theodore Roosevelt as a preservation site. The natural cliffs off the Palisades that stretch over 20 miles creates for beautiful views and thick forest filled areas for visitors to explore.   The Palisades Interstate Park inherited Fort Lee Historic Park which was constructed in 1776 not long after America declared independence. The fort was named after General Charles Lee, its purpose was to block the British Navy on the west side of the Hudson River to block the British navy advancing North. Eventually on November...