Part II

President’s Message

October 2008

Membership

USCTLHA

A few days ago I ask for your support and commitment to a campaign to honor the history of the USCT and their supporters during the Civil War period of America’s history.  I talked about the torch that we have taken in hand to shed light on the tremendous contributions that our people made to assure the victory which kept this a United States of America and made American live up to the ideas and principals which  contributed to the foundations of her origin.

I am not naive to believe that this task is easy nor is the desire for this organization to succeed a desire held by all Americans.  There are individuals within and outside of our own communities who care less about our mission and cringe at the notion of attempting to instill pride in individuals as a motivation for change from the status quo.

As we begin to give serious thought as to what can and can not be accomplished in our Desire to educate a nation which is distracted by many significant daily struggles, we need to be smart as our resources are very limited.  It is unlikely that millions of dollars will come forth to assist the USCTLHA to embrace its mission.  Briefly, I will share some of my thoughts as this organization begins to focus on how to accomplish our task and what is the capacity of the USCTLHA to move a strategic plan forward.

1.      Target Audience

What segment of the population has the greatest need to know, potentially the most receptive, the easiest to reach, and yet allow the organization to accomplish our objectives?  In my thinking the African American community would appear to be the answer to items raised in the above sentence.  Targeting the African American community as our primary audience does not mean that we dismiss any opportunity to educate anyone or segment of the population.

If a plan was adopted to target African American communities across the nation, the following formula might work to maximize our efforts: 

A.  Priority should be given to communities which have significant history related 

     to the Civil War.

B. Identify individuals and organization within that community who have 

    demonstrated a commitment to preserving their history

 C. The local history must be integrated into the larger context of the

      educational objectives of the USCTLHA ( an agreed upon strategic

      educational plan would be used to guide us at every location)

An excellent example of the above advocated position would be to contact the Contraband Historical Society of Hampton, Virginia and work with them in their efforts to recognize the history of Fort Monroe and the importance of General Butlers' Fort Monroe Doctrine.

II.  Integration of limited Resources

     Historians and researcher should be encouraged to  work with local or

     regional reenacting units or living history presenters to effectively tell the

     story.

With this brief outline of suggestions, I am asking you to join me with some further written dialog to contribute to a strategic education plan as we prepare to celebrate the sesquicentennial in 2011.  We must be about developing the plan and uniting our limited resources for maximum effect.

Mr. Malcolm Beech, chairperson of Events and Planning Committee, has presented a draft of a plan to develop a educational campaign to guide his organization to the Board of Directors.  I will direct him to forward this draft to you soon, please provide your valuable comments.

George Smith, President

USCTLHA