Proud to Be An American

The United States District Court for the District of Kansas will hold a special naturalization ceremony at the Fort Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kansas on Friday, September 27, 2013 at 10:30 a.m.  The Honorable James P. O’Hara, Magistrate Judge for the District of Kansas, will preside over the ceremony on the grounds of the Fort, 

which features a welcome from Fort Scott Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer, musical performances from the Fort Scott High School band, orchestra and choir, and an address from the Honorable Mark A. Ward, District Judge of the 6^th Judicial District. 

  Pittsburg State University Army ROTC will present of colors and lead the new citizens in the pledge of allegiance.  

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Approximately 90 applicants will be naturalized at the ceremony, which is open to the public.  In case of rain or other inclement weather, the ceremony will be held at Fort Scott Memorial Hall.

A luncheon to honor the new citizens follows immediately in the Grand Hall.    The Luncheon is provided by the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site and is free to the new citizens and their families.

We hope you and your family attend this event where, what we take for granted -- our citizenship, is prized and revered by these, our newest citizens.

IMAGES FROM SYMBOLS OF SACRIFICE - SEPTEMBER 7, 2013 TO SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

One Flag

One life lost

in Iraq or Afghanistan

Almost 7,000 flags

on the Parade Ground

of the Fort Scott National Historic Site

In dawn's early light

So proudly they wave

A Field of Honor

To Honor The Fallen

Of the 21st Century

On the grounds of an 18th Century Fort

The Field of Honor

And the flags.

SYMBOLS OF SACRIFICE

Come Honor

our Fallen Heroes!

Saturday, September 7-15, 2013

Fort Scott, Kansas

Fort Scott National Historic Site

(FSNHS)

is pleased to partner with the

Friends of FSNHS and

community members to present

Symbols of Sacrifice

a free series

of programs that highlight the 

sacrifice of Americans throughout much of the

19th, 20th, and 21st centures.

The main focus of the event will be a

Field of Honor on the historic

FSNHS Parada Ground,

where a US flag will fly for each service member

who has died while serving in

theater supporting US military operations

during the War on Terrorism

The purpose is to remember the fallen,

their sacrifice and their humanity,

not to glorify war.

JOIN US FOR THESE EVENTS:

:WEDNESDAY, SETPEMBER 11

On Wednesday, September 11, FSNHS will host a memorial service beginning at 12:00 noon to remember the victims of the 9/11 attachs.    The ceremony should conclude by 12:45 pm following the playing of Taps.    The public is invited to remember that day of uncertainty where average Americans exhibited selfless, uncommon valor, then walk the Field of Honor.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

On Saturday, September 14, Symbols of Sacrifice programming begins at 10:00 a.m.    Students from Fort Scott High School will provide prelude music beginning at 11:30 am. 

At noon, the Colors will be presented, followed by brief remarks of welcome and remembrance by members of government, veterans and the American Gold Star Mothers.

Taps will conclude the remembrance ceremony and visitors will again be invited to walk the Field of Honor.

Programming continues at 1 p.m. with a presentation by the American Gold Star Mothers and concludes with a stirring rendition of the Gettysburg Address and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

For additional information

contact

Anne Emerson

2091 145 Street, Fort Scott, Kansas

H:  620-829-5280

C:  620-249-4134

email:   awemerson5@gmail.com

Upcoming Evening Tour

“Everyone is carrying a gun” said one observer of the town of Fort Scott during the late 1850s.  During that era, known as Bleeding Kansas, people who held widely varied beliefs descended on Fort Scott.  From abolitionists to proslavery advocates, from Jayhawkers to Border Ruffians, each had their own point of view on what was right and wrong and their own concept of justice.  Those concepts often clashed violently at Fort Scott in the 1850s.

An evening tour at Fort Scott National Historic Site will take a look at many of the people who came to Fort Scott during that era.  Six different scenes will represent the buildings and people who brought about conflict in the 1850s. Conflict could be found in the courtroom, the land office, the sheriff’s office - there were even two competing hotels. From the attempted burning of one of these hotels to the tragic shooting of one of its leading citizens, Fort Scott was no stranger to violence and intrigue during this era.  

The tour will be offered on August 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the historic site. There is no charge for this tour which is the third in a series of evening tours this summer.  It will meet at the visitor center.

Fort Scott National Historic Site is open daily from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Entrance to the site is free of charge. For more information call 620-223-0310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/fosc.

Quantrill's Raid and Order No. 11

Shared Stories

Stories written by those

Who lived through Quantrill's Raid

Who lived through Order No. 11

Saturday, the Fort Scott National Historic Site

shared those stories

And the attendees had lively questions for the moderator.

Bill Fischer

Fort Scott National Historic Site Historian

A panel of readers

shared those stories

One by one,

we watched the stories unfold.

Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site President

Reed Hartford

one of the readers

Katie Wells, Matt Wells and Jim Scott were part of the panel

Reed Hartford and Cynthia McFarlin rounded out the panel.

Because the raid was not that far away in Lawrence, Kansas

And because Order No. 11 involved Vernon County (20 miles to the East)

there are stories of grandparents and great-grandparents

that were passed down.

And those were shared by the audience as well.

That is real living history.

Symbols of Sacrifice

September 2013

Jim Scott, representing Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site, 

delivering 7,000 American flags to Bill Fischer, Historian at Fort Scott National Historic Site. 

   Each flag will represent each of our lost military heroes since 9/11.   The flags will be on display the week of 9/11 with ceremonies honoring those fallen.

They Fought Like Tigers

Kansas was the first Union state to recruit, train, muster and send African American soldiers into combat.

The 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was the first African American regiment to be recruited from a norther state and the first to defeat the Confederates in combat.

January 14, 2013 will be the 150th Anniversary of the federal muster of this unit which was sworn into service on the parade grounds in Fort Scott.

In commemoration, Fort Scott National Historic Site will offer a special program on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at 2 p.m. in the site's library.

Retired National Park Service Historian, Arnold Schofield, will offer the keynote address about the formation of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.

The program will also honor the African American officer with the unit, Captain William D. Matthews, with a dramatic reading of his life's story.

Period music will be performed by volunteer Matthew Wells.

Additionally Park Ranger, Barry Geersteen will give a talk about the Emancipation Proclamation, which became official on January 1, 1863, and paved the way for the mustering in of the unit 12 days later.

The program will last approximately one hour and is open to the public.

There is no fee for the program or for visitation to the site which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

One item of note is that it was the story of the 1st Kansas that convinced Congress to authorize funding for the site in 1965., the same year that civil rights legislation was passed.

This story will also be briefly addressed during the program.

This program is one of many planned to commemorate the Civil War sesquicentennial.

For more information, call 620-223-0310