National Homestead At Gettysburg
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The National Homestead at Gettysburg was created in 1866 as a home for children who had lost their fathers during the Civil War. Amos Humiston's widow, Philinda Humiston, went there to work with her three children. They were a very important symbol during the war, and their story became very prominent. Amos Humiston became known as the "Unknown Soldier of Gettysburg", and the National Homestead gained a lot of recognition. Widows and orphans were viewed much differently during this time period, and having a place where they could find support was very important. However, the home ended up closing after it was learned that significant abuse occurred against the children and there were many scandals.
Sources
Amos Humiston, SBU Archives. Accessed May 12th 2020. http://archives.sbu.edu/civil_war/154th_g-o.html.
National Homestead at Gettysburg, Wikipedia. Accessed May 13th 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Homestead_at_Gettysburg.