The Grand Review of 2011     
        Lincoln at the Crossroads Alliance Newsletter

Joint Forces Color Guard Photos (c) B. Guthrie

In addition to Civil War re-enactors, participants in the 2011 parade  included the Joint Forces Color Guard, the Continental Fife and Drum Corps of the Third Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), and modern-day armed forces veterans. Ed Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus, National Park Service, served as Grand Marshal.  

Fife and Drum Corps and Joint Forces Color Guard Photos (c) B. Guthrie

Major General Michael S. Linnington, Commanding General, Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region/Military District of Washington, presented remarks. Other speakers included Colonel Carl R. Coffman, Commander of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall; and Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Emeritus and renowned Lincoln scholar Frank J. Williams.

 The Bailey's Crossroads Baptist Church Choir sang the United States National Anthem and Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic.

 Actor Jim Getty, well known for his realistic portrayals of President Abraham Lincoln, presided as the 16th president of the United States and spoke to the audience about the Grand Review.  The picture below shows Mr. Getty, RI Supreme Court Chief Justice Emeritus Frank J. Williams, Major General Michael S. Linnington, and Ms. Jenée Lindner dressed as Julie Ward Howe before the start of the ceremonies.

Before the Parade Photos (c) A. Gonzalez

 

   

Re-enactors at Parade Photos (c) B. Guthrie

 

   

Leading the Choir Photos (c) A. Gonzalez

 

    

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Greeting Grand Ball Attendees Photos (c) A. Gonzalez

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With a $5000 grant from the Bailey's Revitalization Corporation, an eight-minute video focusing on efforts to bring history to life in the Bailey's Crossroads area, site of Lincoln's Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac in 1861, was produced by Kramer Communications.

 On February 9, The Peace Convention at 150: A Call to Compromise Symposium was held at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, Washington, D.C., co-sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, in partnership with the Willard Intercontinental Hotel and with the endorsement of The Lincoln Forum. A bronze plaque commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the 1861 Peace Convention was dedicated.

 A musical program named Lincoln's Life in Music was offered at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church's Meletis Charuhas Community Center in Bailey's Crossroads on February 11.  Lincoln author and pianist, Elizabeth Smith Brownstein, and violinist SMG Laura Knutzon of the U.S. Army Band, performed the program.  St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church donated the space for this concert.

 LATCRA provided support to the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College's (NOVA) Conference and Concert on November 11. The Conference, At the Crossroads of History: Bailey's Through the Century, focused on the history of the Bailey's Crossroads area with a particular emphasis on the Civil War period.  Following the conference, NOVA's music program presented Spirit of the Civil War in the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center. The multi-media concert was a collaboration of NOVA's music, communication design and photography programs.

 LATCRA sponsored the Grand Ball at the Hilton Mark Center following the concert. 

 On November 12, in partnership with Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, guests attended a ceremony and parade at Fort McNair to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of Lincoln's Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac.  Although we worked throughout the past four years to hold the parade at Bailey's Crossroads, we were unable to raise the funds necessary to hold the parade as planned. 

 With a $5000 grant from the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, we produced a student guide for elementary/middle school children about the Grand Review.  Two thousand copies have been distributed to students from Fairfax County Public Schools, Alexandria City and Arlington County. Children who attended the parade also were provided with copies of the student guide.

 Students from Fairfax County created an exhibit about the Grand Review and enlarged the student guide. The exhibit was first displayed at the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale, Virginia. Gretchen Anderson, LATCRA's School Coordinator volunteer, worked with the students on the exhibit.  The exhibit remained at the library until the end of November, and there are plans to display a re-assembled exhibit at another Fairfax County library.

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This Newsletter is published by The Lincoln at the Crossroads Alliance (LATCRA) and is the property of The Alliance.

  Editor:        June Baker