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2023 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 645
Commending the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 13, 2023
Agreed to by the Senate, February 16, 2023

 

WHEREAS, the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and interpreting the Wilderness Battlefield, a unit of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Battlefield Park located in the Counties of Spotsylvania and Orange, received a Historic Preservation Recognition Award from the Washington-Lewis Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 2022; and

WHEREAS, Susan Wachter and Beth Stenstrom, regent and first vice regent, respectively, of the Washington-Lewis Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) presented the award to Friends of Wilderness Battlefield (FoWB) president Bob Lookabill at the FoWB annual meeting on November 12, 2022; and

WHEREAS, the NSDAR award was presented to FoWB to recognize the organization for its accomplishments in creating a hospital room exhibit at the historic Ellwood Manor, a circa 1790 home on the grounds of the Wilderness Battlefield that served as a convalescent hospital during the Civil War; and

WHEREAS, to create the exhibit, FoWB volunteers devoted hundreds of hours of their time researching Civil War medicine and hospitals, including travel to various other museums and meetings with experts in the field; and

WHEREAS, FoWB volunteers also consulted extensively with retired Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park chief historian John Hennessy during the development of the exhibition, facilitating their efforts to meet National Park Service standards for museum displays; and

WHEREAS, the origins of FoWB date to September 23, 1995, when a group of ten residents of the Counties of Spotsylvania and Orange held the organization’s first meeting; the organization has since grown to include more than 200 members; and

WHEREAS, in addition to assisting the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park’s efforts to preserve the Wilderness Battlefield, the FoWB also organizes advocacy, educational programs, and service projects for the benefit of the site and its visitors; and

WHEREAS, the success of FoWB is the result of the hard work and dedication of the organization’s volunteers, whose efforts to support interpretation and site maintenance at Ellwood Manor, along with battlefield maintenance, event planning, community outreach, and other educational programming, have made a profound and lasting impact on historic preservation in the Spotsylvania and Orange communities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield for receiving a 2022 Historic Preservation Recognition Award from the Washington-Lewis Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for the organization’s achievements and appreciation for its contributions to the Commonwealth.