GDG- Forget The Electric Map

[William Nolan]

Nostalgia or learning tool?  Both I think, but today more nostalgia than learning tool.   I have read that 2.3 million visitors have visited the Electric Map since 1963.   And why is that?   Two reasons that I can think of.   First, location.  It is at the Visitor's Center where most visitors eventually go, and the Visitor's Center is usually their first stop.   Second, it was the only audio/visual presentation available of the battlefield at the park.   
 
 
What I like about the map is that you can see the entire battlefield and surrounding area at one glance.   But mostly for me, it was a quiet, dark, and cool restful place to relax on a hot summer day while exploring Gettysburg.   I have never visited the Electric Map without experiencing an overwhelming desire to take a nap.   I have attended the Electric Map presentation with Boy Scouts, who seemed to enjoy the cool air more than they enjoyed the presentation.   I recently watched some of the Electric Map presentation as shown on Youtube, and I immediately got that old sleepy feeling.
 
 
The new Visitor's Center is a $100 million museum and Visitor's Center.   Why on earth would they want to include an obsolete map using 45 year old technology in a state-of-the art museum?   I think all of us oldsters hope that the newer generations will visit Gettysburg and become as interested in it's history that we did.   I believe the new Visitor's Center, with it's state-of-the art audio/visual presentations, will grab the attention of our youth in a way that will be more interesting and entertaining to them than the Electric Map could.  
 
 
The old Electric Map is destined to go into storage, never to see the light of day again.   It can never be a profitable venture outside of the environs of the Visitor's Center.   No one would want to visit the Electric Map except for nostalgic purposes.    I am looking forward to exploring the new Visitor's Center later this month and I am sure once I see it I won't miss the Electric Map.   Maybe some hot summer day in the future when I am exploring Gettysburg, I will stop at the new Visitor's Center, plop myself down in a seat, relax and enjoy the dark, coolness of the movie theatre, and take a short restful nap.
 
Bill Nolan
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