Valley Forge: Making and remaking a national symbol

Treese, Lorett

Valley Forge really has several histories. There is the history of the Continental Army’s winter encampment of 1777-1778, but there is also a history of how that particular story has been told- something the professionals call its historiography. And because the immense popularity of the Valley Forge story led to the preservation of a large physical site, there is in addition a history of what has been done at Valley Forge to pay tribute to this event, to illustrate it and evoke it, and to make its meaning clear to visitors. Interpretations of Valley Forge story have changed over the years, and so has the Valley Forge landscape. This book is about Valley Forge in its role as a historic site of national importance: a place where people go to learn about or pay tribute to one incident in American history. This book examines the words, the structures, and the objects that have been used to tell the Valley Forge story at this physical place. In a larger sense, it is about how the Valley Forge experience has been promoted, packaged, and often exploited, and it examines what has perhaps been the longer, harder, and less well known ordeal of Valley Forge.

Valley Forge: Making and remaking a national symbol

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