Existing comment:
Rostrum Restoration Project:
Work is underway to restore the cemetery rostrum. The National Park Service plans to restore the rostrum to its original appearance with painted wood pergola and grass floor. The work will be guided by original plans and early photographs of the structure and completed by Antietam's Division of Cultural Resources.
The Rostrum at Antietam National Cemetery has been the site for nearly all the Memorial Day services held in the National Cemetery since 1879. During the active period of the Grand Army of the Republic (a Union veteran's organization), or approximately until World War I, elaborate programs were held here each Decoration Day.
In addition to the traditional May programs, other memorial type events were held here during the 1880s and 1890s. Local residents remembered regimental reunions that were held during that period by survivors of the Battle of Antietam. These programs, too, used the Rostrum as the site from which to address the veterans and guests assembled in the Cemetery.
In more recent years, this tradition has been maintained by the American Legion, who sponsors appropriate services in the cemetery each Memorial Day. The focal point of these programs has always been the Rostrum. Guest speakers, often prominent public officials and high ranking military personnel, address their audience from the raised platform of the rostrum.
Rostrum of this type were an early part of the design for the National Cemetery System and, today, can be found in National Cemeteries across the country. Few, however, have been left unchanged from their original design. Antietam's rostrum has been changed several times in the last century and many of the features and design details of the original structure have been lost to time.
This project to restore the Rostrum is another step in the restoration of Antietam National Battlefield and is funded through entrance fees paid by visitors to Antietam. |