Ed Bearss, a former chief historian for the National Park Service, has passed at 97.
Ed Bearss, a former National Park Service chief historian with a penchant for Civil War history, has passed away at the age of 97.
Bearss passed away Tuesday, peacefully and surrounded by family.
The Montana native's Park Service career began in 1955 at Vicksburg National Military Park, where he served as the park historian. While there he was instrumental in locating the resting place of the Union gunboat Cairo.
A decorated U.S. Marine veteran of the Pacific Theater of World War II, he attended college and graduate school on the GI Bill before pursuing a distinguished career in the Park Service. In 1981, Bearss became the chief historian for the Park Service, a position he held until he retired in 1995. During his career Bearss completed several detailed studies for the agency and has authored many books. In 1990, he was a featured commentator on the Ken Burns' The Civil War.
As one of the powerful voices in that documentary, Bearrs brought history alive for millions of Americans with his deep voice and evocative descriptions, a style once described by the Washington Post as nearly “Homeric monologues.” Although a prolific author on topics in military history, including a three-volume history of the Vicksburg Campaign, Bearss was particularly dedicated to the importance of preserved landscapes and how they enhance the understanding of the past. He was among the originators of the modern battlefield preservation movement and a devoted tour guide, travelling up to 200 days per year into his 90s.
“For those of us who value the preservation and perpetuation of American history, few figures are more revered than Ed Bearss. His knowledge, passion and energy were without equal, and he will be missed tremendously by so many,” said American Battlefield Trust President James Lighthizer. “Ed’s decades-long commitment to protecting special places and making the stories of our past come to life laid the groundwork for organizations like ours, which will embody his legacy for generations to come. The Trust — our board and staff, as well as our members and supporters — send deepest condolences to the entire Bearss family.”
Although he gravitated toward history at an early age, his passion was the Civil War – he even called his favorite milk cow “Antietam,” a release from the Battlefield Trust said.
After graduating from high school in 1941, Bearss spent the summer hitchhiking across the country to visit battlefields. Bearss returned home and, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, followed in the footsteps of his father and Medal of Honor–recipient older cousin to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. He left for the South Pacific in mid-July 1942 but was severely wounded on January 2, 1944, during the Battle of Suicide Creek on the island of New Britain, injuries that limited his dexterity for the remainder of his life.
Bearss was perhaps the greatest battlefield guide to ever walk a historic landscape, the release added. Writing in Smithsonian Magazine in 2005, author Adam Goodheart described his presentation style as being a “battlefield voice, a kind of booming growl, like an ancient wax-cylinder record amplified to full volume—about the way you'd imagine William Tecumseh Sherman sounding the day he burned Atlanta, with a touch of Teddy Roosevelt charging up San Juan Hill.”
At the request of the Bearss Family, in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Ed Bearss may be made to the American Battlefield Trust. Recognizing the special place that these battlefields held in his heart, such gifts will be used to secure additional lands associated with the Vicksburg Campaign. Please visit www.battlefields.org/RememberingBearss for more information.
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Truly a legend.
What a wonderful article. As the coordinator of many Civil War trips with the Smithsonian Associates, Ed is someone that has touched my life as well as the lives of so many others. May you rest in peace, our beloved Ed Bearss.
The passing of Ed is not only sad but, brings back SO many memories of lots of years walking ground with him, hearing him speak dozens and dozens of times to groups..all time well spent with a Giant! Being with him for extended periods was like having the National Archives with you. Such a warm, caring man who was never to big to ask your opinion or to truly be welcoming to others ideas and thoughts. Rest well Ed...you've earned it. He was a National Treasure, teacher , guide and most importantly to me....my Friend..as he was to everyone he met in his long journey here!
R.I.P , Ed Bearss .
I saw Ed speak at the Tri-Cities Civil War Round Table on a number of occasions. His attention to detail was the legendary. Rest in peace. You will not be forgotten.
I want, first, to express my honest gratitude and deep respect for former NPS Chief Historian Bearss' lifelong dedication and invaluable contributions to documenting and interpreting America's Civil War history and, second, to offer my sincere regrets on his passing. His contributions were critical in ensuring the preservation of important park units and in setting the stage for future discussions of how we approach the interpretation of our history for all Americans.
At the same time and at the risk of once again asking questions that may not be universally welcomed, I went directly from reading the news of former NPS Chief Historian Bearss' passing and seeing the well deserved tributes being offered here to reading a Washington Post article entitled "National parks are travel's next frontier in the movement for racial equality" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/09/17/national-parks-travel-b...) by Kerry-Ann Hamilton, a self-identified Black woman. It was/is a genuinely joyous and upbeat article; however, it made me stop, once again, to reflect on how, despite our being well into the 21st century and many years after welcoming diversity became a stated NPS objective, our parks and our history are seen so differently by different people.
In her article, Ms Hamilton mentions being given a first-edition copy of Muir's seminal 1901 publication, "Our National Parks," and how it remains a cherished keepsake for her. She mentions, with delight, her "jaunts" through Zion, Yellowstone, Denali, and other national parks, but also notes being "curious and concerned about not seeing others who look like me." And, she mentions how, after months of quarantine, she and her spouse made enthusiastic plans to visit Great Smoky Mountains, but had to cancel that trip after learning of "upsetting, racially-charged incidents" in North Carolina. They went to Acadia instead and had a good time, "and yet, it felt like a consolation prize."
Her article notes how, despite being a much larger proportion of the American population, only six percent of national park visitors identify as Black and she discusses some of the reasons for that low participation. She mentions one of the reasons being "psychological scars from generations of racist mistreatment" both "in folklore and in reality." And, she warns that "The U.S. population is on track to be majority people of color by 2045. Our national parks have to diversify, or they risk becoming irrelevant and indefensibly exclusionary."
So, I don't want to invade anyone's privacy and feel free to either not answer or just tell me to drop dead. I can take it. But, I would like to ask whether anyone who has offered admittedly well deserved tributes on former NPS Chief Historian Bearss' passing has any known African American heritage and, if not, why do we think that is?
His brain was a veritable filing cabinet and he brought the history of those places alive by transporting you there through his voice (if you heard it once, you would know it forever), his knowledge (a lot gleaned from sources only he could tap into) and his enthusiasm. Always interested to hear something new that his 'fellow campaigners' had discovered. A great man. Proud to have been one of his 'Brits'.
I knew Ed Bearss for more than 40 years and worked for him as one of his staff historians for 14 years when he was Chief Historian.
During this time, we handled many controversial studies, a four part study of the Man in Space Program, my Astronomy and Astrophysics NHL study, the Wolf Trap Administrative History, a study of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and a History of the National Park Service Park Police. These studies were done in a timely manner and correct in all respects but that did not stop some people in the upper echelons of the Interior Building or in Congress in taking exception to what we had to say. Ed was ever the loyal soldier and also "went to bat" for his employees. If there was heat to be taken Ed took the heat and left the rest of us alone. He always supported us and was loyal to his staff historians and we were loyal to him. We continued to work together until 1994 when Ed Bearss was forced to leave his position by the new Director after a change in Administration. Shortly after this, Ed retired from the National Park Service. I look back on this time as some of the best years of my government career.
Ed Bearss saw that only the best people were hired as historians and interpreters in the National Park Service. He gave me the responsibility to see that critical research was funded and Ed made sure that the conclusions of NPS research were protected from the vagaries of politics. Working in the Park History Program under Ed Bearss was a privilege. We all worked hard and enjoyed what we were doing. We were a well-oiled machine under Ed's direction. I believe these were some of the most productive years in the history of the National Park Service History program. We supported the parks, the regional and park historians and provided the best quality interpretive programs for the American people.
We set a high-level bar for the accomplishment of park history studies that has not been equaled to this day. We worked with historians from the parks, regional offices and the Denver Service Center and let them all know that had the complete support of Ed Bearss, the Chief historian of the National Park Service. ED Bearss was the rock upon which the practice of history in the National Park Service reached its highest level of achievement.
Any one interested in Ed's career should read, Walking the Ground: The Making of American History,
Harry Butowsky