The Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (GBMA) was an historic preservation membership organization and is the eponym for the battlefield's memorial association era. The association was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on April 13, 1864,[1]: 202 after attorney David McConaughy recommended on August 14, 1863, a preservation association to sell membership stock for battlefield fundraising.[1] McConaughy transferred his land acquired in 1863 to the GBMA, and the association's boardmembers were initially local officials.[1] The GBMA sold stock to raise money, hired a superintendent at $1000/yr,[2] added to McConaughy's land holdings, and operated a wooden observation tower on East Cemetery Hill from 1878–95.[3][2]
The association granted few exceptions to their requirement for placing memorials only on established lines, e.g., the 1887 plaque commemorating Gen Armistead's farthest advance on July 3 and the 1884 2nd Maryland Infantry monument on Culp's Hill. In 1880, GBMA officers were Grand Army of the Republic members from various states,[1] by late 1882 GBMA funds were nearly exhausted,[3]: 4 and by the 1890s the GBMA's roads were in disrepair.
- ^ a b c Vanderslice, John M (1897), Gettysburg: A History of the Gettysburg Battle-field Memorial Association With An Account of the Battle… (GDG.org transcription), Philadelphia: Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (commissioned 1895), retrieved 2010-08-05 (New York at Gettysburg: 1375 says June 1883 is when 5 non-PA officers were elected.)
- ^ "Demise Of 1st Tower Is Located". August 7, 1971. Retrieved 2011-03-13. (Gettysburg Compiler of July 30, 1895 )
- ^ Spooner, Amilia J (April 12, 2010). 'Our Country's Common Ground': The Gettysburg Battlefield as Historic Document (PDF) (Thesis). Columbia University. Retrieved 2011-02-17.