PART TEN: 1963 - 1980
by Frederick W. Hawthorne
The celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the Licensed Battlefield Guides in many ways marked a watershed. What had been for nearly a hundred years, essentially a local occupation, was gradually beginning a transformation to an occupation more varied in scope. Charlie Haines' final year of guiding was 1965 with the last of the original guides, William Shealer, ending his career the following year. The Civil War Centennial sparked a renewed interest in the entire period and led to a number of individuals well beyond the Gettysburg area to apply to take the guide examination. During the mid to late sixties, many of the newly -licensed guides were natives of other states.
Back in 1951, Superintendent J. Walter Coleman had expressed a belief that "...licenses were to be restricted to men." The late sixties brought an end to that tradition when Barbara Schutt passed the guide exam to become the first woman to receive a license. Two more ladies, Janet Guise and Mary Swope, would receive their licenses in 1970. Since then, twenty-two additional women have successfully completed in the testing and licensing process.
The changes brought about in the character of guiding with the entry of non-local guides, and women, underscored the great changes that had taken place in the system, changes that, in many cases, were welcomed by the National Park Service. The old system of active, aggressive solicitation had finally become the exception rather than the rule as the long desired centralization plan finally reached fruition in the late-sixties and early seventies. The completion of Gettysburg's new Visitor Center in 1963 had, for the first time, given the park a home of its own. Most of the newly-licensed guides were assigned to work out of this building while other non-permanent roadside stations were gradually phased out. The Harrisburg Road (North End) and Cemetery Hill stations had been ordered closed shortly after the completion of the Visitor Center in 1962. Although the Cemetery Hill post would be temporarily reopened due to Guide lobbying efforts, its days were obviously numbered. No new guides were permitted to work out of Lincoln Square as of the mid-sixties and the South End Guide Station would be closed to soliciting guides by 1970. Aside from a few older guides still operating from the square, the only individuals still responsible for soliciting their own tours were those assigned to the West End Station.
With centralization, came the need for a form of 'striking' similar to that developed to avoid competition out on the streets. Park rangers were now the people responsible for setting up guide trips with visitors making contact at the building entrance. Some form of maintaining a trip order was needed and eventually a first-arrived, first trip out policy was derived. As a potentially large number of guides might appear when the building opened for business the "Draw" was instituted to work out a rotation. A deck of cards was the method settled upon for deciding who would receive the first trip. Two cards were dealt to each guide present in the morning with the individual receiving twenty-one going out first and the order going down from there.
The late-sixties also witnessed the final demise of the now, nearly thirty-five year old 'short tour' of the field. The one prior attempt to eliminate this in the early fifties had been turned down by the park officials due to a perception that this was a service to the visitors. However, many guides despised it while still operating under the three tour per day limit. Short tours counted as a full tour and meant that the guide would earn less money that day. Some complaints were received at this time about guides who refused to take parties on a short tour of the field. Accordingly, in April of 1967 a petition, signed by forty-six guides, recommended its elimination:
"We, the members of the Gettysburg Battlefield Guides' Association hereby recommend to the National Park Service authorities that the so-called short tour of the battlefield be discontinued and that one tour, the regular five dollar tour, be maintained as in the past. It should be understood by the visitor that he may take the time he prefers, be it one hour or less or up to two hours at the rate of five dollars per car per trip. We believe the simplification of time and cost will eliminate misunderstandings." Park Superintendent George F. Emery complied with this request and the short tour was formally removed from the books.
The changes in the character of the guide force and such things as the elimination of the short tour underscored the transformation that was taking place in guiding. These changes eventually would involve the now forty-year old guide uniform. As early a 1964, possible changes in the OD uniform had been a topic of discussion at Association meetings and early on the Park Service was receptive to such changes. So long as the style chosen was "...well tailored and clean," and was accepted by at least twenty-six guides, changes would be approved by the Park authorities. At that time there was no clear-cut consensus for a change, one long-time guide remarking "...the uniform as it is now, if tailored and kept clean and pressed, is very snappy..." Minor modifications such as implementing a summer uniform (without a coat) and using a short sleeve shirt and open collar, were essentially the only changes made in the sixties. Even so, steamy summer days were certainly made more bearable with these few changes.
By the early Seventies, pressure among the guides was becoming more pronounced for a new, more serviceable, up-to-date uniform. Hershey's Men Shop in Gettysburg, had long been a supplier of the standard guide uniform, usually custom tailoring them to the individual's need. Satisfaction with their service, prices, and availability made it difficult to argue against the old uniform. However, in May of 1971, the store announced that they would no longer be able to provide the OD uniform due to the cost of providing the material. Therefore the Association began to look into various options. By late 1973 a committee had been established to begin to contact uniform companies for samples and styles of new uniform design. By the following spring, a choice of a new uniform had been made as well as a decision to go with a single supplier to avoid potential variations. The military-style OD uniform was to be replaced with a Navy Blue Blazer, gray trousers, gray shirt, and a blue/gray diagonally striped tie. It was described in a contemporary newspaper account as a "...more modern, professional style uniform." A transitional period of two years was allotted in order to have all guides conforming to the new uniform standard in time for the nation's bicentennial in 1976.
As the old cap now became an optional item, use of the numbered wreath badge was phased out. It would be replaced with a new guide emblem containing a design incorporating the infantry, cavalry, and artillery logos and colors on a sky blue background. The words "Licensed Battlefield Guide" were embroidered around the edge. Corresponding to the park tour route signs which had recently been changed, the National Park Services declared the new emblem to be the official badge of the Licensed Guides.
This new, more contemporary uniform was part of a continuing response to the increased competition of the Seventies. The Tour Center had proliferated into a series of buildings and sites around town and a second company offering taped bus tours emerged. With the availability of several rental tape tours around the Steinwehr Avenue tourist area, guides found themselves no longer unique and facing tough challenges for the visitor's attention. This challenge led directly to a name change for the Gettysburg Battlefield Guide's Association. In an attempt to assure a first listing in any advertising, in August, 1969, the name was formally changed to the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides. A series of billboards and signs were also erected and maintained on all the main thoroughfares into Gettysburg. Although in no way could these hope to compete with the large advertising billboards of their competitors, nonetheless it allowed for additional public exposure so lacking since the demise of active solicitation.
The Seventies began, the park completed the policy of centralization already embarked upon. The East Cemetery Hill station was finally ordered closed for the last time in 1972 obstensively due to a lack of parking. With the acquisition of the Rosensteel Museum and Electric Map, plans were developed to consolidate all guide services at that point. By September, 1973, Chief of Visitor Services and Guide Supervisor, C. Newton Sykes, ordered all guides still operating out of Lincoln Square to begin guiding from the Visitor Center. At this point only the West End Station remained staffed and the plan called for its eventual elimination. Beginning in 1975, the Park Service announced that all newly-licensed guides would be assigned to the Visitor Center.
The increased visitation of the period also was responsible for bringing about the first real expansion of the guide force since the 1920's. Reduced from its high of nearly a hundred to less than thirty by World War II, the exams of the fifties and sixties had been utilized to build and maintain a full time guide force of approximately fifty-five individuals. During periods of peak visitation, "temporary" or "seasonal" licenses were issued to eligibles on the waiting list. Guide Supervisor Thompson, in 1963, had recommended a change in the Code of Federal Regulations to authorize two distinct classes of guides, "Full Time" with year-round availability, and "Part Time" with full time availability during peak visitation periods. Exams administered throughout the seventies and early eighties slowly increased the guide force to nearly a hundred guides once again. At the recommendation of the Association, all guides licensed after 1972 were required to take a complete oral examination with a park examiner and a currently licensed guide.
The inflation that characterized the nation during the decade of the Seventies nationwide, also marked the beginning of a series of rate increases that would serve to bring guide fees more in line with the actual cost of living. It had taken thirty-seven years before the first true increase had been granted in 1952 and by the early Sixties, fees had been raised again to a level of five dollars per auto and ten dollars per bus. Over the next twenty-five years, the Association would ask for and receive eight more increases along with the introduction of a new "Van - Mini-Carrier" class in 1979.
As the 1970's came to a close the Licensed Guides were on the verge of a period of great expansion ushered in by a new park Guide Supervisor, John Andrews.
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