Gettysburg Military Park Memorial Errors
| Submitted | July 21, 2014 |
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Communications
From: Donald Triplett III
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
1. Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to any memorial in the Gettysburg National Military Park.
2. The standard procedure of the Gettysburg National Military Park for correcting errors on memorials in the Park.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Donald Triplett III
From: Wilson, Charis
Hi Annette,
This request came in last night. Since it relates to Gettysburg NMP I'm
routing to you for processing. Let me know if it turns out another office
needs to search for responsive records.
As usual, I've cc'd the requester so they know who will be processing their
request.
Thanks,
C.
____________________
Ms. Charis Wilson, MLS, CRM
NPS FOIA Officer
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
PO Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225-0287
303-969-2959
Fax: 303-969-2557
1-855-NPS-FOIA
"What we find changes who we become." - Peter Morville
"The historian works with records...there is no substitute for records: no
records, no history." - Paraphrasing Langlois & Seignobos (1903)
"Let us be guardians, not gardeners" - Unknown, From 1963 Living Wilderness
editorial - Attributed to Adolph Murie
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Donald Triplett III <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 8:35 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information Request: Gettysburg Military Park Memorial
Errors
To: Charis_Wilson@nps.gov
July 21, 2014
National Park Service
Charis Wilson
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
P.O. Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request
the following records:
1. Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to any memorial
in the Gettysburg National Military Park.
2. The standard procedure of the Gettysburg National Military Park for
correcting errors on memorials in the Park.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this
request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made
available to the general public free of charge as part of the public
information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the
news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for
commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would
inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would
prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available
or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Donald Triplett III
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 12645
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests might
be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Official Correspondence
No Hard Copy to Follow
July 30, 2014
Donald Triplett III
requests@muckrock.com
Dear Mr. Triplett:
This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request of
July 21, 2014, to Gettysburg National Military Park (GETT). Your request
has been forwarded to me for response.
Before we can respond to your request, please specify more details for the
documents you are requesting. we are asking you to clarify your request
because it is overly broad in scope and may involve an extremely voluminous
number of records.
- GETT has more than 1300 monuments and memorials. Please state which
monument you are requesting records for.
- Also, many of the monuments in the park are more than 100 years old
and have a large volume of records associated with them. Can you narrow
the time frame for which you are seeking records? For example, you could
request records from January 1, 2010 to the date of your request.
- Also, of possible, please clarify your request by stating the name of
the individual who is subject of the record (such of the individual who
requested a name change on a monument), or the individual who may have been
the author of the record or the recipient of the record.
In addition, in your letter you requested a fee waiver. However, you did
not provide sufficient justification to qualify for a fee waiver under the
Department's FOIA regulations (43 CFR Part 2, Appendix D). The statutory
requirement for granting a fee waiver is that release of the information
must be in the public interest because it-
(1) Is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the
operations and activities of the Government; and
(2) Is not primarily in your commercial interest.
To assist us in making a decision on your request for a fee waiver, we ask
that you address the following as applicable. You must be specific in
addressing the Department’s fee waiver criteria for each request you
submit, regardless of whether you may have been granted a fee waiver
previously.
(1) Explain how the records you are seeking will be meaningfully
informative with respect to the bureau's operations and activities. Your
identity, vocation, qualifications, and expertise regarding the requested
information may be relevant factors.
(2) Explain how disclosure of the records will contribute to the
understanding of the public at large or a reasonably broad audience as
opposed to only enhancing your knowledge.
(3) Explain how and to whom you intend to disseminate the information and
how you intend to use the information to contribute to public understanding.
(4) Explain how release of the requested records will contribute
significantly to public understanding. For example, is the information
being disclosed new, does the information confirm or clarify data released
previously, and is the information publicly available? Explain how
disclosure will increase the level of public understanding that existed
prior to disclosure.
(5) Explain whether you have a commercial interest that would be furthered
by disclosure and if so, whether the public interest in disclosure would be
greater than any commercial interest you or your organization would have in
the documents.
If you are still interested in obtaining these documents, please provide
additional information to justify your fee waiver request or written
assurance of your willingness to pay all fees or specify the maximum amount
that you are willing to pay for the bureau to process your request. This
will allow us to begin processing your request for records while
considering your fee waiver request. If the bureau grants your fee waiver
request, we will not charge fees to the extent that it grants the waiver.
If you have agreed to pay fees up to a particular amount, we will contact
you when we have processed your request up to that amount before proceeding
further. If we do not hear from you before August 20, 2014, we will deny
your fee waiver request since it does not meet DOI’s fee waiver criteria.
We will then close the file on your FOIA request.
If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact me by
email or at (717) 334-1124 x3121.
Sincerely,
/s/
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
______________________
July 21, 2014
National Park Service
Charis Wilson
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
P.O. Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request
the following records:
1. Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to any memorial
in the Gettysburg National Military Park.
2. The standard procedure of the Gettysburg National Military Park for
correcting errors on memorials in the Park.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this
request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made
available to the general public free of charge as part of the public
information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the
news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for
commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would
inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would
prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available
or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Donald Triplett III
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 12645
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests might
be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.
From: Donald Triplett III
Dear Ms. Lawhon:
Thank you for your reply. In terms of the request, I agree to narrow the scope as follows:
In regards to the first part of my request ("Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to any memorial in the Gettysburg National Military Park."), I would like to limit the memorial in question to only the Pennsylvania Memorial, and I would like the last (most recent) 50 records, regardless of the date of the record. (If possible, I would like an estimate on how many otherwise responsive records exist, in addition to these 50.) I'm not specifically looking for any particular individual or requestor, and to clarify further, I'm only looking for records that led to an actual change (whether addition or removal) of a name on the memorial itself.
In regards to the second part of my request ("The standard procedure of the Gettysburg National Military Park for correcting errors on memorials in the Park."), I do not feel that narrowing the scope of my request would apply here. To clarify, I'm looking for just the current standard procedure for correcting errors in GETT as it would apply to any monument or memorial. If it helps, I am specifically seeking errors regarding the names of individuals on the monuments or memorials, although I would welcome any procedures for correcting errors other than those.
In regards to the fee waiver, I'll take your questions point by point:
(1) The records sought will be informative with respect to GETT's operations and activities. In the case of correcting errors, even those who have enormous expertise regarding Pennsylvania Civil War history are often unable to answer questions regarding name changes or corrections on GETT memorials.
I point to an excerpt from an entry on Norman Gasbarro's Civil War Blog regarding the subject of name corrections (http://civilwar.gratzpa.org/2012/08/correcting-errors-on-the-pennsylvania-gettysburg-monument/) which reads, "Perhaps the National Park Service doesn’t want to admit that the largest monument on the battlefield that it maintains – and the one that has the most names, is the one with the most errors and omissions. This is not a fitting tribute to those who served from Pennsylvania, nor is it a proper memorial to those who gave their lives at Gettysburg."
(2) I point mostly to my answer to the first point, but I will add that as a visitor to GETT recently, I (along with a few other random visitors) were unable to get a sufficient answer to our questions regarding the scratched off or added names to the Pennsylvania memorial. Indeed, the information received will answer the questions that many inquisitive visitors have wanted answers to for some time, as well as historians, genealogists, and others.
(3) In addition to making the information received publicly available on MuckRock.com, I do plan on forwarding the information on to historians (like Norman Gasbarro), genealogists, and individuals who take part in Civil War history groups, like my local roundtable or the Sons of the Union/Confederacy groups.
(4) The information requested is not publicly available, and will contribute significantly to public understanding as it would be newly released.
(5) I have no commercial interest in this request.
Thank you for your time in the consideration of this request. If my fee waiver is denied, please let me know first before closing the file; I would specify at that time the maximum amount I would be willing to pay for the processing of my request.
Sincerely,
Donald Triplett, III
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Mr. Triplett:
Can we please talk on the phone about the scope of this Gettysburg National
Military Park FOIA request? I have an idea I would like to suggest and
some background I'd like to share with you.
Can you please provide a phone number, or call me at 717/ 338-4402?
Thanks,
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
From: Donald Triplett III
Ms. Lawhon,
I left a message for you at the number you provided. My number is (202) 643-4610. Feel free to give me a call back whenever is best for you, and if I'm unable to make it to the phone, leave a message and I'll return your call just as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Donald Triplett
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Thanks. I hope to call you at about 10 a.m. tomorrow, 8/6.
Katie
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Official Correspondence
No Hard Copy to Follow
August 6, 2014
Donald Triplett III
requests@muckrock.com
Dear Mr. Triplett:
This email is to document our conversation earlier today, August 6,
regarding your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request of July 21, 2014,
to Gettysburg National Military Park (GETT).
As we agreed during our phone conversation you have changed the scope of
your FOIA request. You are now requesting:
Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to the Pennsylvania
Memorial at Gettysburg from 1970 through 1989.
Records related to the policies and procedures for correcting errors on the
Pennsylvania Memorial during the period 1970 through 1989 and records
related to the current policy regarding correcting names on the
Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg National Military Park.
In addition, we have consulted with the Department of Interior Solicitors
Office and we have agreed to accept your fee waiver request.
Please email me to confirm that this is a correct statement regarding your
FOIA.
Thank you for taking the time to discuss your request with me and clarify
the its scope.
Sincerely,
/s/
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Official Correspondence
No Hard Copy to Follow
August 6, 2014
Donald Triplett III
requests@muckrock.com
Dear Mr. Triplett:
This email is to document our conversation earlier today, August 6,
regarding your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request of July 21, 2014,
to Gettysburg National Military Park (GETT).
As we agreed during our phone conversation you have changed the scope of
your FOIA request. You are now requesting:
Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to the Pennsylvania
Memorial at Gettysburg from 1970 through 1989.
Records related to the policies and procedures for correcting errors on the
Pennsylvania Memorial during the period 1970 through 1989 and records
related to the current policy regarding correcting names on the
Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg National Military Park.
In addition, we have consulted with the Department of Interior Solicitors
Office and we have agreed to accept your fee waiver request.
Please email me to confirm that this is a correct statement regarding your
FOIA.
Thank you for taking the time to discuss your request with me and clarify
the its scope.
Sincerely,
/s/
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
From: Donald Triplett III
Dear Ms. Lawhon,
I can confirm that, per our conversation, I did change the scope of my request to:
Records related to the removal and/or addition of names to the Pennsylvania
Memorial at Gettysburg from 1970 through 1989.
Records related to the policies and procedures for correcting errors on the
Pennsylvania Memorial during the period 1970 through 1989 and records
related to the current policy regarding correcting names on the
Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg National Military Park.
Thank you again for helping me out with this and providing some background information on the Memorial.
Thanks,
Donald Triplett
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Official Correspondence
No Hard Copy to Follow
9.A
August 19, 2014
Donald Triplett III
requests@muckrock.com
Dear Mr. Triplett:
The attached electronic documents are being provided to you in response to
your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request of July 21, 2014, to
Gettysburg National Military Park (GETT). Due to the volume of records
there are 7 electronic attachments, numbered 1 through 7. The documents
include records related to:
The removal and/or addition of names to the Pennsylvania Memorial at GETT
from 1970 through 1989.
The policies and procedures for correcting errors on the Pennsylvania
Memorial during the period 1970 through 1989 and records related to the
current policy regarding correcting names on the Pennsylvania Memorial at
GETT.
For additional information on current National Park Service Management
Policies regarding “commemorative works” see section 9.6.4 of the 206
Management Policies online at http://www.nps.gov/policy/mp/policies.html.
Your fee request has been granted. If you need any additional information
please contact me by email or at 717/ 334-1124 x3121.
Sincerely,
/s/
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Enclosures
KLAWHON:kl:717/334-1124x3121:8/19/14
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
From: Lawhon, Catherine
Katie Lawhon
Management Assistant
Gettysburg National Military Park/ Eisenhower National Historic Site
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.nps.gov/gett
Office: 717/ 338-4402
Cell: 717/ 253-5776
Blogging "From the Fields of Gettysburg" at: http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/
Visit us at:
www.facebook.com/GettysburgNMP
www.twitter.com/GettysburgNMP
