In 2024, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, with the assistance of Dean Herrin, completed an update to the Crossroads website. The website was designed by Enforme, Inc., Frederick, Maryland. The update’s Principal Investigator was Edith B. Wallace, independent historian. Emily Huebner served as Project Director.
The Crossroads of War and Freedom update was guided by Dean Herrin, with input from an Advisory Council that included the following: Mary Ann Ashcraft, Jody Brumage, Anthony Cohen, Damita Drayton Green, Drew Gruber, Christopher Haley, Elizabeth Howe, Leone Kahill-Trout, Emily Kambic, Scott Keefer, Catherine Mägi, Barbara Powell, Katie Reichard, and Susan Trail.
Special thanks to Mary Ann Ashcraft for contributing written content, research, and edits to the updated website. David H. Wallace contributed many transcriptions to the new “Firsthand Accounts” entries added in 2024. Leone Kahill-Trout also contributed transcriptions to “Firsthand Accounts.” The Union Mills Homestead generously provided information and images to the updated website’s “The View from the Attic” essay. Dean Herrin researched and compiled information for the “Freedmen’s Bureau School” records.
This website update was developed with the assistance of a grant from the National Park Service, as authorized under the American Battlefield Protection Program (54 USC 308102). Any findings, opinions, or recommendations expressed in this website are those of the author(s), and should not be interpreted to constitute the endorsement, policies, or views of the National Park Service, the American Battlefield Protection Program, or any other agency of the United States Government.
The Crossroads of War and Freedom site was originally developed under the name Crossroads of War: Maryland and the Border in the Civil War in 2012 by the Catoctin Center for Regional Studies, a collaborative program at the time of the National Park Service and Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland. The Co-Coordinators of the Catoctin Center for Regional Studies were Dean Herrin, Ph.D. and Barbara Powell, Ph.D. Partners on that project included the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, Frederick Community College, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. The web developer was Wood Street, Inc.
Major funders of the original Crossroads of War project included the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, and the Tourism Council of Frederick County. Additional funds came from The Joseph D Baker Fund, Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, the Community Foundation of Frederick County, the Maryland Historical Trust, and the History Channel’s Save Our History Program.
Historical consultants, writers, and contributors included Ted Alexander, Mary Ann Ashcraft, Cathy Baty, Joy Beasley, Tracy Evans, David Fox, Dennis Frye, Maria Grenchik, Tom Gwaltney, Scott Hartwig, Sarah Heald, Cheryl LaRoche, Mary Mannix, Marie Tyler-McGraw, Teresa Moyer, David Nathanson, Michael O’Malley, Michael Powell, Carol Reardon, Terry Reimer, Nina Silber, Keith Snyder, Timothy Snyder, Brett Spaulding, Donald Stelluto, David Wallace, Edie Wallace, and George Wunderlich.
Many students from Frederick Community College and other colleges contributed to the creation of the original Crossroads website. Hannah Grant Paugh, Jenna Gianni, Brent Paugh, and Angela Commito were involved in the project from the beginning and helped create the basic structure of the original website as well as contributing much of the content. Other interns included Andrew Borsa, Ariel Burriss, Eric Corbie, Calvin Fisher, Emily Gamertsfelder, Audrey Grant, Katie Hicks, Sarah Hovde, Jennifer Kunze, Michael Marcuse, Amanda Myers, Ken Pitts, Chelsea Powell, Stephen Powell, Anna Pritt, Kristopher Ruth, Christopher Severt, Sanna Sayed, and Jennifer Willard.
The following people and institutions generously made available photographs, maps, newspapers, and other items included on the website: John Gianni, JoEllen Harshman, David Nathanson, Timothy Snyder, M.D. Watkins, Tad Sattler, Greg Goodell, Wade Myers, John Brucksch, Stacy Mason, Maryland Room of the Frederick County Public Libraries, Western Maryland Room of the Washington County Free Library, Washington County Historical Society, Historical Society of Frederick County, Historical Society of Carroll County, Maryland State Archives, Maryland Historical Society, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, National Park Service, Monocacy National Battlefield, Antietam National Battlefield, Gettysburg National Military Park, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Frederick Community College Library, Princeton University Library, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Ancestry.com, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Library of Congress, and National Archives The videos were produced by Joe Osmann, Erika Osmann Trexler, Jason Santelli, Richard Schellenberg, and the Digital Media Lab of Frederick Community College. The audio of “Mother Kissed Me In My Dream” was performed by Audrey Grant, Hannah Grant Paugh, and Jenna Gianni. Pianist is Audrey Grant. Recorded by John Gianni. Brent Paugh, Hannah Grant Paugh, and Jenna Gianni created the original internal databases, which were used by Wood Street, Inc. to develop the website’s online research databases.
