File:Jackson Price, Asst. Director, Department of Interior to George W. Hill, Director, TSHSC, received March 11, 1963.jpg (56428ddf-6bbc-46e3-b3ab-42935408b7ac).jpg

Typed document, black text on white paper.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Washington, D. C. (Stamped: Received March 11, 1963) Mr. George W. Hill, Executive Director Texas State Historical Survey Committee 112 East 18th Street Austin, Texas Dear Mr. Hill: We are happy to answer the questions raised in your letter of March 1, relating to the placing of markers commemorating the soldiers of Texas in the Civil War. All arrangements for markers should be made through the superintendent of the area concerned. A design should be submitted with an appropriate text expressing “neither praise nor censure.” This latter rule was agreed upon by the bi-partisan commission of veterans who planned the earliest Civil War parks in the nineties and it has been generally effective. The superintendent would advise you on the general location of the participation of Texas troops, and one of our landscape architects would pass on the precise location because we have many monuments in these areas and an orderly arrangement requires professional skills. The National Park Service does not erect such monuments but the superintendent of any park would furnish you with information about local firms which might assist you. No particular agreement is necessary other than a mutual understanding on design, location and inscription. A concrete footing, or other stabilized base, would be required in accordance with the usual needs in any given latitude, and would be expected to meet the specifications that practical local men deem necessary. The markers which you illustrate in the photograph appears to be appropriate in design. We would however prefer a tawny, reddish brown stone to the grey granite which you suggest. Sincerely yours, Jackson T. Price Assistant Director

• Keywords: gettysburg national military park; monuments; education; veterans; virtual experience; historic preservation; photography