What is the A.L.B.G.?
A few days after the armies left the smoldering
battlefield of Gettysburg in July, 1863, local residents began to guide
curiosity seekers and grieving family members through the sites
associated with the recent conflict. Over the last decades of
the
19th century many individuals took up guiding as veterans and visitors
from around the world arrived at what was fast developing as the
premier battlefield park commemorating the American Civil War.
Shortly after the Federal Government instituted a
licensing process to regulate the quality of the existing battlefield
guides in the summer
of 1915, these newly licensed guides met to establish an organization
providing a common voice in promoting guide services. Today,
the A.L.B.G. is incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania as a 501 (C)
(6)
non-profit organization with the mission of promoting the benefits of a
licensed guided tour of this and other battlefields of the American
Civil War.
Today, more than one hundred and thirty
Association
guides conduct thousands of visitors around Gettysburg and other
battlefields of the Civil War each year.
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