Audience Assumptions:
The typical Civil War Trails visitor is a tourist who knows little about the
Civil War and nothing about what happened at any particular site. Tourists
expect to read a story in clear, concise prose, and leave with an
understanding of what happened at the site, what led up to it, what followed
it, and what’s important about it. They will be bored by discussions of
troop movements, regiments and corps, etc. They will be excited by the human
angle, including historic photographs and short, relevant quotations. We
want tourists to believe that their time at the site was well spent.
Marker elements:
Civil War Trails markers consist of the following elements: main text,
images (historic photos and engravings preferred), and image captions (a
very brief title or explanation and a credit for the institution providing
the image). Depending on the topic, the marker may also display a map
(usually to illustrate troop movements) and may include a sidebar (to
elaborate on an interesting place, event, quote, or person mentioned briefly
in the main text). All of these elements should work together—and with the
landscape itself—to tell the story. For instance, if possible, leave most
troop movements out of the main text and put them on the map instead. If the
main text or sidebar describes the career of an individual, then all we need
in the photo caption is his name (the text does the caption’s work). Avoid
repetition.
Text Length:
250–300 words total (including main text, illustration captions, and sidebar
if any). We will edit to fit, but would prefer to work with text close to
this length (not 500–600 words).
Format:
All text should be provided (main text, captions, sidebar) in one Word
document per marker. Text can be e-mailed or provided on a CD or floppy
disk.
Site-specific text:
Each marker text should say exactly what it is the tourist is supposed to be
looking at or aware of. “Gen. Sherman’s headquarters was in the brick
building on your right.” “The North Carolinians charged across the field in
front of you from left to right.” “You are standing where the 20th Maine
Infantry stood that day.” “Jackson’s corps marched down the road behind you
to the trenches on your left front.” This should be said as close to the
beginning of the text as possible.
Context:
Most battles were part of a campaign; something occurred that led up to what
happened at the site. Likewise, most battles or other events had
consequences: things happened as a result. Please give the relevant context
to what happened at the site in a couple of sentences, as briefly stated as
possible.
Human interest:
Tourists are interested in people and their stories. If someone who
witnessed or participated in a battle or other event wrote a personal
account, it may be worthwhile to quote a short excerpt. Please quote
exactly, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.
Maps:
Please provide us with a sketch map showing the location of the marker,
which way visitors will be facing at the marker site (just draw an arrow in
the right direction), and any landmarks mentioned in the text (field, house,
church, earthworks, crossroads, etc.). A hand-drawn map is fine; it’s just
for the editor’s use—not for publication—in understanding the relationship
between the text and the terrain, since it’s unlikely that we will visit the
site before the marker is erected. Sometimes, however, we do include a map
on the marker to explain troop movements, the relative position of
landmarks, road networks, the locations of buildings mentioned in the text,
etc. Usually, we’ll ask you to provide such a map if we think it will help
tourists. With few exceptions, we will redraw any map you provide to conform
to our style, so feel free to photocopy a map you think will be useful and
draw whatever is needed on it (this goes for the sketch map, too). Please
also indicate the exact spot where the marker will go, and draw an arrow to
show in which direction visitors will be facing. We will reorient the map if
needed to show that direction as “up” on the marker, regardless of which way
is north.
Images:
Please provide 2 to 4 black-and-white or color images for each marker. If
the images are copyrighted or if permission is required by the institution
holding them, please get permission (use and publication fees may be
required), and give us the necessary credit lines to use with the images.
Historical photographs and engravings are preferred. Keep in mind, however,
that by “historical” we don’t mean that the image must date from the Civil
War. An early-20th-century photo of a site may serve very well. Likewise, a
good “artist’s conception” of a battle or other scene, especially if it
shows the scene from the visitor’s position, can be used. But do avoid
modern photographs, especially those that show what the tourist can see for
himself at the marker site.
Image format:
We prefer digital images, provided they are scanned at a high resolution:
300dpi at 8 x 10 inches. You may e-mail them or scan them onto a CD and mail
it to us. Please provide scanned images in .tif or .jpg. We can also use
high-quality 8 x 10 glossy prints from film negatives, and we will return
prints if you want us to. Please do not take a low-resolution digital image
and just blow it up to 8 x 10; we cannot use such images. If you have any
questions, please ask.
House style:
We use the phrase Civil War. We use U.S., Union, Federal, Northern; C.S.,
Confederate, Southern (not Yankee or Rebel, unless quoted). Every general
(lieutenant, major, brigadier, etc.) is a Gen.
Review process:
Please include the name, address, e-mail address, and phone number of the
contact person with all materials. We will give you an opportunity to review
the marker before it is manufactured. We may also ask experts in the field
to review and comment on the marker text during the process.
Complete marker package:
Before we can proceed with design and production, we must have on hand a
complete package of the elements to be included on the marker. They are:
title, main text, sidebar if needed, captions and credits, images, sketch
map for the editor’s use, and maps for the markers if needed. The absence of
one or more elements will hold up design and production, so please be sure
you provide them all.
CIVIL WAR TRAILS
MARKER
GUIDELINES