One of the main displays at the Gettysburg National Park Visitor’s Center, The Electric Map, designed and constructed by Joseph L. Rosensteel in 1937-38, has now been taken away for shelter.

As York Town Square reports, an artifact of history which has attracted millions of visitors over many years should by all means now be preserved.

No doubt many of those visiting the battlefield in the past 50 years consider it an integral part of the Gettysburg experience. It has helped millions understand the pivotal Civil War battle that raged, in part, on the soil beneath the building that houses it.

But the Electric Map might be an artifact in ways not considered up to this point… .

[…]

The once high-tech display is now badly out of date. It shows how technology has changed these past decades. And it shows how attention spans have become shorter as the TV generation has long passed and hand-held entertainment devices are out of date the minute your credit card is scanned.

According to Save The Electric Map, it even had a narrative which made it possible for visitors to vividly cope with using it.

The narrative delivered at a tempo that permits the visitor to comprehend and follow the battle movements and make the experience more meaningful.

As everything else, the Map has its beginning and end too. It has already outlived its fame and now needs to retire. The park service has taken measures to preserve it in a high-tech world.

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