Civil War Trust

“This may be our last, best, golden opportunity to save large amounts of heritage land. This is when we honor the heroes who fought on these precious fields, saving 50,000 acres, which is nearly two-thirds of all the Civil War Battlefield land previously saved by the federal government in the the National Park Service. Wouldn’t that be quite a legacy — 50,000 acres! No one has ever saved that much historic American heritage land, and no one will likely ever do it again.” –Jim Lighthizer, President, Civil War Trust

Historic Civil War Battlefield land has been threatened with commercial development as the exurban growth of cities in the Mid-Atlantic states has continued. Many call this apparently historically insensitive growth “sprawl.” The Civil War Trust was founded to bring concerned citizens together to help save the last of these sacred areas. Growing rapidly, the Trust marshaled a force of 55,000 members and relied on a quarterly member’s publication to communicate with their supporters. I was asked to redesign the magazine in 2008 as the economy tanked and it appeared that private giving was in danger of drying up. At the same time that the Trust added ever more dynamic features to their web site, they turned to their magazine, which would appear regularly in each members’ mail box, to build interest and organize political action. I gave the magazine the energetic, colorful style of an educational web page and successfully bolstered member interaction. The magazine became ever more popular and the rate of private giving grew.