Latschar Will Move To Gettysburg Foundation
(December 2008 Civil War News)

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Effective March 1 Gettysburg Foundation’s new president will be longtime Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent John A. Latschar.

The park and foundation announced the appointment on Nov. 7 in a press release that said Latschar was selected by unanimous vote of the foundation directors. Foundation chairman Robert Kinsley said Latschar’s “vision and leadership are an important part of the successful public-private partnership between the Gettysburg Foundation and the National Park Service.”

Latschar, who went to Gettysburg in 1994, will succeed Robert C. Wilburn who arrived in 2000 from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Latschar praised Wilburn’s accomplishments in taking the museum and visitor center from concept to opening and said his goal “will be ensure that we continue our momentum, and to move the organization forward into a new era of philanthropy for the benefit of this and future generations.”

Latschar told the Evening Sun of Hanover that Department of Interior ethics officials said he could take the job but could not be involved in renegotiating the current 20-year contract between the park and foundation.

He said Wilburn offered him the job three weeks earlier after a board search committee chose Latschar as their top choice. Latschar said he was unsure about possible conflict of interest and unsure if he wanted the job, “he then realized he'd be disappointed if he was denied the opportunity.”

The Gettysburg Times reported that Chief Ranger Brion Fitzgerald would take over as interim superintendent if none is hired by March. According to the Times Latschar earns $149,000 and Wilburn $392,735, according to more recent tax filings. Latschar said he would get “a bit of an increase” and that questions like that were up to the discretion of the foundation board and not to be answered by him.

Latschar was an army officer and combat veteran and has a Ph.D. in American history. He has been with the National Park Service (NPS) for 31 years, serving as the first Superintendent of Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pa., and in various capacities at the NPS Denver Service Center.  

His NPS honors include being named Superintendent of the Year for the Northeast Region of the NPS in 1991 and in 2001, Superintendent of the Year for Natural Resource Stewardship in 2003 and for Cultural Resource Stewardship in 2000.

The Gettysburg Foundation is in the midst of a $125 million Campaign to Preserve Gettysburg. It raised $103 million for the new Museum and Visitor Center that opened this year.