In Memoriam

Angela Rosensteel Eckert
Class of '41

Angela Rosensteel Eckert may have been born 55 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, but she lived her life as much a witness to history as those who were there in 1863.

First, as a child, she watched her father and great uncle amass the largest Civil War artifact collection of its kind. And as an adult she became a steward of its preservation.

"The really neat thing about her life is that I can't think of anybody who had a more unique vantage point to history than she did," said her son-in-law Walt Jones. "She was privileged to watch this all come together."

Angela, a 1937 graduate of St. Joseph High School, Emmitsburg, and a member of the SJC Class of 1941, died Dec. 17, 2008, at The Gettysburg Lutheran Retirement Village. She was 90.

She was the daughter of George Rosensteel and the great niece of John Rosensteel, who together established the collection that is now the single largest contribution of artifacts housed at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.
In the early 1920s, her family opened the National Gettysburg Museum, which operated as Gettysburg's visitor center and primary museum until its closing in 2008. Her brother, Joseph Rosensteel, created the famous Electric Map, which was one of the museum's primary attractions until it, along with the facility, was retired.

The artifact collection was the family business, and George Rosensteel often made sacrifices to expand the collection, said Angela’s daughter, Pamela Eckert Jones. "Whenever they got a little bit ahead, my grandfather would take that money and he would go buy another artifact," she said.

Angela Eckert managed the museum when her parents' age prevented them from doing so, and she raised her children for a few years inside its walls. Eckert Jones said the family lived together in the museum's upstairs apartment while her mother ran the facility.

In 1971, the family sold the Gettysburg Battlefield Museum to the National Park Service and donated its 38,000 artifacts so that they would be available to the public indefinitely. Angela’s family may have amassed the artifact collection, but she was the one who fought for its preservation in later years.

"She became very active in terms of trying to promote the restoration of the relics," her son-in-law said. In 1999, Angela and other family members sued the National Park Service for the return of the donated artifacts. The lawsuit contended that the federal government failed to live up to its commitment to properly care for the items, which the family valued at more than $50 million.

The artifacts remained with the Park Service, however, and are now stored in the new museum and visitor center, a state-of-the-art facility.

The Eckert family continued to fight for the collection's legacy, when in 2007 Gettysburg National Military Park officials decided not to display two plaques that honor the Rosensteel family's contribution in the new museum. Park officials later rescinded that decision, and the plaques that honor Angela’s family are now displayed in the museum lobby.

But her family's role in the preservation of Gettysburg's history is just part of Angela’s legacy. She was a community activist but also a devoted mother, her daughter said, adding that the family matriarch spoiled her daughter and two sons and always found time for them. "She was the best mother. She really was," her daughter said.
She was a lifelong member and benefactor of St. Francis Xavier Parish, Gettysburg. She was very active in church activities including Girl Scouts, 40 hours dinner for the clergy, and the National Council of Women.

Angela was predeceased by her parents, George D. and Emily G. Minnich Rosensteel, her brother, Joseph, and her husband, Lawrence H. Eckert, Jr.. Surviving are her daughter, Pamela Eckert Jones (Dr. Walton C); two sons, Lawrence H. III and Richard P. Eckert; five grandchildren, Christopher Eckert (Rachel Holsinger); Kimberly Eckert; Capt. David W. Jones (Heather), Ryan C. Jones (Amy), and Andrea Jones Sieg (Josh); three great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

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