Gettysburg museum is about much more than the battle

Located in downtown Gettysburg is a museum so unique that it not only features Civil War artifacts, but also a rocking chair used by John F. Kennedy, part of the blood-stained fabric from the couch where Hitler sat when he shot himself and a lock of hair from Marilyn Monroe,

The Gettysburg Museum of History has over 4,000 artifacts that include not only American, but also world history.

The museum doesn’t get a lot of publicity. It’s not part of the Gettysburg National Military Park, which has its own museum. A person who worked at the nearby library didn’t know the downtown museum was there. It is small and doesn’t have a lot of amenities. For instance, there is no public bathroom.

But for someone interested in history, there’s a lot to see.

And there is no admission charge, although the museum does sell artifacts and takes donations.

“I do this as a public service. I like sharing history,” 48-year-old curator Erik Dorr said one recent Sunday afternoon as several people walked through the museum. “So many people with private collections keep it to themselves. But we don’t own the artifacts, we are the caretakers. Why not share them with the public?

It is located at 219 Baltimore St., and takes up five rooms of the first floor of the building. Dorr lives on the second floor. He is the fourth member of his family to live in the house.

The museum has a staff of two, Dorr and Cheryl Reichling. When you walk into the museum the two are standing behind a small counter, ready to answer questions.

During the summer the museum is opened from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Monday. The hours and days are more limited during other times of the year.

On this particular Sunday in July the museum was crowded.

“Because I don’t charge we don’t tally the attendance,” Dorr said. “But during the summer, when we are busy, we will usually get a thousand people a week.”

He says he has far more than the 4,000 artifacts on display, but doesn’t have room to put them in the museum. He stores them on the second floor which is not open to the public.

He is looking for a larger building to house the museum.

The museum has gotten some attention. Dorr and the museum have been featured on many TV shows, including “The Haunted Collector,” “American Picker” and “Pawn Stars.”

Located in downtown Gettysburg is a museum so unique that it not only features Civil War artifacts, but also a rocking chair used by John F. Kennedy, part of the blood-stained fabric from the couch where Hitler sat when he shot himself and a lock of hair from Marilyn Monroe,

The Gettysburg Museum of History has over 4,000 artifacts that include not only American, but also world history.

The museum doesn’t get a lot of publicity. It’s not part of the Gettysburg National Military Park, which has its own museum. A person who worked at the nearby library didn’t know the downtown museum was there. It is small and doesn’t have a lot of amenities. For instance, there is no public bathroom.

But for someone interested in history, there’s a lot to see.

And there is no admission charge, although the museum does sell artifacts and takes donations.

“I do this as a public service. I like sharing history,” 48-year-old curator Erik Dorr said one recent Sunday afternoon as several people walked through the museum. “So many people with private collections keep it to themselves. But we don’t own the artifacts, we are the caretakers. Why not share them with the public?

It is located at 219 Baltimore St., and takes up five rooms of the first floor of the building. Dorr lives on the second floor. He is the fourth member of his family to live in the house.

The museum has a staff of two, Dorr and Cheryl Reichling. When you walk into the museum the two are standing behind a small counter, ready to answer questions.

During the summer the museum is opened from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Monday. The hours and days are more limited during other times of the year.

On this particular Sunday in July the museum was crowded.

“Because I don’t charge we don’t tally the attendance,” Dorr said. “But during the summer, when we are busy, we will usually get a thousand people a week.”

He says he has far more than the 4,000 artifacts on display, but doesn’t have room to put them in the museum. He stores them on the second floor which is not open to the public.

He is looking for a larger building to house the museum.

The museum has gotten some attention. Dorr and the museum have been featured on many TV shows, including “The Haunted Collector,” “American Picker” and “Pawn Stars.”

Exhibit areas

Of the five rooms in the museum, one and a half are filled with Civil War artifacts. The other rooms contain World War I and World War II artifacts and a presidential room.

“We cover all areas of American history,” he said. “We focus on the military and political history and try to tie most items to Gettysburg. We have so many neat things.”

In one display case is an autograph of Christopher Columbus. Dorr also has the last autographed portrait signed by Kennedy. The late president signed it on Nov. 21, 1963, right before he left on his fatal trip to Dallas. He left the unfinished portrait on his desk.

But the museum is not limited to American history. Among the items on display is the head of an ancient Egyptian mummy, dinnerware used by Saddam Hussein and lingerie worn by Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress and wife.

Many of the Hitler items were taken by U.S. soldiers after the German dictator committed suicide, he said. A U.S. colonel cut off the sofa fabric when the Soviets allowed American soldiers into the room where Hitler killed himself.

He also has a lot of celebrity memorabilia which he collected when he lived in Las Vegas and the Sacramento area of California.

“You collect what interests you,” he said.

At one time he had an Elvis Presley exhibit at the museum. His newest exhibit centers around WWII hero Major Dick Winters, who was portrayed in the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.”

“The Winters collection is the big thing now because it is new,” he said. “

Among the most interesting Civil War artifacts are the wallet that Lincoln purportedly had with him when he gave the Gettysburg address, wood from a box that contained Lincoln’s casket and numerous guns, swords, bullets and belt buckles.

He has locks of hair from both George and Martha Washington and Napoleon.The Monroe lock of hair is with the Kennedy display.

He also has a flag that flew over the Capitol during President Obama’s first inauguration.

“We have a real mix of stuff,” Reichling said.

Living among history

Dorr has been a collector for about 25 years. His ancestors came to Gettysburg in 1818 and settled on a farm in Ziegler’s Grove, the site of Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg.

The house was ransacked by the Confederates during the battle, but when his great-great grandfather Frederick Pfeffer returned home after the fighting ended, he found a Colt army revolver on the kitchen table. It was one of numerous Civil War relics Pfeffer found on the farm, many of which are now at the museum.

When he was about 4 or 5 years old, Dorr first saw the revolver and became fascinated by it. As a 9-year-old boy he obtained his first collection of World War II relics from his elementary school janitor, a World War II veteran.

Since then he has been buying and selling historical artifacts.

After living in Las Vegas and California for years, he returned to Gettysburg in 2006 and brought his collection with him.

His friends said he should open a museum and put them on display for the public.

Dorr knew the house at 219 Baltimore St., where his mother had grown up, would be the perfect place.

“The family purchased the home in 1939 and as a kid I would spend weekends here,” he said. “It was like a second home to me.”

When his grandparents died in the 1990s, his family rented out apartments in the house. Dorr decided to turn the first floor into a museum and live on the second floor.

That meant renovating the first floor including tearing out the kitchen. His friends helped out.

“It took about a year and a half to two years, a lot longer than I thought,” he said. The museum officially opened in July of 2009.

He remains an avid collector and is always looking for new items. He has numerous artifacts on sale at the museum, but is careful about what he sells.

“We sell belt buckles and bullets from the Civil War,” he said. “But we aren’t going to sell Abraham Lincoln’s wallet.”