Tourists Unmoved By Confederate History Month

(April 22) -- He did it to promote tourism, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said after his decision to recognize April as Confederate History Month in the commonwealth drew sharp blowback. Now, with the month winding down, the question can be explored: Has McDonnell's move provided the boon he pledged? At least for this year, the answer is no, according to anecdotal evidence from some members of Virginia's tourism industry.

One of the obvious potential beneficiaries of McDonnell's proclamation would have been the Museum of the Confederacy, located in Richmond. Its visitors can see the frock coat Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee wore to the surrender at Appomattox and take a guided tour of the restored mid-Victorian White House of the Confederacy, where Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his family lived.

But since McDonnell's proclamation, the museum hasn't seen "any special increase in visitation at all," said spokesman Sam Craghead.

The last two governors to recognize Virginia's Confederate history in April were Republicans Jim Gilmore and his predecessor George Allen, who started the practice. The two served between 1994 and 2001. A look at the Museum of the Confederacy's visitor numbers shows that during those years, the museum did draw more visitors in April than it did in March. But that was also true in 1993 and 2002, when Virginia was not celebrating Confederate History Month.

"I know the figures say the [visitor] numbers go up from time to time, but I'm convinced that's not because of Confederate History Month," Craghead said. April and May mark the "start the of the tourist season" and visitor numbers "have more to do with season than they do with anything else," he added, with summer months the busiest.

Nor have sales of Civil War-related paraphernalia enjoyed a bump this month, according to one company that produces such items, U.S. Games Systems Inc. Its products, which include a Confederate-themed poker deck and a playing card deck that features Civil War flags, are sold in the Museum of the Confederacy's online store. What's more, the company hadn't even heard of Confederate History Month (though, now that it has, it hopes to publicize its Civil War-related products more the next time around, according to spokeswoman Lynn Araujo).

Dave Goetz, who runs a one-man tour business centered on the infamous Confederate colonel, John Singleton Mosby, said he hasn't seen an uptick in callers interested in his tours because of Confederate History Month. Goetz noted that the Virginia tourism industry is instead focused on preparing for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which starts next year and will run for four years. (Since McDonnell only posted his Confederate History Month proclamation on April 2, there was scant time to capitalize on the news.)

"What I'm seeing is there's an effort to organize and get ready for what's predicted to be a tsunami of tourism [next year]," said Goetz, a former public relations director who lives in the northern Virginia town of Warrenton, near the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Goetz's interest in the colonel and his exploits was piqued by boyhood viewings of the "The Gray Ghost," the 1950s TV show named after Mosby's alias. On one of the tours Goetz offers, he takes visitors around Warrenton to Mosby's postwar home and the Mosby family's gravesite. Occasionally, Goetz dons a Confederate major's uniform, complete with navy trousers and white cavalry gloves.

Notwithstanding its impact on tourism, McDonnell's proclamation will at least "raise awareness" about the history of the Confederacy, says Goetz, a descendant of a Confederate soldier and a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"We're not trying to resist modern times, but rather just honor those who are our ancestors who did answer the call," said Goetz, who describes slavery as "abhorrent." He added, "It was war and awful things happen during war. But just because the Southern people have reverence for those who answered the call, it's not something we should be getting upset about."

At least one Confederacy-related business is reporting an uptick in patronage, however. Civil War bus tour guide Don Hakenson of Fairfax County, Va., says the number of new customers signed up to take his May 1 bus tour of the state's battlefields has increased significantly from last year, a boost he attributes partly to McDonnell's move. New customers will make up 40 percent of the 55-seat tour, said Hakenson, who is also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"I've picked up quite a few people because of Confederate History Month," Hakenson said. "It inspired them to read more about the Civil War. And from the reading of the Civil War, they wanted to find out if there were tours that covered the sites they read about."