Students dig into local history

Signage around often overlooked stone will soon tell a story

If you’ve never noticed the large granite rock at the west end of City Park, or never knew what it stood for, you soon will.

Students in Beth Ann Schumacher’s research history class at Clear Lake High School have been working with both a graphic designer and Professor from Louisiana State University, who is a leading scholar on the Battle of Pleasant Hill, to share the story of Clear Lake soldiers who served during the Civil War.

The granite stone, which has largely gone unnoticed at the park for many years, was placed in memory of Lt. Tom Howard, who died in the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana on April 9, 1864, and the G.A.R. Post of Clear Lake who served during the Civil War.  Soldiers from Clear Lake served in Company B of the 32nd Iowa. This year marks the 150th anniversary of that battle.

CLHS students Callie Glidden and Emma Hall spoke with the City Council Monday night about their class project, which is to create three wayside markers to educate the public about the Battle of Pleasant Hill and those who took part in it from Clear Lake.

“We thought it was important that people know about these men who served and gave their lives,” said Glidden. 

The students shared the design for a series of three signs which will be mounted in the vicinity of the stone. Graphic designers with the Civil War Trust helped to develop the markers.  

One marker will share a newspaper article about Howard’s service, along with a journal entry written by Edwin C. Nichols, a member of Company B of the 32nd Iowa.  Nichols survived the Battle of Pleasant Hill. - Read More Via e-Edition