I couldn’t help but notice… and thought it worthy of mention here… that at the top of Virginia’s Department of Taxation page, there is an interesting graphic. From right to left, we have the Natural Bridge, the Godspeed II (I believe), Monticello, a shot from (I think) Colonial Williamsburg, and… as the focus on Virginia’s role in the Civil War, a photo of… could it be?… U.S.C.T. reenactors!? Isn’t it interesting that U.S.C.T. reenactors were selected as the focal point for visualizing Virginia’s Civil War in this “heritage collage?!”
Posted in: Civil War Memory - General
Richard Williams
March 16, 2009
Robert:
Why do you think they chose that image? Politics?
cenantua
March 16, 2009
Richard,
I really don’t think that’s the case. It’s an interesting image if combined with others of the war, but I think a neutral image may have been better here; perhaps a landscape with cannons or, just something that is reflective of Virginia in the war. It just seems odd as a stand-alone image in this environment. Then again, the white male in the colonial garb could also be seen as rather one-dimensional as well. Just as an example, no women are represented in any of the images, so someone appears to have slipped in covering the bases in that regard.
Richard Williams
March 16, 2009
I think they were trying to be balanced, but the USCT? There’s no direct connection. An image of Booker T. Washington would have been great. An image of Maggie Walker would have been nice as well.
cenantua
March 16, 2009
I just don’t think a great deal of thought went into the design of the header. Granted, history is secondary to the focus of the page, but if they were going to play with history, the least they should have done was made an effort with just a little bit more thought behind it.
S. Campbell
March 16, 2009
Thought is possibly the key thing here. I believe that most of the web designers out there are younger people that never really got a good education of the War Between The States, which really isn’t their fault, but then again the site would have had to be approve by a bureaucrat. That bureaucrat probably wasn’t taught right either. I think there are many factors at work here.