Q&A: Gettysburg's new superintendent Kris Heister on big projects, rentals, volunteers, her Civil War ancestors and a place she'd like to see more visitors

Kris Heister, Little Round Top rehabilitation, Spangler Farm (NPS photos)

Kristina “Kris” Heister, the new superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site, comes from a family with deep roots in Pennsylvania. Her ancestors came over from Germany in about 1732 and produced congressmen and other political leaders in the state.

Heister, who has held numerous positions with the National Park Service over a 30-plus year, was deputy superintendent at Gettysburg before the promotion.

“I have been amazed by the dedication of my colleagues, our partners and our community,” she said in a news release earlier this month. “Their collective commitment to preserving and protecting these hallowed grounds inspires me every day. I look forward to continuing to work together and maintaining an open dialogue with our partners and our community to address both the challenges and opportunities the future holds for these exceptional places.”

The Picket asked Heister about her priorities and initiatives, current and future projects and her ancestors. Many fought in the Civil War and two were at Gettysburg. The favorite Heister family meal (Chicken Divan) is a recipe Julie and David Eisenhower served for Christmas one year.

Heister this week responded to my questions by email. A few have been edited for brevity.

Q. You have held leadership posts at the park for about four-five years. During this time, did you work on specific initiatives or projects that resonated with visitors?

A. An example of a specific initiative that I led in the last four years was the leasing of historic structures for Airbnb-style rentals. This program will create a new and immersive visitor experience as well as generate revenue for the preservation of park facilities. This year, we are initiating a pilot with two structures that witnessed the battle of Gettysburg - the Slyder farmhouse and Bushman farmhouse (NPS photo, left). Both are in close proximity to special places on the battlefield, including Devil's Den and Little Round Top. For the first time, park visitors will be able to stay at these homes for between 2 and 6 days at a time. If successful, we will expand the program to two additional battlefield homes in the next 3-5 years.

Q. As the new superintendent, do you have any early ideas on initiatives or programming?

A. Currently, I am focused on existing initiatives including the reopening of Little Round Top in spring/early summer 2024, rehabilitation of the reception center at Eisenhower National Historic Site, building the Spangler Trail connecting the museum and visitor center to the Spangler Farm (owned and operated by the Gettysburg Foundation), kicking off summer interpretive programming and preparing for battle anniversary on July 1-3, 2024. Upcoming initiatives include rehabilitation of the National Cemetery and historic structures on the battlefield.

A. The news release mentions your strength in employee development and community engagement. Are you able to pinpoint specifics from the past or possible in the future on these two areas?

Q. I see many possibilities for engagement with the Gettysburg community in the future and am excited to investigate our shared goals and how we can achieve them together. One I look forward to the most is reinvigorating our volunteer program. By this summer, we will have hired a permanent volunteer coordinator -- a new position at the park. My goal is to develop a vibrant, safe, inclusive volunteer program that promotes engagement with the community (locally and nationally) through meaningful service, is focused on needed work and contributes to creation of the next generation of public land stewards.

Q. What is your favorite part of the battlefield? Is there a spot you wish more visitors knew about?

A. There are so many beautiful areas of the battlefield. My favorite place is anywhere I can experience peace and tranquility (that) allows me to both renew my spirit and contemplate the meaning and significance of what happened here. I wish more visitors knew about Eisenhower National Historic Site (above, NPS photo), which is located directly adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park and tells the story of our 34^th president as well as having significant connections between President Eisenhower and the Gettysburg battlefield.

Q. Gettysburg has seen a lot of wear from visitors, hence the projects at Little Round Top and Devil's Den. What do you believe to be the impact of those improvements and are there other such areas in the park you would like to address?

A. I believe the impacts of our improvements on Little Round Top and Devil’s Den relate to providing a high-quality visitor experience and resource protection to ensure those resources are available to future generations in good condition. For example, at Little Round Top heavily eroded trails have been stabilized, circulation patterns have been improved, individuals with mobility issues (whether considered handicapped or not) will now be able to visit the hill, breastworks have been rehabilitated, new wayside exhibits are being installed, some social trails have been removed and others have been formalized, providing access to areas of the hill and monuments that haven't been accessible in years, designated bus parking has been added and gathering spaces have been formalized to reduce off-trail use and facilitate the many groups that visit. Our next large scale rehabilitation effort will focus on the National Cemetery.

40th New York Monument is in a water-prone area.Photo Craig Swain, HMdb.org

Q. Some people have been concerned about beavers forming ponds/lakes along Crawford Avenue. The park in 2019 said they are native to Plum Run and it was monitoring potential impact on Devil's Den and Little Round Top. What is the current situation with that?

A. Beavers are not new to the park and have taken up residence off and on in the Plum Run area for many years - this is a natural process. The park is managing them in accordance with NPS policy and the Cultural Landscape Report for Little Round Top, which recommends that the Plum Run riparian corridor be managed to promote species diversity while ensuring vegetation does not block key historic views from Plum Run Valley to the face of Little Round Top. The NPS has identified all historic resources within this area as well as potential impacts to those resources from the presence of beavers. We are monitoring those potential impacts and taking action as appropriate to address them. In 2023, we installed devices called "beaver deceivers" to de-water a portion of the pond that had formed due to infringement on the 40^th New York Infantry Monument and the subsequent inability of park visitors to access the monument. We will continue to monitor and take action as necessary and appropriate.

Q. The press release says you had 18 ancestors who fought for the Union. Do you know from which states some of them hailed?

A. The majority were from Pennsylvania. I have just begun to research my family this far back but it appears my family touched many facets of the war. To date, I have identified two individuals – Cyrus Heister and Washington K. Hiester who fought at the Battle of Gettysburg -- both with the Pennsylvania infantry, 93^rd  and 151^st regiments respectively. (The superintendent notes the names Heister and Hiester were sometimes used interchangeably.)

William C. Hiester (131^st regiment, Pennsylvania infantry) died at Fredericksburg at age 19. At age 18, Daniel M. Heister mustered into the 101^st regiment just in time to be captured at Plymouth, N.C., and spend the rest of the war in Andersonville prison. One family member served in the Pennsylvania Senate during the war. One was designated a mustering officer, with the rank of major, by the governor in 1863, and mustered into service eight regiments of volunteers (they assembled at an encampment called Camp Hiester in Reading. One was a judge in Dauphin County who adjudicated claims associated with damages caused by Confederates during the war.

Lastly, Dr. Joseph Hiester treated Capt. Henry W. Freedley, who commanded the 3^rd United States Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg. (Hiester's grave at right, photo courtesy of Findagrave contributor 47099775)

Freedley was severely wounded in the leg and Hiester arrived in Gettysburg shortly after the battle to tend to him on the floor of the David Wills House (now NPS property), where Abraham Lincoln later stayed on the night of November 18, 1863, and completed writing the Gettysburg Address. Cool stuff!

Postscript: I asked Superintendent Heister about Hiester’s daughter, Maria, whom Freedley had written before and after the battle. The officer called her a friend, but was there more to the relationship? “Maybe it was a long-distance romance between two people in their 30s, one a homemaker, one a soldier,  who had known each other since childhood and she waited for him as he travelled extensively with the military -- until he broke her heart and married someone nearly 20 years her junior.” Maria apparently never married and Henry was wed just a few months before his death in 1889.