Dennis E. Frye

Retired National Park Service historian Dennis Frye is one of the founding fathers of the modern Civil War battlefield preservation movement. In 1986, facing a development threat at Grove Farm, where President Abraham Lincoln met with Maj. Gen. George McClellan after the Battle of Antietam, Frye co-founded the Save Historic Antietam Foundation and helped preserve the property.

The following year, he co-founded the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS), a predecessor of the American Battlefield Trust. As APCWS president from 1995 to 1998, Frye led campaigns to acquire key acreage at Brandy Station, Third Winchester, Cedar Creek and other battlefields.

In 2018, Frye retired after 32 years with the National Park Service, primarily at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. A native of Hagerstown, Maryland, Frye and his wife live on a historic farm outside Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Through decades of leadership, advocacy and public service, Frye helped establish the foundation of the modern battlefield preservation movement, leaving a lasting legacy in the protection of America's hallowed ground.