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Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Subject: Deconstructing the Gettysburg Address
Presenters: Todd Arrington, Ph.D., Site Manager of the James A. Garfield Historic Site
Those who attended either or both of Todd’s previous talks to our group (The Early Republican Party, the Civil War, and America’s Westward Expansion – Jan. 8, 2013 and Stand Fast to Union and the Old Flag: Re-electing Abe Lincoln, 1864 – Nov. 11, 2014) know that Todd will be well-versed in his topic and and skilled in his presentation.
After serving in the US Army, Todd joined the National Park Service. He served at Gettysburg National Military Park, the Eisenhower National Historic Site, and spent ten years as Historian at Homestead National Monument. Prior to being named Site Manager at James A Garfield National Historic Site, he served as Chief of Interpretation and Education. He earned his doctorate in American History at the University of Nebraska. He was one of only two NPS employees asked to contribute articles to the NPS’s official handbook commenorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, joining notables such as James McPherson, Ira Berlin, Eric Foner, and David Blight. He has published several works, spoken at dozens of academic conferences and meetings (including the Mentor Library Civil War series), appeared on PBS, and spoken on Radio Free Europe and National Public Radio.
- Canteen at 6:00 PM — Dinner at 6:45 PM
- Pine Ridge Country Club, 30601 Ridge Road (Ohio 84), Wickliffe, OH (1/2 mile west of Ohio 91)
- Cost $25.00 for an excellent family-style dinner and speaker. Cash bar.
- Reservations are required. Email David Lintern at davelintern@rwsidley.com
Last Meeting:
Subject: The Great Locomotive Chase
Presenter: Tom Horvath, Jr. and Tom Horvath, Sr.
One year to the day after the opening salvos of the Civil War, a band of soldiers led by James Andrews, a civilian, attempted a raid on the Western and Atlantic Railroad. The objective of the raid was to cut the railroad and eliminate the ability of the Confederacy to quickly send troops to defend Chattanooga from a Union attack. The raid resulted in a locomotive chase between the General and the Texas. It came to be known as the Great Locomotive Chase, which was romantacized by Hollywood in movies ranging from Buster Keaton’s The General to Walt Disney’s The Great Locomotive Chase.
Drawing on the latest information, the Horvaths recounted the fascinating facts, sometimes more interesting than the fiction, surrounding the incident.
Schedule of Programs
Please note the variance in February and October’s programs from the printed schedule.
- January 9
- Civil War and Current Events Challenge
- Past-presidents John Sandy and Franco Sperrazzo
- February 12
- Kate Chase, Civil War Belle of the North and Gilded Age Woman of Scandal
- Norton London, founder
- March 12
- Letters from the Front
- Debbie Weinkamer and Dan McGill, member
- April 9
- The Battle of the Crater, a Perfect Hell of Blood
- Speaker: A. Wilson Greene
- May 14
- Organized Crime
- Allan May, Author
- September 10
- Stonewall Jackson at Second Manassas
- Henry P. Elliot, National Park Ranger
- October 8
- The Andrews Raid
- Tom Horvath, Jr. & Sr., members
- November 12
- Deconstructing the Gettysburg Address
- Todd Arrington, Ph.D., Site Manager of James A. Garfield National Historic Site
- December 10
- Civil War Music
- Steve and Lisa Ball
Lunchtime Series: Leaders and Legacies of the Civil War
November’s presentation is The Battle of Franklin, November 13, 2019 at 12 noon. On November 30, 1864, Union and Confederate forces clashed around Franklin, Tennessee as part of the Nashville-Franklin Campaign. Confederates under Gen. John Bell Hood conducted several frontal assaults against fortified Union positions and were unable to break through, leading to a major military disaster for the Confederacy. This is an encore of a program originally presented in 2014.
These talks normally take place on the second Wednesday of the month, at noon in the James A. Garfield Community Room of the main branch of the Mentor Public Library. Talks are scheduled to last about one hour. Attendees are invited to bring their bag lunches.
2019 Civil War Symposium
This year’s event was a one-act play entitled Lincoln’s Last Debate: A Confrontation at Hampton Roads. The story line, written by members of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table, envisions a fictional meeting between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis at a peace conference that actually happend, but which Jefferson Davis did not attend.
The cast included Mel Mauer and John Fazio of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table and our own Norty London.
James A. Garfield National Historic Site Civil War Music Festival
The first Civil War Music Festival presented by the James A. Garfield National Historic Site was held on Saturday, July 6 from 11 AM to 4 PM on the lawn behind Garfield’s home. Several bands and performers presented era-appropriate music and discussed the role of music in the Civil War armies.
Themocracy
I came across your Civil War Round Table and thought you might be interested in a true story about an 82nd Ohio soldier told in the first person in dramatic form. The ebook is written with a discussion guide for Civil War Round Tables and you may want to check it out.
Hiram’s Honor: Reliving
Private Terman’s Civil War, ISBN 978-0615-27812-4.
Hiram’s Honor can be examined at http://www.amazon.com/Hirams-Honor-Reliving-Private-Termans/dp/0615278124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239221935&sr=8-1
Ebook
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50674
The unique thing about this book is that I assume the identity of my ancestor in all of his battles and prison misery. It was quite a challenge to match every detail that actually happened (dairies, letters, first-hand accounts) with a first person dramatized and riveting story of how I would have reacted in his situation. Best wishes in your work.
Greetings from Delafield, Wisconsin, Birthplace of Lt. Alonzo Cushing. Just a quick update on the Medal of Honor. Although it was widely reported that the Secretary of the Army had approved the nomination, the process is still ongoing. The Secretary of Defense has not yet made his recommendation. Additionally, the President would still have to sign off. I would be happy to keep you updated if the situation changes.
Best Regards
Dave Krueger
Delafield, WI
I’m very interested in your group. May non-members attend meetings?
Many thanks,
George Richards
George — yes, non-members may attend. Because we take the summer off, our next meeting is not until Sepetember 11. Closer to the meeting date, make a reservation (see above) and look me, Tom Horvath, up at the meeting. I’ll be glad to introduce you to some of our members. Meanwhile, you may be interested in the symposium being held at Lawnfield on July 13, also described above.
Hello NEOCWRT. My name is Jonathan Hennessey. I am author of a new Civil War nonfiction graphic novel from HarperCollins. I would like to let members of your group know I will be doing a reading from my book at 6 pm Thursday, August 8 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Medina Road in Akron.
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS: A GRAPHIC ADAPTATION (www.graphicgettysburg.com) is a bold and innovative use of the comics medium. It uses the words from Lincoln’s iconic speech to tell the “whole story of the Civil War, 1776 – The Present.” I will be presenting a chapter of the book mostly examining the Confederacy’s legal case for secession, Lincoln’s counterargument, and how both the language of both the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence informed those two different positions. I will be projecting still and animated segments of the book on a movie screen.
Kirkus Reviews called the book, “Engaging, provocative and deftly nuanced. … This second collaboration by Hennessey and McConnell again finds them probing the implications of history through incisive analysis and compelling art.”
Library Journal hailed it as, “An excellent work. … Not a simplification but a detailed and nuanced analysis of Lincoln’s famous speech.”
Thank you for your consideration!
All best,
Jonathan Hennessey
Thanks for the invitation to speak at the CWRT again. My topic this year will be Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith: From Virginia’s Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat.