Our Guiding Principles
INext Presentation
Tuesday, May 11, 2024
Subject: Armistead and Hancock
Presenter: Tom McMillan, Author
Among the stories of friends and relatives who served on opposite sides during the Civil War, the relationship of Lewis Armistead and Winfield Scott Hancock is one of the best known. With Armistead’s death, attempting to breach Union lines at the pinnacle of the “high tide of the Confederacy”, it is difficult not to romanticize his role and his friendship with Hancock.
Tom McMillan has performed deep research on their relationship and authored Armistead and Hancock; Behind the Gettysburg Legend of Two Friends at the Turning Point of the Civil War. Our next meeting should shed new light on their relationship.
- Canteen at 6:00 PM — Dinner at 6:30 PM
- Pine Ridge Country Club, 30601 Ridge Road (Ohio 84), Wickliffe, OH (1/2 mile west of Ohio 91)
- Cost $30.00 for an excellent family-style dinner and speaker. Cash bar.
- Reservations are required. Email Franco Sperrazzo at francomichael2414@yahoo.com.
Last Meeting
Subject: Mark Twain and General Grant
Presenter: Mark Dawidziak
Mr. Dawidziak has portrayed Mark Twain for forty years. He has eight hours of material from which he can create a perfomance suited to the interests of his audience. Even so, we were treated to the first performance of the relationship and interactions between General Grant and Mark Twain.
The narrative paralleled the two lives and the two men’s rise to fame. They met for the first time when Grant was president and Twain had already won fame as an author and humorist. Their next meeting in Chicago created a friendship that had started awkwardly, but lasted even beyond Grant’s death.
We are all aware of Grant’s battle to finish his autobiography, and many know that Mark Twain was involved in its publication. Mr. Dawidziak provided the details that made that story more dramatic and more interesting.
Mr. Dawidziak was a wealth of information, expanding our knowledge of Grant and Twain. He did it with humor and a bit of Mark Twain. It was an entirely entertaining and enlightening evening.
2023 Summer Activities
Memorial Day Ceremony
On Monday, May 29, 2023 at the Willoughby Cemetery on Sharpe Street, members of our organization placed a wreath on the memorial marker honoring the Civil War veterans, both Union and Confederate, who are buried there. This marked the twentieth anniversary of the dedication of the memorial marker — designed, researched, executed, and funded by our organization. (See the full story of the project on the Legacy Project tab.)
Members of our organization, as is our tradition, gathered afterwards at nearby Fiona’s Coffe Bar and Bakery on Erie Street.
2nd Annual Sip and Relax
Our initial gathering at Debonne Winery in 2022 was so successful that we met for a second evening of wine and relaxation, once again at Debonne Winery. Members and their guests gathered for an enjoyable evening of food, drink, and conversation.
Schedule of Speakers for 2023 and 2024
Note the change in May, 2024
2023
- January 10, 2023
- Notables Buried at Woodland Cemetery
- Presenter: Michelle A. Day
- February 14, 2023
- Meanings and Origins of Juneteenth
- Presenter: Judge Charles Patton
- March 14, 2023
- The New York City Draft Riots
- Presenter: Judge William Vodrey
- April 11, 2023
- Civil War Soldiers in Cuyahoga County
- Presenter: W. Dennis Keating
- May 9, 2023
- Gen. Irvin McDowell
- Presenter: Gene Schmiel
- June 13,2023
- Special meeting honoring our founders
- MC: Dale Fellows, Charter Member
- September 12, 2023
- 9/11 Experiences
- Presenter: Gregory Truhan
- October 10, 2023
- One More Big Fight — Shiloh
- Presenter: Dr. Curt Fields
- November 14, 2023
- Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
- Presenter: Anne McEvoy
- December 12, 2023
- Growing Up Garfield
- Presenters: Tim Garfield and Debbie Weinkamer
2024
- January 9, 2024
- They Fought, Too
- Presenters: Louise Watson-Mills and Pam Fraser
- February 13, 2024
- Leadership
- Presenter: Dr. Christopher Eddy, Author & Brigadier General, ret.
- March 12, 2024
- Voices from the Attic
- Presenter: Carleton Young, Author
- April 9, 2024
- Mark Twain and General Grant
- Presenter: Mark Dawidziak
- May 14, 2024
- Armistead and Hancock
- Presenter: Tom McMillan
- June 11, 2024
- Special Meeting Honoring Charter Member
- Presenter
Lunchtime Series: Leaders and Legacies of the Civil War
These talks normally take place on the second Wednesday of the month. The May program will take place on Wednesday, May 8, at 12 noon in the Village Room of the Main Mentor Library building and is titled Protecting Your Civil War Heirlooms.
Join a National Park Service Museum Curator to learn about how to properly care for and store precious Civil War papers & artifacts.
SPEAKER: Kelsey Voit, James A. Garfield NHS.
Other Web Sites of Interest
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.