Commonwealth Speakers:The Civil War
The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg National Military Park contains more than 7,000 internments, including over 3,500 from the Civil War. It was here that President Abraham Lincoln delivered his immortal Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.
Gettysburg: Sacred Meaning in America
After the events of September 11, 2001, American ideas of
patriotism and sacred meaning have changed a great deal. Using
this starting point, Brian Black explores changing ideas of the
sacred through the landscape of the Gettysburg National Military
Park, one of the nation's most visited historical sites. He briefly
discusses the 1863 battle before using maps and visuals to discuss
the policies and mandates that have preserved and managed this
battle site for nearly 150 years.
Screen required.
Brian Black, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies,
PSU - Altoona
When Columbia County citizens learned of the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, they quickly rallied in support of the Union cause. In time, this spirit of unity faded as opposition grew among some Democrats, known as the Peace Democrats or Copperheads, to President Lincoln's wartime policies. The federal government would eventually define this dissent as such a threat that 44 citizens were imprisoned at Fort Mifflin. George Turner examines the Peace Democrats' objections to the war and wartime policies as well as the consequences of their dissent on civil liberties.
Lectern required.
George A. Turner, Professor Emeritus, Bloomsburg University
Lincoln's contemporaries knew little about this relatively inexperienced candidate when he ran for president, and they had good reason to doubt his abilities. But Lincoln became one of America's best-known and most honored leaders. Roger Lane explores Lincoln's claim on posterity, which rests not just on his victory in the Civil War, but also on the unique combination of Lincoln's personal qualities, his historical context, and the American imagination.
Roger Lane, Ph.D., Professor of History, Haverford College
Faces of the Civil WarThe American Civil War is popularly remembered as a gallant and courageous conflict, in which the national family simply split between Yankee and Rebel brothers. Yet for Pennsylvanians and many other Americans, the War and its consequences were not so noble or so neat. The war wore many faces: male and female, very young and very old, white and black, American and immigrant, fathers and sons, brave and terrified, live, dead, and disfigured. In this graphic slide presentation using both well-known and obscure Civil War photography, Paul Douglas Newman explores the real human consequences of America's first modern armed conflict.
Slide projector,screen,and lectern required.
Paul Douglas Newman, Associate Professor of History, University of
Pittsburgh at Johnstown
David Valuska investigates two German immigrant groups, the "Pennsylvania Dutch," who had arrived in America between 1683 and 1804, and the German Americans who had arrived between 1820 and 1860. He examines the diverse cultural organizations of the two ethnic groups and how this led to their differing reactions to and participation in the Civil War, focusing especially on the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.
Overhead projector and screen required.
David Valuska, Ph.D., Director, Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage
Center at Kutztown University
In this slide-illustrated presentation, Jonathan Helmreich uses the recent discovery of the battle flag carried by a company of students from Allegheny College during three years of the American Civil War as the starting point for a discussion of the hardships and sacrifices experienced by these idealistic young soldiers, and an examination of the influence that their classical education had upon their experience of war.
Projection screen required.
Jonathan E. Helmreich, Professor of History Emeritus and College Historian,
Allegheny College, Meadville
Once widely known and hailed as "the Great Commoner," Thaddeus Stevens was among the most powerful politicians of the Civil War era. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Lancaster, Stevens was one of the first and most influential men to work in Congress for the immediate abolition of slavery. James Delle explores the life and legacy of this little-known Pennsylvania hero.
Projection screen required.
James Delle, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Kutztown University
Abraham Lincoln visited the Keystone state 15 times, including his renowned trip to Gettysburg in 1863. Travel along as Bradley R. Hoch highlights Lincoln's visits to Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Gettysburg, York, Lancaster, and Philadelphia during his Inaugural Train, Funeral Train, and other assorted travels. Listen to Lincoln's own words, hear newspaper commentaries of the day, and see period photographs.
Slide projector and screen required.
Bradley R. Hoch, M.D.,, Author, Gettysburg
In this slide-illustrated presentation, Jack Brubaker explores the military history of Pennsylvania's largest river, the Susquehanna. From the French and Indian War, when British forces strategically located forts along the river's banks, to the Revolutionary War, when General John Sullivan's Susquehanna expedition struck a potent blow for the Continental Army, to the Civil War, when Union soldiers burned the Susquehanna Bridge between Wrightsville and Columbia, forcing Confederate troops to turn west toward Gettysburg, the river has played an important role in Pennsylvania history.
Slide projector and screen required.
Jack Brubaker,, Author and Newspaper Columnist for the Lancaster New
Era
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