Welcome to the Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg. "The most important Roundtable,
in the most important small town,
at the most important battlefield,
in the most important country in the world."
—Joe Mieczkowski, past president
      
|
February 27
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
The Richmond Bread Riots
Dr. Ashley Luskey
On April 2, 1863, more than 300 armed women took to the streets of Richmond, VA shouting “Bread or blood!” On the surface, what became known as the Richmond Bread Riots was a protest over food shortages within the Confederate capital; however, a closer examination of the events and how bystanders both reacted to them in the moment and sought to represent them in the historical record reveals far deeper and more complex dynamics involving class, gender, and political critique. This talk will explore the events of that day through the words of those who lived them to help unpack one of the lesser talked about, but largest and deeply unsettling incidents of organized home front upheaval in the South during the Civil War.
ASHLEY WHITEHEAD LUSKEY is the Assistant Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, where she works with Gettysburg College students on a variety of original research-based Civil War and public history projects, coordinates the annual CWI summer conference, and gives tours of the battlefield to visitors. She holds a PhD in nineteenth-century American history, with academic interests in the Civil War and Reconstruction, Southern history, cultural history, public history, and the intersection of history & memory. Prior to her arrival at CWI, Dr. Luskey worked for ten years with the National Park Service, including eight years as a park ranger and historian at Richmond National Battlefield Park. She has delivered numerous interpretive tours, lectures, and scholarly papers at educational institutions and public venues across the country, and has written articles on a variety of Civil War and public history-related topics for various magazines, journals, and blogs. Her most recent piece, a co-edited article entitled From Women’s History to Gender History: Revamping Interpretation at Richmond National Battlefield Park, was published in the June 2016 issue of Civil War History.
Our meetings are the Fourth Thursday of each month.
From September to May, we meet at the GAR Building, 53 East Middle Street. Socializing starting at 6:30 pm, the program starting at 7.
Whenever severe weather is predicted, program information can be found on the roundtable website and Facebook page after 3 PM. Or you can call Bruce at 1-402-686-6969.
You can now use your credit card or PayPal to securely pay for your Membership Dues. Please see the Membership page for the link.
 |
Join or Renew Your Membership |
 |
|
||
OFFICERS |
||
Bruce Davis ..............................................President Hilda Koontz............................................Vice President Eleanor Cingire Bilz...........................Recording Secretary Linda Seamon...............................Membership Secretary David Diner...................................................Treasurer Roger Heller .......................................Program Director Linda Joswick .............................................Webmaster Dave Joswick......................................Newsletter Editor Lynn Heller.................................Facebook Administrator |
402.686.6969 717.642.6017 717.420.2183 717.359.7339 717.420.5730 717.398.2072 717.253.5477 717.877.3975 717.398.2072 |
|
BOARD MEMBERS |
||
Fred Hawthorne (5/20), Roger Heller (5/22), Joe Mieczkowski 5/22), Peter Miele (5/21) Dale Molina (5/20), Bill Myers (5/21) |
||
Next Board Meeting:Board Meetings are open to all members. Our next meeting will be March 5, 2020. Meetings begin at 6:00 pm at Perkins Restaurant in Gettysburg. If you would like to eat before the meeting, please arrive by 5:30 pm. Board meetings are the second Thursday of January, March, May, July, September, and November. |
||
|
||
COMMITTEES |
||
Plaque Committee: Book Award Committee: Field Trip Committee: If you are interested in more information, or joining, one the committees, please contact any Officer or Board Member. |
||
EVENT INFORMATION |
||
|
GNMP Winter Lecture Series: National Park Service rangers and leading historians from across the country offer free hour-long talks exploring important aspects of the American Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. More information in the January/February Newsletter or on the Stuff To Do page of this website. May 1-2 • ALBG 2020 Spring Seminar. Overlooked & Often Not Visited: Ridges, Farms & Other Battle Sites. More information and Registration form. |
||
Greetings to all...
I was, of course, extremely gratified at how well the Decem.er Holiday Event came off. We had an excellent turnout. Speaker Ben Dixon’s fast flowing fount of information made for a fascinating presentation on the evolution of our battlefield. As noted that evening, I am not a party-planner. This was a Lynn Heller production and I am happy to report she’s already signed on to give leadership to the celebration in 2020.
Speaking of Lynn, Ron Perisho passed along a Christmas card from the American Battlefield Trust featuring a Lynn Heller photo of the Virginia Monument in winter. Lynn’s ‘Gettysburg Expression’ is one of my favorite Facebook pages. The recognition from the Battlefield Trust is well deserved.
Speaking of photographs: Richard Lewis’ November presentation asked the question: As there was no uniformity to Confederate general’s uniforms, how is it their pictures all have them in what seems to be the same coat? I’ve been reading William C. Davis’ biography of John C. Breckenridge. As noted at the Holiday Event, fifty years previous, “Jack” Davis had addressed our group, his subject, the Vice President-turned-Confederate general. Whereas most of the commanders tried for some version of gray, Breckenridge “wore a uniform coat of dark blue ‘Kentucky jeans.” But Google “John C. Breckenridge” and there he is, in the same uniform Richard Lewis talked about. I won’t even try to go into Lewis’ exploration; suffice to say “The Curious Case of the Confederate Coat” was as quirky and delightful as it sounds.
I know some were frustrated, several months back, when one of our excellent speakers took us right up to our announced 8:30 time of adjournment, giving no opportunity for Q&A. Program Director Roger Heller advises our speakers that a 45 minute presentation is ideal. I have taken to rein.forcing that, explaining we’ll start precisely at 7:00, move the meeting along, so the presenters can begin no later than 7:25. A 45 minute presentation will have us to Questions and Answers circa 8:10, presumably leaving time at the end for the presenters to sell and sign books. I know Al has been telling our Show & Tell people to limit themselves to five minutes, and I want to reinforce that, as well. But we will start at 7:00 and we will adjourn no later than 8:30.
One last thing to pass along: The Civil War Institute of Gettysburg College is offering members of the Gettysburg CWRT a 15% discount on the 2020 Summer Conference, scheduled for June 12-18. The list of speakers and battlefield tours is extremely impressive. For a complete rundown, enter ‘Civil War Institute — Gettysburg College’ into your web browser.
|
SPEAKERS |
|
March 26
April 23
May 28
June 25 : July 2
July 23: July 30
August 27: Sept 3
September 24
October 22
November 12
December 3
|
News Briefs
|
Like us on Facebook at Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg