CWRT-DC's Previous Meeting:

DR. KENNETH J. HEINEMAN

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Ft. McNair Officers' Club, Washington, DC (see map here)

6 pm: Social Hour (cash bar)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)

Reservations required: Call (703) 578-1942

TOPIC:
"The Ewing Family of Ohio"

Summary of Presentation:

Dr. Heineman will discuss the foster family that raised and supported the young man who would become "General William T. Sherman."  Although lost in the historical shadow cast by their foster son, it was the Ewing family who raised him, got him into West Point, and provided him with the financial resources and political connections to succeed in war. 

The patriarch, Thomas Ewing, counseled presidents and clashed with radical abolitionists and southern secessionists leading to the Civil War. Three Ewing sons became Union generals, served with distinction at Antietam and Vicksburg, marched through Georgia, and fought guerillas in Missouri. The Ewing family stood at the center of the Northern debate over emancipation, fought for the soul of the Republican Party, and waged total war against the South.

This history is also discussed in Dr. Heineman's book, Civil War Dynasty: The Ewing Family of Ohio, which brings to life this drama of political intrigue and military valor. It is a military, political, religious, and family history, told against the backdrop of disunion, war, violence, and grief. 

Biography:

Dr. Heineman spent 18 years at Ohio University Lancaster working in Sherman's hometown. Every morning after he would drop off his kids at school, he would sit at Four Reasons and stare at the Sherman mural downtown. There was always this presence," said Heineman "But the Ewing Mansion was just up the hill on Main Street and the more he started looking into the Ewings, the more he realized there was a story here, a great story."

Dr. Heineman is now a professor of history and department chair at Angelo State University in Texas. His areas of specialization include United States social and political history in the 20th century; American immigration; urban, labor and religious history; social movements.

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For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, visit http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/   

CWRT-DC's Previous Meeting:

W. STUART TOWNS

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Ft. McNair Officers' Club, Washington, DC (see map here)

6 pm: Social Hour (cash bar)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)

Reservations required: Call (703) 578-1942


TOPIC:
"Enduring Legacy: The Lost Cause Myth"

Summary of Presentation:
Rhetoric and ritual commemorating war has been a part of human culture for ages. In Enduring Legacy: Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause, Dr. W. Stuart Towns explores the crucial role of rhetoric and oratory in creating and propagating a “Lost Cause” public memory of the American South. Enduring Legacy explores the vital place of ceremonial oratory in the oral tradition in the South. It analyzes how rituals such as Confederate Memorial Day, Confederate veteran reunions, and dedication of Confederate monuments have contributed to creating and sustaining a Lost Cause paradigm for southern identity.

Dr. Towns studies in detail post–Civil War southern speeches and how they laid the groundwork for future generations, from southern responses to the civil rights movement and beyond. The Lost Cause orators that came after the Civil War, he argues, helped to shape a lasting mythology of the brave Confederate martyrs and of the southern positions for why the Confederacy lost and who was to blame. Innumerable words were spent—in commemorative speeches, newspaper editorials, and statehouse oratory—condemning the evils of Reconstruction, redemption, and reconciliation, and praising the new and future South. Dr. Towns concludes with an analysis of how Lost Cause myths still influence southern and national perceptions of the region today, as evidenced in debates over the continued deployment of the Confederate flag and the popularity of Civil War reenactments.

Biography:
W. Stuart Towns, Ph.D., has spent more than 40 years following his passion for history.  His educational pursuits in his undergraduate and graduate studies developed a love for public speaking and the impact words have had on history, especially Southern history.

The 1950s and 1960s led Dr. Towns to the University of Arkansas on a track and cross-country scholarship; he continued his education at the University of Florida where he received his masters and doctoral degrees in Speech (1962 and 1972 respectively). Through his career he served as chair of the Communication departments at The University of West Florida, Appalachian State University, and Southeast Missouri State University. He retired in 2011.

Dr. Towns had a parallel second career in the U.S. Army, which began when he enrolled in R.O.T.C. at the University of Arkansas. He earned a spot on the United States Modern Pentathlon team; he competed in the 1964 Olympic Trials in modern pentathlon, marathon, and fencing. After completing his active duty, Dr. Towns served the rest of his military career in the Active Army Reserves in the Civil Affairs branch, mostly with the 361st CA Brigade in Pensacola, FL. He took an opportunity to become a member of the Consulting Faculty Program at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1973 and served in that role until 1996. Dr. Towns retired as a Colonel in the Active Army Reserves in 1996.

Dr. Towns’ most recent publication, Enduring Legacy: Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause (University of Alabama Press, 2012), demonstrates his interest in examining the history of southern rhetoric and oratory. He was working on an anthology of southern speeches and saw that some of the segregationist speakers in the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and 1960s were making some of the same points and using many of the same words as southern orators from the 1880s and 1890s. He soon discovered that debates of the 1990s and on into the 21st century over Confederate flags, Confederate monuments, and other memorabilia were still repeating some of the same 19th century messages. The Civil War was alive and well in southern public memory.  As a result of seeing that connection, Dr. Towns wrote Enduring Legacy.

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For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, visit http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/   

CWRT-DC's Previous Meeting:

ANNE SARAH RUBIN

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Ft. McNair Officers' Club, Washington D.C. (see map here)

6 pm: Social Hour (cash bar)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)

Reservations required: Call (703) 578-1942


TOPIC:
"Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and America"

Dr. Rubin will discuss her forthcoming book and web project: Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and America. Rather than retell the story of the march, this project explores the myriad ways in which Americans have remembered, retold, and re-imagined Sherman's march. It looks at the march from a kaleidoscope of perspectives (African-Americans, Union soldiers, Confederates, women, environmental) and a mosaic of sources (travel accounts, memoirs, music, literature, films and newspapers). Through the Heart of Dixie unpacks the many myths and legends that have grown up around the march, not in the service of proving them true or false, but rather to use them as a lens into the ways that Americans' thoughts about the Civil War have changed over time.  

Biography:
Dr. Anne Sarah Rubin is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for Digital History and Education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).  She received her AB from Princeton University and her MA and PhD at the University of Virginia.  Professor Rubin joined the UMBC History Department in the Fall of 2000.  Her teaching and research focus on the American Civil War, the U.S. South, nineteenth century America, and digital history.

Dr. Rubin is currently finishing a book entitled Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman’s March and America, which is scheduled to be published in early 2014.  Her first book, A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, 1861-1868, focuses on Confederate nationalism and identity.  It won the 2006 Avery O. Craven book prize for the best book in Civil War history.

Dr. Rubin has also worked extensively with electronic media and is co-author of a CD-ROM, The Valley of the Shadow: The Eve of War.  That project won the first eLincoln Prize for the best digital project in American Civil War History as well as the James Harvey Robinson Prize, which is awarded biennially for the teaching aid that has made the most outstanding contribution to the teaching and learning of history in any field for public or educational purposes.

Dr. Rubin is currently President of the Society of Civil War Historians.  She is a member of the Maryland State Archives Legacy of Slavery Project Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of Civil War History.  She is also an OAH Distinguished Lecturer (2011-2014).

Dr. Rubin's website can be found at http://history.umbc.edu/facultystaff/full-time/anne-sarah-rubin/

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For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, visit http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/  

CANCELLED.  ALL OFFICERS' CLUB ACTIVITIES CANCELLED TODAY DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

CWRT-DC's Next Meeting:

Ed Bearss

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Ft. McNair Officers' Club, Washington D.C. (see map here)

6 pm: Social Hour (cash bar)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)

Reservations required: Call (703) 578-1942

TOPIC:
"The Battle of Chattanooga"

After being defeated by the Confederates at Chickamauga, General Rosecrans and the Army of the Cumberland withdrew to Chattanooga surrounded by Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee. The Confederates held the high ground of Lookout Mountain to the southwest and Missionary Ridge to the east.

When Grant was placed in command of the armies in the west, Rosecrans was relieved of command.  Major General George Thomas was placed in command of the Army of the Cumberland and plans were put into place to break out of Chattanooga.

Ed Bearss will take us through the events of 150 years ago at Chattanooga, including the dramatic assault on Missionary Ridge, that led to Bragg’s forces retreating and opened up the way to Georgia. Grant’s success would also get him noticed in Washington and lead to his promotion to lieutenant general and command of the Armies of the United States.

Biography:
Ed Bearss, an honorary lifetime member of the CWRTDC, is universally regarded as the unsurpassed tour guide of Civil War battlefields, no doubt in part because he has visited almost every battlefield in the country . . . and many multiple times.

Ed is the author or editor of numerous books and articles, including the definitive three volume series, The Vicksburg Campaign, and has been featured in many documentaries and television programs. He is a tireless advocate of Civil War preservation, donating his time to many organizations and activities involved with that mission including his service on the board of the Civil War Trust. Among his countless accolades and honors are the Bruce Catton Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Interior, and a Commendation from the Secretary of the Army. Since 2005, our Round Table has recognized Ed’s contributions by making an annual "Ed Bearss Award" to a preservation cause of his choosing.

Ed has worked as a historian at Vicksburg National Military Park where he co-conducted research that found the long-lost Union gunboat, U.S.S. Cairo. He also located two forgotten forts at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. Ed rose within the National Park Service (NPS) to the post of regional historian and was recognized as more knowledgeable on the Civil War battlefields than virtually anyone else. During his time with the NPS, Ed led efforts to research, preserve, and interpret Pea Ridge, Wilson’s Creek, Fort Smith, Stones River, Fort Donelson, the battlefields around Richmond, Fort Moultrie and Fort Point among many others.

Ed was named Chief Historian of the National Park Service in 1981, a position he held until 1994. He also served as special assistant to the NPS director from 1994 to 1995. After his retirement in 1995, he received the title Chief Historian Emeritus, which he holds to this day.

Ed, who turns 90 next year, continues to lead tours traveling around the United States, the Pacific, and Europe. I can personally attest to the report that " he routinely outpaces his much younger guests in charging over rough terrain, recreating the color of famous infantry and cavalry attacks." Ed indeed demonstrates his conviction that "You can't describe a battlefield unless you walk it!"
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For additional information about his presentation, download CWRTDC's October 2012 newsletter available by clicking here: cwrtdc-newsletters.  For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, visit http://www.cwrtdc.org/ 

 

CWRT-DC's Previous Meeting:

 

Burrus Carnahan

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Ft. McNair Officers' Club, Washington D.C. (see map here)

6 pm: Social Hour (cash bar)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)

Reservations required: Call (703) 578-1942

TOPIC:
"Lincoln and the Law of War"

I don’t know anything about the law of nations,” Lincoln confessed to Thaddeus Stevens in 1861.  International law, then called the law of nations, was one set of ideas Lincoln set out to master while President. By 1863 he had thoroughly mastered the principles of international law and, in particular, the law of war as it then existed. Dr. Carnahan's presentation will focus on Lincoln's ability to explain important legal concepts in plain language that was accessible to military officers as well as the American public, most notably in defense of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Burrus M. ("Buzz") Carnahan is a Foreign Affairs Officer at the US Department of State and a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University in Washington DC.  His JD degree is from Northwestern University (1969) and he holds an LLM from the University of Michigan (1974). From 1969 to 1989, Dr. Carnahan served as a Judge Advocate in the US Air Force, specializing in international legal issues.  From 1974 to 1978, he was an Associate Professor of Law at the US Air Force Academy. 

 

The author of two books and numerous articles on Abraham Lincoln, international law, and the law of war, Dr. Carnahan has spoken on Lincoln and his era at the Abraham Lincoln Institute at the National Archives, the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute, Robert Lincoln’s Hildene in Vermont, the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, and many other venues.  He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Lincoln Forum and in 2012 was appointed to the Scholarly Advisory Group for President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home for a two year term.