Rufus Barringer Civil War Round Table

 

I spent the last few days in the great state of North Carolina, and was treated to a wonderful time by my hosts.  On Thursday I flew into Raleigh-Durham airport where I was met by friend Teej Smith, Civil War author and researcher and the program director for the Rufus Barringer Civil War Round Table in Pinehurst.  Awhile back Teej invited me to speak to the group, and that invitation led to starting this blog, so for that alone I’m indebted to her.

Our first stop was Chapel Hill, home of Teej’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina.  On the mall I caught a glimpse of (James Johnston) Pettigrew Hall and the ubiquitous “Reb of Freedom”.  I got my souvenir shopping done in the student bookstore and we bought some coffee and sat in the infamous “Pit”, home to young, healthy, attractive, smart and/or well-to-do 18-22 year olds with a seemingly unlimited supply of things to be pissed-off about.  A great place to sit and watch.

 

Next up was the Wilson Library (below), where the special North Carolina collections are housed.  We were graciously led into the curator’s office to take a look at former valedictorian Pettigrew’s portrait (below – this photo is driving me to purchase a digital SLR), and with Teej’s help I was able to get a copy of an address given at the presentation of a portrait of Colonel Fisher of the 6th NC, killed at First Bull Run.  Lots of good stuff in it, but it will require separation of wheat from chaff.

 

After that we got a bite to eat at The Four Corners restaurant; then we drove to Pinehurst to get ready for the program, which kicked off at 7:00.  A nice group of about 30 were in attendance at the Southern Pines Civic Center, and I did my thing from 7:30 until about 8:45.  Everyone seemed interested, and I didn’t hear any crickets.  Only one question was asked at the end, though several folks came up afterwards to speak with me, one of them a cousin of the voice of my Pittsburgh Steelers, play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove.  Thanks to Teej and president Al Potts for a very nice time.

Still, I can’t shake the feeling that I was off my game.  I didn’t think my transitions between stories were particularly smooth, and I had to pause for a few seconds once or twice to find information in my notes (my presentaiton is not a prepared speech, but there are quite a few quotes I use).  Maybe I was tired from the flight and all, I don’t know.  But I did get further along than last time, and am considering eliminating the battle recap completely from the presentation.  Teej suggested I provide handouts such as the campaign maps: people love to have something they can hold in their hands and look at.  I think she’s right about that.

On Friday we paid a visit to the Malcolm Blue farm (below), where BG Judson Kilpatrick spent the night before the little fight at Monroe’s Crossroads.  We spent some time organizing Teej’s library, which is very impressive in quantity and quality.  We went to lunch in Pinehurst (in the village, near Pinehurst #2), then Teej drove me to Cary where I met up with my in-laws, with whom I stayed Friday night.  I got back home on Saturday in time to see my Nittany Lions fall to the hated maize and blue.  A bad end to an otherwise great trip.

I don’t have another speaking gig set up until March in Columbus, OH. I’ll continue to fine-tune the program, and as always if you’re interested in booking me you can do so via this site.  I have no qualms about speaking to round tables: I don’t anticipate making a living or even a profit from it, and do it only because I enjoy it and because someone asks.  I’ll stop whenever either of those things changes.

I Think I Did Better Than This Guy

 

 

(Click on Ben’s picture to see the video of his Voodoo Economics presentation in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.)

 

This past Wednesday (Aug. 15th) I presented my “Threads” program to the Western Pennsylvania Civil War Roundtable.  This was a good choice for my first presentation – I’ve been a member of the group for eight or nine years now.  I regularly teach recertification continuing education to professionals, but I admit to having been more than a little nervous about the prospect of addressing this group that includes a good number of very knowledgeable ACW enthusiasts.

About 60 members and guests braved the heat in a church hall hard by historic Old Economy Village in Ambridge, PA.  Old Economy is the remnant of the third and last Harmony Society settlement, founded in 1824 (click here for more on the Society and the settlement).  While the hall is newer than the church, it does not have air conditioning, so it was cookin’ in there.

The night before, I did a run through of my program.  I had it set up with 12 maps of the campaign, and with each map I had one or two stories (threads) with slides – mostly photos.  In the practice round, I covered about half the slides in about 70 minutes, and I was only going to get 60 at the meeting.  So I changed things up during the day on Thursday, and wrote a summary of the battle (one page).  By starting off with that I figured at least I could give the whole story of the battle with some of the points I wanted to make, and wouldn’t have to worry about getting to the end of my program since the threads stand alone.  After the intro, I went into thread pulling mode.  Out of about 90 slides, I got to go over 14.  All of the work I did produced about 2.5 to 3 hours worth of material.  So, I got that going for me, which is nice.

I think the program went well, and the folks seemed to like it – at least they laughed in the right places.  Afterwards they asked about 8 or 10 questions, for each of which I think I had a pretty good response.  Thanks to President Russ Broman, program director Dave Fisher, and founder Gary Augustine for the A-1 treatment.

You Spin Me Right Round, Table, Right Round

 

 

 

This musical interlude brought to you for no apparent reason, other than I have this song stuck in my head and can’t get it out and misery loves company. 

I have a round table presentation to give next Wednesday, the fifteenth, before my own group, the Western Pennsylvania Civil War Roundtable.  Tomorrow I plan on locking myself in my office to work on my PowerPoint.  The program will revolve around 12 maps of the campaign, with a main “thread” and one or two minor ones on individuals and/or events that tie to each map.

 

 

It’s been tough to prepare, because I feel like I haven’t spent much time working on the presentation.  But in fact I’ve spent a lot of time on it, because it all stems from things I’ve worked on for this blog.  I’ve outlined the program, and now it’s just a question of putting slides together and writing notes.  I don’t intend to read much text (other than direct quotes), but I need to have things like dates and such readily accessible.

The plan is for a very un-roundtable-like presentation…more conversational.  I’d like it to have a less formal feel, and will encourage on-topic questions during the presentation rather than waiting until the program is over.  I’m hoping for a more interactive experience.  It might irk traditionalists, but I’ll run the risk.