Update on Coming Attractions

My apologies. I know last week I mentioned I had a lot to post “in the days ahead.” Well, those days have yet to arrive. I have two talks and one tour to recap, dozens of letters to transcribe, and this stack of books to preview:

As always, though, life has a nasty habit of getting in the way of things. When I get my head above water, I’ll write up my recaps and previews, and will be most likely transcribing when I shuffle of this mortal coil, but right now I’ll take just a moment to thank a few people who helped make this a great May:

• Rebecca Urban of the Peninsula Foundation, who invited me to speak at the GAR hall in Peninsula, OH. A cool joint, you should visit there for a talk or an evening of “roots” music.
• Diane Klinefelter who invited me to speak at the Carnegie Library and Music Hall’s Civil War Symposium in Carnegie, PA. Also thank you my fellow presenters, Craig Swain and Rich Condon.
• My good friends in the all-star guide lineup for the 4th Bull Runnings Battlefield Tour, In the Footsteps of the 69th NYSM – John Hennessy, Joseph Maghe, and Damian Shiels. You went above and beyond. As John said, we were a jam band who never before played together, but we pulled it off! Think Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and, well, me. Also a shout-out to my sister Patrice Smeltzer, who provided significant assistance.
• Also a big thank you to everyone who attended these events. Some of you came from pretty far away (California, in two instances), and took valuable time from your busy schedules. I enjoyed meeting many of you for the first time, and renewing old acquaintances. I hope it was worth your while, and I hope to see you all again sometime soon – perhaps in Manassas for the battle anniversary weekend July 20-21 (two talks on Saturday and a bus tour on Sunday).

Coming Up in the Days Ahead

Saturday’s Bull Runnings Battlefield Tour was pretty great, with the weather holding out almost to the end. We had about 50 folks, and the round trip was about 5 miles (though my Fitbit says I walked 9.5 miles total).

It’s been a hectic month, but I will try this week to put up a post about the tour, as well as ones on my past two talks, a number of book previews, and upcoming events (I will be very busy in the Manassas area on July 20 & 21). Keep an eye out. Oh, and welcome to all the new followers.

Busy April

 

Real life is cramping my style right about now, so while I have this chance I’ll remind you that I have two speaking engagements this month. You can find them and any other of my engagements by following the Book Me, Danno! link in the banner above, but briefly I’ll be at the GAR Hall in Peninsula, OH, on Thursday evening, April 25, and at the Carnegie Free Library (which also has a GAR hall, coincidentally) in Carnegie, PA, on the following Saturday, April 27.

Don’t feel any pressure to attend both of these events – I’ll be presenting essentially the same program at both, with a little more emphasis on blogging at the second. This is a program – The Future of Civil War History – I’ve given a couple of times before, but it’s a very, umm, organic program and won’t ever be the same twice.

Civil War Symposium, April 27, 2019

Capt. Thomas Espy Post 153, Memorial Day 1904

On April 27, 2019, I will be presenting at the annual Andrew Carnegie Fee Library and Music Hall Civil War Symposium, in Carnegie, PA. I’ll be giving a mutation of my Future of Civil War History From a Slightly Different Point of View talk. Also on the schedule is Rich Condon of the Civil War Pittsburgh Facebook page (soon to be website, I am told), and Craig Swain of To the Sound of the Guns. Check out the brochure. There’s a theme.

If you plan to attend, set aside some time to check out the library, it’s almost complete collection of Abraham Lincoln photographs, and the finely restored Capt. Thomas Espy GAR Post 153. Plan to dine post-symposium in Carnegie – if you haven’t been there recently, it’s booming.

Capt. Thomas Espy GAR Post 143 Today

 

 

2019 Speaking Dates

I’ve updated the Book Me, Danno! page for my 2019 speaking/tour engagements (so far). On April 25, I’ll be presenting the Future of Civil War History program at the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) hall in Peninsula, OH. Interestingly enough, I’ll be presenting much of that program again two days later at the Carnegie Free Library and Concert Hall in Carnegie, PA, which also houses a fully restored G.A.R. post. When I presented this program for the first time back in 2013 I really didn’t think anyone would be intrigued enough to hear it again, but these will mark the third and fourth times for some mutation of it.

Yes, the correct date for the 69th NYSM tour is May 11. And I’m not really sure yet what’s going on with the battle anniversary weekend, other than I believe I’ll be working with some combination of Prince William County, Manassas Battlefield Trust,  and Manassas National Battlefield Park, both speaking and touring.

Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable 9/26/2018

A pretty crappy selfie, probably affected by the glare from the top of my head.

Sorry it’s taken me so long to put up this recap. Two weeks ago I was invited by the good folks at the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable to go out to Columbus and talk with them a little about my views on “the future of Civil War history,” from a perspective other than the norm. That is, from a guy on the street, for lack of a better term. I gave a similar talk back in 2013 in North Carolina, and updated that one somewhat, Really, it was more a discussion than a presentation. Lots of participation, lots of questions, and predictably we got a little off course, but it was all a good time. I learned a few things, too (this RT has some pretty sharp folks in it). We had between 25-30 in attendance, and I didn’t lose too many to the bar. This was my third presentation to this group, the last in 2014. They’re a good bunch and treated me first-rate.

Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable – 9/12/2018

Just a little announcement: I’ve been called in as a relief speaker to the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable on 9/12/2018. I was scheduled to speak there in September of 2019, but they were in a jam so I’m filling in. I’ll be dusting off and updating my Future of Civil War History talk that I gave to my friends in North Carolina back in 2013. Here’s a description:

In “The Future of Civil War History,” we will discuss the current Civil War history environment and where it may be headed. We’ll discuss observed trends in academic, public, and “amateur” history delivery systems, the impact of document availability, and what our roles are, may, should, and can be. While there are elements of presentation, this is most importantly a discussion. Come ready to contribute.

I’ve spoken to this fine group twice before – I seem to be on a four-year rotation. Unfortunately, I was really looking forward to working on the subject of my presentation originally scheduled for 2019, but I’ll just have to wait for another opportunity for that.

Time and place available at their website right here.