Science and engineering that i realized what i really loved was history, and i was bored in class one day because i forgot my book, which is the downfall of every nerd the, the day you forget your book, and i happened to be in sociology class, and the teacher also taught a civil war class. I started reading, and i thought it was the most fascinating people i read about. What fascinated me, looking at these people dealing with the most claddagh close make moments of their lives the most cataclysmic moments of their lives and the nations life and figuring out how to deal with the situation, far enough to be strange, yet close enough to be familiar at the same time. You get your chance to go to fredericksburg, now as a permanent historian. Could you tell us a little bit about some of the things that you did there . Im not saying in terms of accomplishments, but i think our audience is interested what does it mean to be a part interpreter historian at a place like fredericksburg . It means
Changed in interpretation. The Gettysburg College Civil War Institute provided the video for this event. Toso, beth i would like start by getting a feel for what led you to Civil War History and the career path you have taken. Beth that is a good question. Most people when you ask them that question who are in this field have these glowing nostalgic memories of being taken to the battlefield as children and that is not my story. My family visited some Historic Sites but not really, not that many. For us, or for me, it was when i got to high school and was considering a lot of careers in science and engineering, but realized what i really loved was history. I just happened to i was boarding class one day because i bored my book i was in class one day because i forgot my book. I picked book off the shelf. The teacher also taught a civil war class. The people i read about were fascinating. That is what fascinated me, these people who were dealing with the most cataclysmic moments of their
Such a sweeping story . Harold we have tack till objects, images, but probably as you force us to describe this in civil war fashion, ill get that later. The hardest thing is to preserve, you know better than most, for textiles and the objects were going to discuss today, some of them are really extraordinary and n terms of how they survived. Valerie absolutely. And without further ado, lets get to our four things this evening. We have a military button, and a drum. Very interesting, and fashion, maybe, maybe not. But in aggregate, they do tell the story of uniform courage, outfitting the civil war soldier. Lets start with this uniform. Surviving uniforms, or textiles in that matter in five conditions from the civil war are very rare. And this one is impeccably preserved, and its unique. You have to admit, a pretty cookie costume to wear into combat. Can you tell us about this outfit . As you say, in a uniform, believe it or not, the soldiers who wore these dudss were considered the to
, ranger at Petersburg National battlefield, where we first met as park rangers many, many years ago. He is worked in manassas, vicksburg, and gettysburg. He will tackle the elephant in the room about gettysburg versus vicksburg, which one of these two battles he considers being a native mississippian and having worked at both parks, which he considers to be the biggest turning point. Gettysburg or vicksburg . I will let matt get up here and explain. Matt atkinson. [applause] matt thats what it is. I understand you all had a row last night about something. Right there, right . The most important battle, a top the top 10 battles in the american civil war, and gettysburg was left off. Can you believe that . I want to tell you a quick story. I was invited down to a richmond roundtable. We were at the willow oaks country club. We had virginia ham. That is the only time they go out there. Anyway, i was having a great time. I was in richmond and the man who did the top 10 last night lives th
He is also from Indiana University of pennsylvania. He holds a masters degree in Library Science from the university of pittsburgh and the director of the elderly library at waynesburg university. Where he also is professor. He is author of the Gettysburg Campaign guide, a study guide. He essayed pint of no return as part of the turning points collection. It is on the 1864 president ial election. And the doom of the confederacy. Currently, from gettysburg churches become battlefield hospitals, a walking tour and brief introduction to civil war medicine is what he is currently working on and forthcoming later this year in 2018. In 2016 he received permission from the Pennsylvania Historical Museum commission to create a memorial marker for lettermans childhood home. This marker was dedicated on november 11th of 2017. Since 1993 he has reenacted in the American Civil War as a federal infantry man, medical service captain and most importantly as president Abraham Lincoln. With that please