Winter Lectures and Battlefield Book Series
at Gettysburg National Military Park
Winter is a great time to visit and explore Gettysburg National Military Park. On January 6, the park’s winter programs begin. This year Gettysburg National Military Park is offering lectures, a book series, and the popular reading adventures program for children ages 4 to 10 and their families. These free programs run January through March at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.
Gettysburg will continue its popular Winter Lecture Series and Battlefield Book Series. Featuring some of the best National Park Service rangers and historians from across the region, the 11-week Winter Lecture Series of hour-long talks will examine pivotal turning points during the American Civil War era. From the Compromise of 1850, the Battle of Stones River, and the Lincoln – Douglas Debates to the legacy of George Meade, these moments and individuals mark significant epochs in the course of the conflict. The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center from January 6 through March 10, 2017.
Sat. Jan. 6 - Matt Atkinson
After Gettysburg: The Army of Northern Virginia Tries to Regroup
Sun. Jan. 7 - Daniel Vermilya
The Battle of Shiloh: Conquer or Perish
Sat. Jan. 13 - Troy Harman
Capt. Johnston's Sunrise Reconnaissance: How Lee and Longstreet Lost the War on July 2, 1863.
Sun. Jan. 14 - Karlton Smith
USS Monitor: The Ship That Launched a Modern Navy
Sat. Jan. 20 - Jared Frederick, Penn State Altoona
The Unfinished Work: The World Wars at Gettysburg
Sun. Jan. 21 - Tom Holbrook
If These Things Could Talk: Artifacts in the Collection of Gettysburg National Military Park
Sat. Jan. 27 - Zach Siggins
Breaking the Final Bond: The Presbyterian Church and the Coming of the Civil War
Sun. Jan. 28 - Christopher Gwinn
“A Great Weight at My Heart”: The Army of the Potomac after Gettysburg
Sat. Feb. 3 - Bert Barnett
God Has Granted Us a Happy New Year!” – An Unappreciated Turning Point of 1862: The Battle of Stones River
Sun. Feb. 4 - Angie Atkinson
Cogs in a Different Wheel: Non-combatant Life During the American Civil War
Sat. Feb. 10 - Steve Phan, Civil War Defenses of Washington DC
Early at the Gates: The Battle of Fort Stevens
Sun. Feb. 11 - John Hoptak
"before the fearful and dangerous leap is taken:" The Fateful Compromise of 1850
Sat. Feb. 17 - Daniel Vermilya
The Lincoln - Douglas Debates
Sun. Feb 18 - Karlton Smith and Matt Atkinson
Gettysburg & Vicksburg: "The Confederacy totters to its destruction."
Sat. Feb. 24 - John Heiser
“The movement was south.” General Grant and the Overland Campaign
Sun. Feb. 25 - Dr. Jennifer Murray, University of Virginia - Wise Campus
“God Knows My Conscious Is Clear”: Constructing George Gordon Meade’s Legacy
Sat. March 3 - Troy Harman
After Gettysburg: Religion, Lee's Army, and Southern Culture
Sun. March 4 - Mark Mahosky, Gettysburg NMP Artist in Residence
Mark Mahosky: 30 Years of Drawing the Gettysburg Battlefield
Sat. March 10 - Bert Barnett
Personal Turning Points – Jefferson Davis and George Thomas.
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Gettysburg Battlefield Book Series
Meeting from 11 a.m. until noon every Saturday from January 6 to March 3 the Gettysburg Battlefield Book Series will examine significant works of history and literature on topics related to the Battle of Gettysburg and the American Civil War. Gettysburg National Military Park invites you to read along over the course of the winter before attending the informal one hour discussions in the Ford Education Center of the park Museum and Visitor Center. Park staff will lead the meetings, providing a brief overview of that week’s topic and discuss the chapters read.
From January 6 to February 3 the Gettysburg Battlefield Book Series will examine our first book, Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee through His Private Letters, by Elizabeth Pryor Brown. This landmark biography sheds new light on every aspect of the complex and contradictory general’s life story. From February 10 to March 3, read along as we delve into Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows by Dr. Gabor Boritt. Boritt chronicles the crafting of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, delving into the context behind America’s most famous speech.
Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters
by Elizabeth Brown Pryor
January 6 – February 3
Reading the Man
January 6 Chapter 1-5
January 13 Chapter 6-10
January 20 Chapter 11-15
January 27 Chapter 16-20
February 3 Chapter 21-26
Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows by Gabor Boritt
February 10 – March 3
Gettysburg Gospel
February 10 Chapter 1-2
February 17 Chapter 3-4
February 24 Chapter 5-6
March 3 A Conversation with Dr. Gabor Boritt
