General Meade Society Spring Symposium
April 2, 2023
from 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The War with Mexico; Training Ground of Civil War Commander
“Lucretia Coffin Mott” ~ Sun Mar 5th at 1pm for Women’s’ History Month
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G.A.R.) CIVIL WAR MUSEUM & ARCHIVE
Presents a New Program via ZOOM
Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 1pm
Women’s’ History Month Program
“Lucretia Coffin Mott” by Prof. Nilgun Anadolu-Okur, Temple University
Born on January 3, 1793, in Nantucket, MA, Lucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, an abolitionist, women's rights activist, and a social reformer. She came from a family of abolitionists. Her parents were Anna Folger and Thomas Coffin. She was a cousin of Benjamin Franklin.
She believed in reforming the status of women in society after she was excluded, with other women delegates, from the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London in 1840. Mott was a firm supporter of African American rights and she was one of the founders of the Philadelphia Female Antislavery Society. Mott’s legacy is connected to Camp William Penn, as her property was adjacent to the grounds where first African American soldiers were trained to join the Union forces in 1863. In this slide-illustrated talk Dr. Anadolu-Okur will highlight Lucretia Mott’s achievements, her contributions to the development of abolitionist discourse, women’s rights, and the alliances she established with Frederick Douglass and William L. Garrison during one of the most contentious eras of American history.
Dr. Nilgün Anadolu-Okur is the Presidential Professor of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University’s College of Liberal Arts. She holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in African American and American Studies. She has two Fulbright appointments internationally and she has received grants and national awards in humanities. Currently she serves as chair of the Faculty Senate Status of Women Committee and as the Graduate Director of her department. In 1990s as the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC) Commonwealth Speaker she toured Pennsylvania and lectured on Underground Railroad and Black Abolitionists. She is the co-founder of the “Annual Underground Railroad Conference at Temple University,” since 2003. She has authored books on African American Studies and her articles are published in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Black Studies, Gender Issues, Human and Society. Her research has a broad spectrum ranging from theory and methodology in Africology and Afrocentricity, race and racism, women’s rights, abolition, Black Women authors (19th to 21st century), African American history, and motherhood in antiquity.
Her recent book is titled: Dismantling Slavery: Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Formation of the Abolitionist Discourse, 1841-1851.
Please send a request to reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation by replying to this e-mail at garmuslib1866@gmail.com
You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation.
We will make every effort to reply, but G-Mail may be slow and our volunteer may be called away during the day before or the morning of March 5
As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today! We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum & Archive
A FREE virtual program online
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC MUSEUM & LIBRARY
In its new location:
8110 Frankford Ave. (Holmesburg - N.E. Philadelphia)
• www.garmuslib.org
Honorary First Defenders - Information and Links
HFD Mission Statement
Honorary First Defenders
Allentown Chapter, Allentown, PA
Link to Website
To perpetuate the memory of the First Defenders, those Soldiers of Pennsylvania whom, on
18 April 1861, were the first to reach Washington in answer to the call of President Lincoln to defend the Capitol. And to promote community interest in matters of National Defense by lending support to the programs of selected military reserve units in the area, including Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Reserve, and Coast Guard, by encouraging maintenance of high standards of performance and contributing to the comfort and convenience of their members.
In April 1861, in response to the call from President Abraham Lincoln, Allentown sent a company of Pennsylvania militia to Washington, D.C. It was one of the first to reach Washington. By their presence, they not only deterred the South from any plans they may have had to capture our Capitol, they also may have changed the course of the war itself. On April 17, 1861, 49 members of the Allen Infantry boarded a train in Allentown and headed for Harrisburg where they joined two other artillery units and an infantry and guard unit. The following morning, the five companies, totaling 476 men, left by train for Washington. In Baltimore, while marching from one railroad station to another, these men were stoned by Southern sympathizers. Thus the first blood was spilled from this bloody war. Among those injured was Ignatz Gresser from Allentown. Gresser was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in the battle of Antietam; he was the only Allentownian ever so honored. A statue in honor of him was erected in West Park. The men from Pennsylvania were the first to reach Washington. Their contribution is noted in a special resolution of the House of Representatives dated July 22, 1861, in which they rendered thanks to the Pennsylvanians “who passed through the mob at Baltimore and reached Washington on the 18th day of April, for the defense of the National Capital. Thus they came to be numbered among the “First Defenders”. This is how we got our name, The First Defenders”.
The Honorary First Defenders is an organization of business and professional men and women dedicated to perpetuate the memory of the “The First Defenders” who responded to Lincoln’s call. Some of these men and women are former military personnel but includes anyone who wants to perpetuate this memory. The Honorary First Defenders assist the local unit of the National Guard by supporting them as well as many of the military units in the Lehigh Valley area who carry on the tradition of our famous forbearers.
Our organization was first conceived in 1938 by Col C.J. Smith, the Commander of the 213th Regiment of the Coastal Artillery and Anti-aircraft Unit, and by BG Frank D. Beary, Former Adjutant General of Pennsylvania. During World War II, the Honorary First Defender members worked to meet some of the needs of the troops overseas. Supplies such as soap, stamped envelopes, writing paper, flashlights, cigarettes, and cigarette lighters were sent. Help was also provided for family support.
Best of all, is the story of the sauerkraut and pork dinner served to 300 Allentown men, many of them Pennsylvania Germans, located between Algiers and Tunisia in April, 1943, compliments of the Honorary First Defenders of Allentown! This dinner was duplicated a few years ago for our troops in Desert Storm.
We also help our local Military Units by contributing $1000 annually to each of our four services for amenities that could not be requisitioned through their normal supply channels.
Website - http://honoraryfirstdefenders.com/
Adams County Museum - Some Tickets Still Available for Opening on April 15/16
Have you reserved your tickets for Gettysburg Beyond the Battle Museum's Grand Opening Weekend? Timed-entry museum ticketing is officially available through our website - gettysburgbeyondthebattle.org - for April 15th & 16th.
A full schedule of events will be released soon, so be sure to stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for all the latest updates!
Opening Weekend highlights include book signings with special guests (Jeff Shaara, William A. Frassanito, Garry Adelman, Tim Smith, and more), exclusive programming, living history, and a special pop-up stand from Hollabaugh Bros., a favorite local farmers' market.
Our Grand Opening Weekend is sponsored by Battlefield Harley Davidson, The Dobbin House Tavern, Hollabaugh Bros, Inc., and The Union Hotel.
Tickets are also available for the remainder of April and May via the button below.
*IMPORTANT NOTE - Certain time blocks are sold out for the Grand Opening, but there is still availability. To see all available dates and times on the ticketing page, please click "Other dates" and/or "Other Times."
Zoom Lecture Sun Feb 26th at 3pm by Dr Robert Hicks
Adams County Historical Society Museum Opens April 15 & 16
Join us for the Grand Opening Weekend of Gettysburg's newest museum, Beyond the Battle, on April 15th and 16th. Timed-entry ticketing is officially available for purchase on our website (and via the button below). In addition to self-guided museum tours, there will be special programs, book signings, living history presentations, and a special pop-up stand from Hollabaugh Bros. - a favorite local farmer's market. Special guests will include author Jeff Shaara, and historians William A. Frassanito, Garry Adelman, Sue Boardman, and Tim Smith.
Additional museum tickets for April and May are also available via the button below.
About Beyond the Battle
Travel through twelve chronological areas of artifact-packed exhibits that explore the history of our world-famous community. From prehistoric times to the recent past, Gettysburg Beyond the Battle tells the stories of ordinary people and their extraordinary experiences. The museum includes access to our unique immersive experience called Caught in the Crossfire. Inside, you will see, hear, and feel the Battle of Gettysburg from the civilian perspective. For more information, please visit gettysburgbeyondthebattle.org.
Get Tickets Now!
The Adams County Historical Society
& Gettysburg Beyond the Battle Museum
625 Biglerville Road, Gettysburg PA 17325
Unexploded Shell Found Near Little Round Top
NPS
GETTYSBURG TIMES - Feb 8, 2023
By Jim Hale Times Staff Writer
An archaeologist discovered an unexploded Civil War shell Wednesday afternoon near Little Round Top in Gettysburg National Military Park.
Nearby roads were closed as military experts determined how to dispose of what may have been a projectile from a Parrott rifled cannon, park Communications Specialist Jason Martz said.
A two-person team from the U.S. Army 55th Ordnance Disposal Company EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) unit, Fort Belvoir, Va., was on the scene.
The EOD team “safely removed the shell before it was destroyed off-site” and “gently washed off the mud to allow park staff to photograph the shell,” according to Martz.
The shell was on the north side of Warren Avenue in the southwestern portion of the Little Round Top area, Martz said.
The discovery came during the long-running renovation project on Little Round Top.
Contract archaeologist Steven Brann has been “tied at the hip to the construction contractor,” Martz said.
Whenever workers “put any kind of a shovel into the ground, the archaeologist goes in first and sweeps the area,” and records the position of any artifact that is found “so its story is maintained,” he said.
Brann “got a hit, dug for it, realized what it was” and “got out in a hurry,” Martz said.
“The National Park Service has a simple and straightforward protocol for this type of thing,” and each park has identified a military unit that can help, he said.
The shell was not the first artifact found since the Little Round Top renovation began, but it “is an outlier for sure. You could call it unique,” he said.
Other finds have included Civil War bullets called Minie balls, percussion caps, and other “run-of-the-mill infantry content,” which is what officials had “largely expected” to find, Martz said.
The shell appeared to be from the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 rather than from World War I era artillery training related to the Army’s nearby Camp Colt, which was commanded by a young Dwight Eisenhower, Martz said.
The South Confederate, Crawford, Ayers and South Sickles avenues closures were to be lifted once the area was declared safe, according to a post on the park’s Facebook page.
The $13 million rehabilitation project began in July last year, and the Little Round Top area is expected to be close for approximately 18 months, according to the park website.
The project aims to “address overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, significant erosion, and degraded vegetation” and “enhance the visitor experience with improved interpretive signage, new accessible trail alignments, and gathering areas,” according to the website.
How Three Generations of Barkers Helped Build America” Feb 5 via Zoom
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G.A.R.) CIVIL WAR MUSEUM & ARCHIVE
Presents a New Program via ZOOM
Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 1:00pm (EST in the US)
“Hitherto Invincible: How Three Generations of Barkers Helped Build America” By Historian and author Dr. Tom Wieckowski
Dr. Tom Wieckowski is Chair of the Cheltenham Township Historical Commission and Vice-President of the Old York Road Historical Society. He received his B.S. from Villanova University and Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is retired from Drexel University in Philadelphia where he was a professor and Associate Dean of the LeBow College of Business among other positions. He currently devotes his time to his lifelong hobby, historical research and writing, and is the author of Making Marathon, published in 2009 by Infinity Press, a history of the village of Wyncote that was the first outpost of the Gilded Age, and A Spectacle for Men and Angels, a narrative documentary of Camp William Penn, published in the fall of 2013. His just-published book, Hitherto Invincible, published by Palmetto Press, is the story of three generations of the Barker family, influential 19th century Philadelphia bankers, and their contributions to a growing 19th century Philadelphia and America.
Hitherto Invincible, is the story of three generations of the Barker family, influential 19th century bankers, and their contributions to a growing 19th century America. Jacob of New York was the largest shipowner in the country, financier of the War of 1812, and banker before he was exiled to New Orleans. His daughter Anna, a friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a notable figure in the Transcendentalist movement and engaged in an infamous love triangle that destroyed her best friend. Son Abraham moved to Philadelphia and revolutionized the stock exchange and co-founded the Union League and Camp William Penn. His son Wharton, a Union Army veteran who served at Camp William Penn with the 3rd United States Colored Troops; a Penn-trained economist, expanded Barker Brothers Bank to finance railroads, create successful presidential candidates, and engage in international exploits, leading eventually to the failure of the bank and the end of an era.
Please send a request to reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation by replying to this e-mail at garmuslib1866@gmail.com
You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation.
We will make every effort to reply, but G-Mail may be slow and our volunteer may be called away during the day before or the morning February 5
As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today! We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum & Library
A FREE virtual program online
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC MUSEUM & LIBRARY
In its new location:
8110 Frankford Ave. (Holmesburg - N.E. Philadelphia)
• www.garmuslib.org
Secession Crises - Lincoln's and Ours ~ Sat Feb 4th at LV Heritage Museum
Listen to Matthew Pinsker describe Lincoln’s Secession Crisis and that of our own day.
