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2020 Schedule

2020 Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College Summer Conference

June 12-17, 2020

*Subject to change*

Schedule for: Friday, June 12

  • 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    Check-in
  • 3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
    Welcome, Peter Carmichael (Gettysburg College)
  • 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
    The Environmental History of the Gettysburg Battlefield, Brian Black (Penn State Altoona)
  • 4:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    Break
  • 4:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
    The Lincoln Memorial, Harold Holzer (Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Hunter College)
  • 5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
    Dinner
  • 6:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.
    A Conversation With Scott Hartwig, Ashley Whitehead Luskey (Gettysburg College) & Scott Hartwig
  • 8:00 p.m.
    Ice Cream Social
    Mr. G's Ice Cream

Schedule for: Saturday, June 13

  • 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
    Breakfast
  • 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
    Concurrent Sessions
    (Attendees pick 1, no reservations required)
    • (1) Gettysburg Generals Out West, Kent Gramm (Gettysburg College)
    • (2) A New Look at Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
      and Little Round Top,       Jared Peatman (Four Score Consulting)
    • (3) Meade’s Pipe Creek Line, Peter Vermilyea (Housatonic Valley Regional High School)
  • 9:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
    Break
  • 9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
    Rain, Grain, and the Slain: Environmental Influences on the Civil War, Judkin Browning (Appalachian State University)
  • 10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
    Break
  • 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
    Mary Todd Lincoln, Harold Holzer (Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Hunter College) and Catherine Clinton (University of Texas at San Antonio)
  • 12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
    Lunch
  • LUNCH-IN DISCUSSIONS (pre-assigned)
    1. (1)The Black Confederate at Arlington National Cemetery, Kevin Levin (Civil War Memory)
    2. (2)Looking at Photographs and Landscapes of War, Megan Kate Nelson
    3. (3)Soldiers & Newspaper Correspondence from the Front, Zachery Fry (U.S. Army Command & General Staff College)
    4. (4)Nutritional Deficiencies: The Role of Food in Confederate Military Failure, Judkin Browning (Appalachian State University)
    5. (5)The McClellan Testimonial, Jennifer Murray (Oklahoma State University)
  • 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    Concurrent Sessions
    (Attendees pick 1, no reservations required)
    • (1) “..the Duty of the Prisoner to Escape..”: POWs’ Escape Attempts, Plots, and Ideological Flight, Angela Zombek (University of North Carolina at Wilmington)
    • (2) General George Thomas, Brian Wills (Kennesaw State University)
    • (3) The Lincoln Theme in the 21st Century: Finally Exhausted?, Gerry Prokopowicz (East Carolina University)
  • 2:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
    Active-Track Classroom Discussion and Battlefield Tour, Sharpshooting at Gettysburg, Timothy Orr (Old Dominion University)
  • 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Coffee, Cookie, and Pastry Social
  • 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
    Concurrent Sessions
    (Attendees pick 1, no reservations required)
    • (1) Debating the Generalship of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Brian Wills (Kennesaw State University) and Keith Bohannon (University of West Georgia)
      Moderator: Ethan Rafuse (U.S. Army Command & General Staff College)
    • (2) Long Days in the Saddle: The Union Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign, Brad Gottfried (Independent Historian)
    • (3) Loyalty and Dissent in the Army of the Potomac, Zachery Fry (U.S. Army Command & General Staff College)
  • 4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
    Dinner
  • 5:45 p.m. - 8:45 p.m.
    Gettysburg Battlefield & Town Tours
    • (1) A Nation Hangs in the Balance: July 2, 1863, Matt Atkinson (Gettysburg NMP)
    • (2) Twilight of the Blue and Gray: Gettysburg College and the 1938 Reunion, Chris Gwinn (Gettysburg NMP)
    • (3)Unsurpassed Courage in Battle – Medal of Honor Recipients From the Battle of Gettysburg,
      Therese Orr (Licensed Battlefield Guide)
    • (4) Staff Ride: The Defense of the Union Center, Doug Douds (U.S. Army War College)
    • (5) Benning's Georgia Brigade, Keith Bohannon (University of West Georgia)
    • (6) Youth Tour & Group Discussion: Soldiers’ Letters and the Battlefield,
      Peter Carmichael (Gettysburg College)
      *For children and teens under 18 years of age and their families

Schedule for: Sunday, June 14

  • 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
    Breakfast
  • 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
    Concurrent Sessions
    (Attendees choose 1; no reservations required)
    • (1) Northern Women at War, Nina Silber (Boston University)
    • (2) Behind the Scenes of Licensed Battlefield Guiding at Gettysburg, Chuck Burkell (Licensed Battlefield Guide); Sue Boardman (Licensed Battlefield Guide/Gettysburg Foundation); Jessie Wheedleton (Licensed Battlefield Guide); and Wayne Motts (Licensed Battlefield Guide/National Civil War Museum)
      Moderator: Peter Carmichael (Gettysburg College)
  • 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
    Active-Track Tour, Sharpshooting at Gettysburg, Timothy Orr (Old Dominion University)
  • 9:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
    Break
  • 9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
    The Civil War in the West, Megan Kate Nelson
  • 10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
    Break
  • 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
    Concurrent Sessions
    (Attendees choose 1; no reservations required)
    • (1) Irregular Violence, Irregular History: The Civil War Guerilla Experience, Matthew Hulbert (Hampden-Sydney College)
    • (2) The Last Confederate Monuments: The Myths and Lies We Tell About Loyal Slaves and Black Confederates, Kevin Levin (Civil War Memory)
    • (3) Western Officers and Emancipation, Kristopher Teters (Western Governors University)
  • 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
    Lunch
  • 1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
    Soldier of Fortune: A Union Army Recruiter and His Impressment Scandal, Brian Luskey (West Virginia University)
  • 2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
    Break
  • 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
    Concurrent Sessions
    (Attendees pick 1; no reservations required)
    • (1) New Views of Old Abe: Unknown Lincoln Treasures from the National Archives, David Gerleman (George Mason University)
    • (2) By the People, For the People: Digitizing and Transcribing Civil War Manuscript Collections at the Library of Congress, Michelle Krowl (Library of Congress)
    • (3) Behind the Scenes of Civil War Times Magazine, Dana Shoaf (Civil War Times)
  • 3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Break
  • 4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
    The Civil War Letters of the North's Rank and File, John David Smith (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) and Timothy Roberts (Western Illinois University)
    Moderator: Peter Carmichael (Gettysburg College)
  • 5:30 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
    Dinner
  • DINE-IN DISCUSSIONS (pre-assigned)
    • (1) Louisa May Alcott and Civil War Nursing, Nina Silber (Boston University)
    • (2) "Lawrence or Hell": Exploring the Civil War's Most Infamous Massacre, Matthew Hulbert (Hampden-Sydney College)
    • (3) "I Take This Oath Freely & Voluntarily": Confederate Prisoners & the Oath of Allegiance, Angela Zombek (University of North Carolina at Wilmington)
    • (4) Union Officers Confront Black Freedom, Kristopher Teters (Western Governors University)
    • (5) "I Need Your Care and Protection Worse Than Old Abe Does": The Civil War's Complex Impact on a Western Illinois Couple, Timothy Roberts (Western Illinois University)
  • 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
    Debating McClellan at Antietam, Scott Hartwig (Independent Historian) and Ethan Rafuse (U.S. Army Command and General Staff College)

    Moderator: James Broomall (Shepherd University)

Schedule for: Monday, June 15

  • 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
    Breakfast
  • 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
    Bus Tours Depart:
    • (1) 2nd Fredericksburg and Salem Church, Eric Mink (Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP) and Keith Bohannon (University of West Georgia)
    • (2) Cool Springs Battlefield, Jonathan Noyalas (Shenandoah University)
    • (3) Antietam: A Military Staff Ride, Carol Reardon (Penn State University)*
      *This tour will return to campus between 5 pm and 6 pm
    • (4) Leadership at Manassas: The First Test, 1861, Ethan Rafuse (U.S. Army Command and General Staff College)
    • (5) The Evolution of the Charge in the Civil War: Bristoe Station, Marye's Heights, and the Mule Shoe, Jennifer Murray (Oklahoma State University)
  • 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
    Dinner

Schedule for: Tuesday, June 16

  • 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
    Breakfast
  • 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
    Tours: Gettysburg
    • (1) The Pennsylvania Reserves & Wheaton's 6th Corps Brigade at Little Round Top, Dana Shoaf (Civil War Times)
    • (2) The West Point Class of 1861 at Gettysburg, Zachery Fry (U.S. Army Command and General Staff College)
    • (3) Bivouac of the Dead: The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Sue Boardman (Licensed Battlefield Guide and the Gettysburg Foundation)
    • (4) “The Day Has Been a Most Unfortunate One for Us”: The First Day at Gettysburg, Scott Hartwig (Independent Historian)
  • 12:30 p.m. -1:30 p.m.
    Lunch
  • 1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
    Assessing the "Great Partnership" of Lee and Jackson: How Professionalism, Friendship, and Religion Fostered Success, Christian Keller (U.S. Army War College)
  • 2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
    Break
  • 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Debating James Longstreet
    Jeffry Wert (Independent Historian) and Peter Carmichael (Gettysburg College)
    Moderator: TBD
  • 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
    Dinner
  • 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
    Farewell Social – Wine & Cheese Event

Schedule for: Wednesday, June 17

  • 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
    Breakfast
  • 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
    Checkout