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Clara Barton – Red Cross Angel – Presentation at the NCWM

The National Civil War Museum 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, PA, United States

CLARA BARTON-RED CROSS ANGEL By Award-Winning Actress & Smithsonian Scholar Mary Ann Jung Join us for an interpretive presentation by Mary Ann Jung, as she portrays Clara Barton, on Saturday, May 3, 2025, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm, in our education gallery. This special program is free of charge, regular admission applies for entrance to the Museum galleries.  About the Presentation: Clara Barton, America's greatest heroine, faced bullying and bullets with astonishing bravery to save the lives of others as a Civil War nurse. She then went on to create The Missing Soldiers Office and the American Red Cross despite formidable obstacles. Audience members become naysayers and believers, soldiers and nurses to discover what these struggles and accomplishments meant on a personal level. This award-winning show inspires all of us to "Never Give Up!"

Waging War for Freedom with the 54th Massachusetts – A ZOOM Conversation

ZOOM

Waging War for Freedom with the 54th Massachusetts - The Civil War Memoir of John W. M. Appleton Join us for a free ZOOM Civil Conversation with NCWM CEO Jeffrey Nichols and authors James Robbins Jewell and Eugene S. Van Sickle on Thursday, May 15, 7:00 pm -8:00 pm. Register here - It's Free: Civil Conversation with Dr. James Jewell and Dr. Eugene Van Sickle: Waging War for Freedom About the book: Late in 1862, amid the horrors of the U.S. Civil War, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, with President Lincoln’s approval, authorized the recruitment of Black soldiers for the Union cause. In January of 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was born. On February 7, 1863, Massachusetts governor John Andrew commissioned Boston-bred John W. M. Appleton the first of the white officers in the most famous Civil War regiment of Black soldiers. Appleton immediately began recruiting enlisted soldiers for the company he would command, Company A. Waging War for Freedom with the 54th Massachusetts is a fresh look at the service of this famed regiment as told through Appleton’s memoir—the most complete first-person account available about the service of the men in the 54th Massachusetts regiment. Appleton wrote candidly about his own experiences and the […]

“Lincoln’s Peace” by Michael Vorenberg via ZOOM

The National Civil War Museum 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, PA, United States

LOS ANGELES TIMES “TOP TEN BOOKS TO READ IN 2025” Join us on May 29, 2025, 7:00 pm -8:00 pm for a ZOOM Civil Conversation with the author, Michael Vorenberg. Click here to register: Civil Conversation with Dr. Michael Vorenberg - Lincoln's Peace About the book: One historian’s journey to find the end of the Civil War—and, along the way, to expand our understanding of the nature of war itself and how societies struggle to draw the line between war and peace. We set out on the James River, March 25, 1865, aboard the paddle steamboat River Queen. President Lincoln is on his way to General Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia, and he’s decided he won’t return to Washington until he’s witnessed, or perhaps even orchestrated, the end of the Civil War. Now, it turns out, more than a century and a half later, historians are still searching for that end. About the author: MICHAEL VORENBERG is a professor of history at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the author of Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment, which was a finalist for the Lincoln Prize and a key source for Steven Spielberg’s […]

In-Person Book Talk-Rebels at the Gates

The National Civil War Museum 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, PA, United States

Rebels at the Gates - The Confederacy's Final Gamble and the Battle to Save Washington by Robert P. Watson Join us on Friday, June 13, 2025, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm for an In-person presentation by author Robert P. Watson, followed by a book-sigining. About the book: Rebels at the Gate chronicles an intriguing series of events that nearly changed American history. In the last full year of the Civil War, Washington, DC came within hours of being invaded and Lincoln within inches of being shot. During the summer of 1864, General Ulysses Grant was laying siege to Petersburg (near Richmond), deploying every available Union soldier in an effort to end the bloody war once and for all. His counterpart, General Robert E. Lee and his famed Army of Northern Virginia, were trapped inside Richmond, and recognized that the Confederate capital would fall. Lee knew Grant, and understood that he would never stop attacking until he had Richmond. It was then that the southern commander hatched a desperate and bold plan to save the Confederacy and perhaps bring the war to an end… but on the Confederacy’s terms. Historian Robert Watson provides the definitive account of this largely forgotten attack on […]

Free Civil War Book Talk – Fear No Pharaoh with Richard Kreitner

The National Civil War Museum 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, PA, United States

Please join us for a free, in-person book talk, Fear No Pharaoh, American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery, with Richard Kreitner on June 14, 2025, from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, followed by a book signing. A dramatic history of how American Jews reckoned with slavery—and fought the Civil War. A dramatic history of how American Jews reckoned with slavery—and fought the Civil War. Since ancient times, the Jewish people have recalled the story of Exodus and reflected on the implications of having been slaves. Did the tradition teach that Jews should speak out against slavery and oppression everywhere, or act cautiously to protect themselves in a hostile world? In Fear No Pharaoh, the journalist and historian Richard Kreitner sets this question at the heart of the Civil War era. Using original sources, he tells the intertwined stories of six American Jews who helped to shape a tumultuous time, including Judah Benjamin, the brilliant, secretive lawyer who became Jefferson Davis’s trusted confidante; Morris Raphall, a Swedish-born rabbi who defended slavery as biblically justified; and Raphall's rival rabbis—the celebrated Isaac Mayer Wise, who urged Jews to stay out of the slavery controversy to avoid attracting attention, and David […]

In-Person Book Talk – George Graham Vest

The National Civil War Museum 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, PA, United States

We are pleased to offer a book talk and signing on July 19, 2025, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Saturday, July 19 at 2:00 pm with author, editor, and publisher,  Stephen M. Vest. Stephen Vest will discuss his book "George Graham Vest", with a book signing immediately following the book talk. The 2024 Lessons in History program is free to the public. Regular museum admission applies for entrance to the museum galleries. About the Book: Although the saying “Dog is man’s best friend,” is well known, the man who originally coined the phrase is less celebrated in modern times. However, in the late 1800s, George Graham Vest was a distinguished attorney and politician widely admired for his skills in oration and debate. George Graham Vest—The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend provides a detailed look at Vest, who practiced law in central Missouri, serving in the Missouri House of Representatives, the Confederate Congress, the Confederate Senate, and later the U.S. Senate. He also helped establish Yellowstone National Park. Written by descendant Stephen M. Vest, George Graham Vest is a fitting biography to one of America’s best statesmen, long overdue. About the Author: Stephen M. Vest is the editor and […]