EVENTS

  The National Civil War Museum is proud to announce the rescheduled Community Free Day on April 20, 2024, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The National Civil War Museum welcomes visitors to enjoy a day of fun activities and entertainment free of charge. Families can participate in a coloring activity grab-and-go station, Music with the Long Hill String Band, the U.S. Sanitary Commission, and much more. Guests can also watch a very special one-act play, "Independence: The True Story of Dr. Mary Walker," scheduled at 1:00 pm in the Museum Ballroom, with Kathie Barnes as Dr. Mary Walker, written and directed by Lloyd J. Schwartz, and produced by Tina Dwyer. Jeffrey L. Nichols, CEO of The National Civil War Museum. “We invite everyone to join us for a day of learning, entertainment, and fun activities.” The National Civil War Museum is a premier destination for history enthusiasts, scholars, and families. It is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the legacy of the American Civil War and its impact on American society.   The Community Free Day is proudly sponsored by Abel & Son Roofing and Visit Hershey Harrisburg.

  The National Civil War Museum Proudly Presents INDEPENDENCE: The True Story of Dr. Mary Walker, with Kathie Barnes as Dr. Mary Walker, written and directed by Lloyd J. Schwartz, and produced by Tina Dwyer on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at 1:00 pm, and is Free to the public. This one-act play is followed by a Q&A with the actress. About the play: A women's history play about Dr. Mary Walker - Civil War Surgeon, Heroine, and Positive Role Model. This theatre piece brings to the forefront the life of Doctor Mary Edwards Walker, the Only Woman to have been awarded our country's highest honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor. Living in an era when women had few rights, Dr. Walker didn't take 'No' for an answer, becoming one of the first women to wear pants, to take 'obey' out of her marriage vows and the first woman surgeon in the US. A trailblazer for Women's Rights, Dr. Mary Walker was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls. Several hospitals bear her name, yet most people do not know of her. Dr. Mary Walker is truly a heroine who needs to be known - and through the powerful art of theatre, this is […]

Join us on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 7:00 pm for a CIVIL CONVERSATION. This is a live ZOOM event ~ Dr. Robert K. D. Colby, author of An Unholy Traffic will engage in a Civil Conversation with NCWM CEO Jeffrey Nichols. Register here: Civil Conversation with Dr. Robert Colby About the book: The Confederate States of America was born in defense of slavery and, after a four-year struggle to become an independent slaveholding republic, died as emancipation dawned. Between Fort Sumter to Appomattox, Confederates bought and sold thousands African American men, women, and children. These transactions in humanity made the internal slave trade a cornerstone of Confederate society, a bulwark of the Rebel economy, and a central part of the experience of the Civil War for all inhabiting the American South. As An Unholy Traffic shows, slave trading helped Southerners survive and fight the Civil War, as well as to build the future for which they fought. They mitigated the crises the war spawned by buying and selling enslaved people, using this commerce to navigate food shortages, unsettled gender roles, the demands of military service, and other hardships on the home front. Some Rebels speculated wildly in human property, […]

Join us for our in-person event: Lessons in History, Saturday, May 11, 2024, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ~ John Reeves, A Fire in the Wilderness: The First Battle Between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee Author John  Reeves tells the story of the first bloody showdown between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in May 1864; when the future of the United States depended on the Union Army’s success in a desolate forest roughly sixty-five miles from the nation’s capital. Guests can tour the Museum Galleries for an entrance fee of $16.00 for Adults, $15.00 for Seniors and AAA, and $14.00 for Students and Military. Admission to the presentation is free.

Join us for our In-Person Lessons in History Speaker Series as Dr. Bradley M. Gottfried discusses his new book, The Maps of Spotsylvania through Cold Harbor: An Atlas of the Fighting at Spotsylvania Court House Through Cold Harbor, Including all Cavalry Operations, May 7 through June 3, 1864, on Saturday, June 15, 2024, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm. About the book: The Maps of Spotsylvania through Cold Harbor: An Atlas of the Fighting at Spotsylvania Court House Through Cold Harbor, Including all Cavalry Operations, May 7 through June 3, 1864, continues the actions of both armies through the completion of the Overland Campaign. After the Wilderness fighting, the Army of the Potomac attempted to swing around the right flank of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and shoot straight for Richmond. The Maps of Spotsylvania through Cold Harbor breaks down the entire operation into thirty-five map sets or “action sections” enriched with 134 detailed full-page color maps. About the author: Born and raised in Philadelphia, Brad Gottfried earned his Ph.D. in Zoology from Miami University and spent four decades as an educator in higher education. He has served as a full-time faculty member, department head, campus dean, chief […]

The National Civil War Museum proudly presents the NCWM Juneteenth Community Free Day on Saturday, June 22, 2042, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Join us for a day filled with family-friendly activities, all free of charge. Please check back often for new activities and the full event schedule. We look forward to seeing you!

Join us for a book launch on Wednesday, July 3, 2024 at 1:00 pm, with Allen C. Guelzo and his new book Voices from Gettysburg, Letters, Papers, and Memoirs from the Greatest Battle of the Civil War. About the book: The voices of those who witnessed the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath with their own eyes – who saw the bloodshed, heard its din, trembled in its crash, struggled with its aftermath – are collected for the first time by Allen C. Guelzo, America’s foremost Civil War scholar, in this moving and sobering oral history. This treasure trove of original documents – many never-before published – creates a uniquely personal, day-by-day eyewitness account of the monumental collision at Gettysburg, in the words of the commanders, soldiers, politicians, and civilians from both the North and the South who experienced firsthand the changing course of the Civil War. Three pivotal days in 1963 – July 1st through July 3rd – marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War. While the audible voices of those who experienced it first-hand in that crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania have been lost to history, their words live on in Voices from Gettysburg. Gathering a […]