Bernard Fisher, President              Rob Monroe, Editor       
7300 Ann Cabell Lane                   2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Mechanicsville, VA 23111               Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
bernard.fisher@comcast.net             RMonroe500@comcast.net   
 February 2007 PROGRAM

John Hennessy

"Using and Abusing Hallowed Ground:
The Adventures, Misadventures and
Evolution of Virginia's Battlefields"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 13, 2007, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.) Enter
the basement door on the right side under the front steps.

Civil War Round Tables like ours devote  time,  energy,  and
money  to  help  preserve,  protect,  and  extend  Civil War
battlefields.  This work and the simple act of touring those
battlefields make round tables - us - active participants in
the ongoing historical drama  of  battlefield  preservation.
The  preceding  acts  in  this  drama  will  be the focus of
February's program.                                         

John Hennessy, a veteran National Park Service historian and
administrator  will  put our modern battlefield preservation
efforts in historical context.  With particular reference to
Fredericksburg  and  Manassas  (parks  where he has worked),
Hennessy will "look at both the  changing  cultural  use  of
these  hallowed places (from 1864 onward) and their physical
evolution and (later) struggle for survival." Hennessy  will
explain  how "the place of battlefields and the Civil War in
American culture is, nearly 150 years after the  fact,  very
similar  to  the  place held by Ground Zero five years after
the event."                                                 

Hennessy is best known to Civil War audiences as  author  of
Return  to  Bull  Run:  The  Campaign  and  Battle of Second
Manassas.  He is also author of Second Manassas  Battlefield
Study and The First Battle of Manassas: An End to Innocence.
After graduating from the State University of  New  York  at
Albany,  he  worked  for five years as historian at Manassas
National Battlefield.  After an interlude with the New  York
State    Office   of   Parks,   Recreation,   and   Historic
Preservation, he returned to Virginia and the National  Park
Service  as  an  exhibit planner at Harpers Ferry Center and
has worked since 1995 as  assistant  superintendent  at  the
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.     


Brief Summary of January Meeting

At the RCWRT's first meeting of 2007, Mark Greenough gave an
informal  presentation  on  the  Virginia Capitol during the
Civil  War.   The  Confederate  Congress  and  the  Virginia
General  Assembly  met  simultaneously  at  least  363  days
between 1861 and 1865.  Jefferson Davis  took  the  oath  of
office  under  the  George  Washington statue on the Capitol
grounds on February 22, 1862 (Washington's birthday).   This
equestrian  statue  was  the inspiration for the seal of the
Confederate States.                                         

The Robert E.  Lee statue inside the Capitol was unveiled on
Lee's  125th  birthday.  The likeness of Marse Robert stands
six feet four inches tall.  Greenough  smiled  and  reminded
the  Round  Table,  "In  Virginia, Lee is always larger than
life."                                                      


Pamplin Historical Park Offers
"A Visit with Mr. Lincoln"

Nationally renowned  Abraham  Lincoln  actor,  James  Getty,
presents  his  award-winning  one-man show "A Visit with Mr.
Lincoln" on Saturday, February 17 at Pamplin Historical Park
&  The  National  Museum  of the Civil War Soldier.  Getty's
performance is free and open to the public at 11am and again
at 2pm in the park's Education Center.                      

Getty  recounts stories of Lincoln's youth, his personal and
political life, his views of slavery, the  decision  to  arm
African  Americans,  the  impact of African Americans to the
war effort and the background of, and rationale behind,  the
issuance  of  the  Emancipation Proclamation.  Getty conveys
the Commander-in-Chief's personal torment over the difficult
decisions he faced in preserving the Union.                 

Park members are invited to join President Lincoln for lunch
and birthday cake in the Hardtack &  Coffee  Caf‚'s  private
banquet  room  from  12:30-1:30 to commemorate his birthday,
February 12, 1809.  Members receive a 10%  discount  on  all
lunches purchased in the caf‚.                              

Throughout  the  day,  visitors  to  the park can also watch
costumed interpreter Wisteria Perry demonstrate 19th century
cooking  techniques  and  the role of domestic slaves at the
Tudor Hall Plantation kitchen.  She will present an  African
American storytelling program at 1:30.                      

Throughout African American History Month, park visitors can
experience "Many Thousands Go:  African  Americans  and  the
Civil  War." This 1,500 square-foot exhibit highlighting the
military and civilian experiences of  African  Americans  on
both  sides of the conflict was featured on the PBS program,
Virginia Currents, in November 2006.  The exhibit lists  the
names of the 25 African Americans who won the Medal of Honor
during the Civil War, 15 of those during  the  Richmond  and
Petersburg campaigns.  "Many Thousands Go: African Americans
and the Civil War" closes on May 31.                        

"A Visit with Mr.  Lincoln" performances are free  and  open
to  the public.  All other programming and exhibits are free
with paid park admission.  For additional information  about
any  of  Pamplin  Historical  Park's  programs or about park
membership,  please  call  (804)  861-2408  or  log  on   to
www.pamplinpark.org


ACWC to Examine How George Washington
Inspired Civil War Armies

By the early 19th century, George  Washington  had  achieved
iconic  status in the United States as a soldier, statesman,
and politician.   Heralded  as  a  hero  in  the  fight  for
independence  during  the  American  Revolution,  Washington
became a symbol of freedom for both  Confederate  and  Union
causes  during the Civil War.  On Saturday, February 17, the
American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar will  present
"Liberty's  Father: George Washington and the American Civil
War." Using images and personal accounts from the Civil  War
era,  this  30  minute program will explore how Washington's
legacy was embraced by North  and  South  to  promote  their
respective  visions  of  liberty.   The  event  is free with
museum admission and will run between 11am and  2pm.   There
is no admission charge for ACWC members.                    


RCWRT Members Invited to
Take an Inside Tour of New Exhibit

All members of  the  Richmond  Civil  War  Round  Table  are
cordially  invited  to  an  inside  tour of "In the Cause of
Liberty," the new exhibit at the American Civil  War  Center
at  Historic Tredegar.  The exhibit has received outstanding
reviews nationally.  It  is  the  first  to  weave  together
Confederate, Union, and African American stories and to show
how their interaction shaped the course of American history.
The   presentation  contains  artifacts  from  30  different
institutions and uses a number of different  media  to  tell
the story.  The group will meet in the entry pavilion of the
Center at 10:30am on Saturday, March 10.                    


Symposium Will Examine
How Southerners Chose Sides in 1861

When Robert E.  Lee resigned his commission  from  the  U.S.
Army  in  April 1861 and cast his lot with his native state,
it was, observed his biographer  Douglas  Southall  Freeman,
"the  answer he was born to make." The bicentennial of Lee's
birth  in  2007  provides  an  opportunity  to  examine  the
often-agonizing  decisions  that  Southern American military
and political leaders had to make about their loyalties.    

The Library of Virginia and the Museum  of  the  Confederacy
are  co-sponsoring  The  Answers  They  Were  Born  to Make:
Choosing Sides  in  the  Civil  War.   This  symposium  will
feature presentations by Emory M.  Thomas on Robert E.  Lee;
William C.  Davis on U.S.   Vice-President  and  Confederate
Gen.   John  C.   Breckinridge;  Craig  L.  Symonds on naval
officers  Capt.   Franklin  Buchanan  and  Capt.   David  G.
Farragut; Brian Steele Wills on Gen.  George H.  Thomas; and
a panel  discussion  about  the  importance  of  Lee's  1861
decision.                                                   

The  symposium  will  be  held  from 9am to 4pm on Saturday,
February 24 at the  Library  of  Virginia,  800  East  Broad
Street in Richmond. Reservations are required.  Registration
is $45 or $35 for  Museum  of  the  Confederacy  members  or
Library of Virginia donors.  The fee includes a boxed lunch.
Free parking  is  available  in  the  library's  underground
garage.    For  information  or  to  register  e-mail  Linda
Lipscomb at llipscomb@moc.org or call (804)  649-1861,  ext.
32.


RCWRT Dues for 2007

It's time  once  again  to  renew  your  membership  in  the
Richmond  Civil  War  Round Table.  The Ides of March (March
15) is the deadline for payment of 2007 dues.               

$30 - Resident member                              
$40 - Resident couple                              
$15 - Non-resident member                          
(75 miles outside of Richmond)         
$20 - Non-resident couple                          
$15 - Senior member                                
            (65 and older with at least 10 years of membership)
$20 - Senior couple                                
$15 - Student member (age 13-17)                   
$30 - International member                         
$40 - International couple                         

You can make payment at the February or  March  meetings  or
mail your check to:                                         

Sandy Parker, RCWRT Secretary
P.O. Box 37052               
Richmond, VA 23234           

With your support, 2007 will be another banner year for  the
Richmond Civil War Round Table!                             


RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2007


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Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Rob Monroe, Editor     
2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23228-3040