Past Civil War Programs - Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall

Since 2014 the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, and the Captain Thomas Espy Post, have brought more than seventy-five Civil War historians here to Carnegie to speak in the Lincoln Gallery as part of our 2nd Saturday Civil War Lecture Series. These lectures are free and open to the public, and are held on the second Saturday of each month, from January – June, and September – November. We invite our community, our patrons, and all Civil War enthusiasts from the greater Pittsburgh area to attend these events…

In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to briefly pivot our 2nd Saturday Civil War Lecture Series to a digital platform. We are grateful to all of our speakers who continue to work with us to present and record their material online for a wider audience to enjoy.

The 2nd Saturday Lecture Series is made possible by the Massey Charitable Trust.

For more information please contact Espy Post Curator, Jon-Erik Gilot, at gilotj@einetwork.net.

2024:

November 9, 2024 – Dr. Alaina E. Roberts – Black Slaves & Indian Masters: A New Story of Reconstruction in the West (Not recorded)
October 19 – Eric Mohney – The Pennsylvania Reserves in the Gettysburg Campaign [Video]
September 14 – Robert Hilliard: Spies, Slaves, and Secrets of the Civil War [Video]
June 11 – Michael G. Kraus: Behind the Scenes of Gettysburg [Video]
May 11 – John Banks: A Civil War Road Trip of a Lifetime [Video]
April 11 – Jon-Erik Gilot: To Reclaim a Western Frontier: Jenkins’s 1862 & 1863 Trans-Allegheny Raids
March 9 – Tom McMillan: Our Flag Was Still There [Video]
February 9 – Kelly D. Mezurek: “Men of Color, to Arms!” Frederick Douglass & USCT Recruiting [Video]
January 13 – Patrick Jones: Civil War Musicians in Camp and Field [Video]

2023:

November 11 – Codie Eash: Abraham Lincoln’s Visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield [Video]
October 14 – Jon-Erik Gilot: Dangerfield Newby’s Fight for Freedom (Not recorded)
September 9 – Benjamin E. Myers: American Citizen: Letters of the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry [Video]
June 3 – Melissa A. Winn: Dead Letter Office Images: The Civil War’s Lost Sentiments [Video]
May 13 – Mathew Lively: Calamity at Chancellorsville: The Wounding & Death of Stonewall Jackson [Video]
March 11 – Evan Portman: Civilian Stories from the Battle of Gettysburg [Video]
February 11 – Abbi Smithmyer: Monument Vandalism & Destruction During and After the Civil War [Video]
January 14 – David Albert: The Civil War as the Watershed Event in American History [Video]

2022:

November 12 – Rich Condon: Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty: Politics & Memory at Pittsburgh’s 28th National G.A.R. Encampment [Video]
October 8 – Matthew Callery: Addressing Gettysburg [Video]
September 10 – Emily Lapisardi: My Imprisonment: Rose Greenhow’s Memoirs [Video]
June 11 – Jared Frederick: Reel History: Black Troops in Civil War Cinema (Not recorded)
May 14 – Rick Schroeder & Fran Feyock: Civil War Surgery & Anesthesia (Not recorded)
March 12 – Harry Smeltzer: In the Footsteps of the 69th New York State Militia at First Bull Run [Video]
February 12 – Ruth Webster: Copperheads, Gunners, and Spies: Ohio Democrats in Mr. Lincoln’s War [Video]
January 8 – Mathew Lively: The Lincoln Autopsy [Video]

2021:

November 13 – Tom McMillan: Armistead & Hancock: Behind the Gettysburg Legend [Video]
October 9 – Cindy Crytzer: A Civil War Husband: Letters of a Pennsylvania Roundhead [Video]
September 11 – Maria McKelvey: John A. Washington III’s Deadly Encounter in Western Virginia [Video]
June 30 – Rich Condon, Jon-Erik Gilot, Diane Klinefelter: Veterans of the Great Rebellion: The Captain Thomas Espy Grand Army of the Republic Post [Video]
June 12 – Zac Cowsert: The West Virginia State Guard in the Civil War, 1863 – 1865 [Video]
May 8 – Michael Wunsch: Mob Scene at the Palmetto Flag, April 15, 1861 [Video]
April 10 – Mark Maloy: The First Shots of the Civil War in Charleston Harbor [Video]
March 13 – Sarah Kay Bierle: Awakened Hearts: The Power & Patriotism of Civil War Civilians [Video]
February 13 – Ken Serfass: Ulysses S. Grant & Civil War Railroads [Video]
January 9 – Ruth Ochs Webster: From Fact to Fiction: Writing Historical Novels [Video]

2020:

November 14 – Diane Klinefelter: Mothers, Marms, & Madams: Women’s Roles in the Civil War [Video]
October 10 – Melissa A. Winn: John Rawlins: Grant’s Conscience [Video]
September 12 – Steve Phan: The Civil War Defenses of Washington, DC [Video]
June 13 – Kristopher White: Eisenhower at Gettysburg [Video]
May 9 – A Fitting Tribute: Memorial Tributes to Abraham Lincoln [Video]
March 14 – Codie Eash: The Nation Shall Lives and Slavery Shall Die: The Presidential Election of 1864 [Video]
February 8 – John Heckman: Death and Historical Memory
January 11 – Jon-Erik Gilot: The Battle of Philippi

2019:

November 9 – Rich Condon: 1864 Middle Tennessee Campaign
October 12 – Dana Shoaf: Written Out of History: Major John Nevin of the 93rd Pennsylvania Infantry
September 14 – Jake Wynn: Clara Barton & the Missing Soldiers Office
June 8 – Greg Susla: The Evolution of Trauma Care – 1862 – 2019
May 11 – Mark Will-Weber: Muskets & Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers, and the Civil War
March 9 – Brett Schweinfurth: Honorable Scars: The Invalid Corps
February 9 – David Albert: The Meaning and Legacy of Gettysburg
January 12 – Ken Turner: The Civil War in Pennsylvania

2018:

November 10 – Kristopher White: The Wounding of James Longstreet
October 13 – Ken Serfass: Lincoln and Grant
September 8 – Phil Caskey: West Virginia in the Civil War
June 27 – Cindy McShane: Marie Tepe
June 9 – Evan Portman: The 11th Corps at Gettysburg
May 12 – Richard Wolfe: Rich Mountain: The Battle the Helped Make a State
April 14 – Scott Mingus: Second Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg
February 10 – Clint Geller: Why and How to Collect Civil War Timepieces
January 13 – Stephen Coleman: Discovering Gettysburg

2017:

November 11 – Tom McMillan: Gettysburg Rebels
September 9 – Beth Parnicza: The Looting of Fredericksburg
June 10 – Chris George: Day-by-Day with the 123rd Pennsylvania
May 13 – Bill May: John Wilkes Booth
April 8 – Rea Redd: Gettysburg and Lincoln: The Aftermath and the Address
April 8 – Frank Waters: Civil War Photography
February 11 – Kathleen Thompson: To the Breaking Point: The Toll of War on the Civil War Soldier
January 14 – Rea Redd: Of Altars and Amputations: Gettysburg’s Churches Become Battlefield Hospitals

2016:

November 12 – Kristopher White: Don’t Give an Inch: The Second Day at Gettysburg
October 8 – Alan Mesch: Pennsylvania’s Forgotten General: Maj. Gen. Charles F. Smith
September 10 – John Rathgeb: Civil War Medicine
June 11 – George Franks: The Battle of Falling Waters, July 14, 1863
May 14 – Carleton Young: Voices from the Attic: The Williamstown Boys in the Civil War
April 16 – Kevin Knapp: Military Ballooning during the Civil War
April 16 – Anthony Waskie: The Grand Army of the Republic
March 12 – Gary Augustine: Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the War
February 13 – Ken Serfass: Conversation with U.S. Grant: Presidential Reflections
January 9 – Harry Smeltzer: Kilpatrick’s Family Ties

2015:

November 14 – Kristopher White: Valley Forge Winter: Christmas of 1862 in the Army of the Potomac
October 10 – Michael G. Kraus: Collecting the Civil War
September 12 – Rea Redd: Gettysburg & Lincoln: The Aftermath and the Address
June 13 – Jim Smith: Professor Guibert and the 1913 Blue & Gray Reunion
May 9 – Kristopher White: Lee’s Greatest Victory/Lee’s Greatest Defeat
April 11 – Meg Thompson: The Election of 1864 Leaves a Legacy of Soldier Voting
April 11 – Ken Serfass: On the Subject of Surrender
January 10 – Lincoln Degree Masons: Freemasonry in the Civil War

2014:

November 8 – Len Barcousky: Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union
October 11 – Jeanne Finstein, Judi Hendrickson: 19th Century Mourning Customs
September 13 – Kristopher White: The Battle of Antietam
April 5 – Kristopher White: Gettysburg: The Aftermath
April 5 – Lisa Potocar: Sweet Glory: A Novel