Month: October 2015

Posted on

November 2015 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

November 10, 2015

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker:  Dr. Gary Miller

“…drenched in dirt and drowned in abominations…”:  Insects, Soldiering, and the Civil War

 

Gary Miller

Sometimes slimy!  Sometimes beautiful! Sometimes bothersome! Sometimes fatal!  All can refer to our thoughts about insects; worms, butterflies, bugs and bees.  Tonight, join the Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table as Dr. Gary Miller takes us on a journey, showing us the influence of insects during the Civil War.  Insects had an important impact on nearly every aspect of soldier life including disease transmission and general annoyances.  However, they were also a source of entertainment. This topic brings to light an overlooked aspect of the War.

Gary Miller was born and raised in the Pennsylvania Dutch region of Lancaster County, PA.  He received his B.A. in Biology from Millersville University, Millersville, PA (1980) and M.S. in Entomology and Plant Pathology from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1982).  While working as a Research Associate at Auburn University, AL, he was able to pursue his doctorate and received his Ph.D. in Entomology from Auburn University (1991).  Dr. Miller began his career with the USDA in 1991 as a Support Scientist with the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL) in Beltsville, MD.  In 2004, he was hired as the aphid specialist in SEL where his assignment includes research, service identifications, and curation of the national aphid collection (>90,500 microscope slides).  Dr. Miller has published over 135 scientific publications concentrating mostly on aphids and scale insects.  He currently serves as the Research Leader for the USDA’s Systematic Entomology Laboratory.

In addition to his interest in entomology, he is also a long-time student of the American Civil War. With this combination he is able to provide a unique perspective to the Civil War that includes both history and natural history.  Dr. Miller has published several papers on this topic and has co-authored (with Dr. R.K.D. Peterson) the website:  Insects, Disease, and History.

Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended.  For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Brad Gottfried, at bgottfried@csmd.edu or 301-934-7625.

Posted on

October 2015 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

October 13, 2015

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker:  Calvin Goddard Zon

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table welcomes Calvin Goddard Zon, as he discusses his latest book, “Divided We Fall: The Confederacy’s Collapse From Within, A State-by-State Account“. “Divided We Fall: The Confederacy’s Collapse From Within, A State-by-State Account” makes the case that active opposition among Southerners in the 11 seceded states played a major role in the Confederacy’s downfall. The Civil War News writes, “Certainly this volume will deflate the idea of a solid front in the South. It is highly recommended to readers interested in knowing more about the South’s internal politics during the Civil War.” Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump and three prominent Civil War books, writes, “Zon has made a substantial contribution to Civil War history by relating the discontent and outright resistance in some cases by Southerners who dissented with the South’s decision to secede from the Union in 1861”.  Zon’s first book, “The Good Fight That Didn’t End: Henry P. Goddard’s Accounts of Civil War and Peace” (University of South Carolina Press, 2008) is based on the letters and writings of Zon’s great-grandfather, a captain of the 14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. The Civil War News calls it “an outstanding annotation of an important firsthand account of the war in the East. Highly recommended.” Goddard was wounded at Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, where his heroism saved the life of his commander. The book includes postwar observations of race relations in Connecticut, Maryland, and the South as well as uncirculated anecdotes about Abraham Lincoln and Goddard’s friend and Hartford neighbor Samuel Clemens.

Zon earned a B.A. from Davidson College, where he majored in American history, and an M.A. from the American University. He has taught high school American history. He was a staff writer for the Washington Star daily newspaper, for the Press Associates, Inc. news service, and for the United Mine Workers Journal, and worked as a copy editor for Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Labor Report. He is past commander of the Washington area Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and is a member of the Lincoln Forum. His articles have appeared in the Civil War News, People magazine, the National Catholic Reporter, the Progressive, and In These Times. He served for six years in the U.S. Army Reserve. He has presented his books at Civil War Round Tables and other venues from South Carolina to New England.

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table invites all to attend this lecture about intricacies and inner workings of the Confederate political system.  Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended.  For information, contact the round table’s president, Brad Gottfried, at bgottfried@csmd.edu or 301-934-7625.