Test Your Knowledge of American History/Government/Economics

I found this test to be very interesting. Thanks to Dimitri Rotov at Civil War Bookshelf for posting this. For the record, I did take the test. I have a BA and MA in History so I figured I'd do pretty well. It is a 60 question multiple choice test. I scored 85% (51 of 60). Most of the questions I missed were about ancient Greek philosophy and economics. No surprise there for those of you that know me. So here's the link TEST. Let me know how you do!

Civil War Roundtable this Thursday

The monthly meeting of the Civil War Roundtable of Eastern North Carolina will be this Thursday, September 27 at the Golden Corral on Highway 24, in front of the Piney Green Shopping Center. Dinner begins at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting starts at approximately 6:30. All friends and guests are welcome to attend. Our speaker for this month is Andrew Ballard, President of the Raleigh CWRT. He will give a presentation on the Battle of Monocacy in July 1864, part of Jubal Early’s march on Washington, DC. I hope to see everyone there! As always, you can check for an updated schedule of meetings at the roundtable’s website HERE.

I have been an officer in this roundtable for the past three years. We're cruising into our last three meetings of the year starting this week.

Name Change

I decided that since this blog has branched out into many areas, I need to really update the title of the blog a bit. This still isn't where I want it to be exactly so if you have any ideas of what I should name it, let me hear them.

The Continuing Saga of the MOC

While I was in Atlanta this week the word came out that the Museum of the Confederacy is now considering moving much of its collection to satellite sites around Virginia. Check out the posting about this on Civil War Librarian, a blog that I have become quite impressed with over the past few weeks. This posting sort of sums up everything else I've read on the topic over the past couple of days.

If nothing else, this announcement has raised more questions than it has answered and I heard a number of those questions being asked in Atlanta. First and foremost, what happens to the museum's collections that are associated with aspects of the Confederacy aside from Virginia? What happens to their collections related to North Carolina and other states? Where do they get the money to build and staff three new visitors centers? These and lots of other questions will have to be answered in the coming months, and I for one will be interested to see what really happens in the end.

Atlanta - The Final Half Day

Yes, my final day in Atlanta was really a half day. I attended the Military History Committee breakfast and two sessions before heading home around 12:30 in the afternoon. The breakfast resulted in a number of good conversations, including talking to the historian at a Seattle museum who is writing a book about a US Navy ship that was stationed there in the 1850s. I have two years left on this committee and will serve as the head of the Advocacy and Membership Subcommittee.

My first morning session was excellent, but disappointing at the same time. It was called "Civil Conversations: Seeking Common Ground on America's Civil War" led by former Chief Historian of the NPS Dwight Pitcaithley and Atlanta History Center Military Curator Gordon Jones. Also in the room were Rick Beard (Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum) and Barbara Franco (Director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission), among others. As you can tell by the persons involved this had the potential to be a very stimulating discussion, and it was. However, it would have been a much different session had the other two scheduled guests actually shown up. The representatives from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Sons of Confederate Veterans apparently chose not to show. I guess they figured they couldn't have a civil conversation after all. Nevertheless, the discussion was very lively and informative.

In retrospect, this is probably the best conference I've been to in my career. The panel I was involved with was very well received, the two sessions with David Blight were excellent, Cokie Roberts' keynote address was very good, and the session discussed above was the perfect ending to a great time. I got to connect and/or reconnect with colleagues and friends. It was definitely a growth experience and I've come back feeling recharged and invigorated. Now its time to get back to work!

Atlanta - Day Three

Today I was in the presence of greatness. That's how impressed I was with Dr. David Blight. I spent two sessions with him this afternoon and was educated, invigorated, and entertained. He is a tremendous public speaker who has the gift of being intellectually stimulating, engaging, and subtly humorous all at the same time. His plenary address on history and memory was even better than Cokie Roberts' keynote address, and his much more intimate book discussion of Robert Penn Warren's The Legacy of the Civil War was simply the best session I think I've ever attended at a conference. Period. So, obviously David Blight was the absolute highlight of the day today and of the entire trip so far.

I also had my Military History Committee meeting this afternoon. We are already discussing next year's conference, which will be held in Rochester, NY. Tomorrow is the last day and I anticipate a nice Military History Committee breakfast and two very interesting sessions before hitting the road home. I will probably not blog Day Four until Sunday, after I've had a chance to rest and recover a bit.

Atlanta - Day Two

Today proved to be a very interesting one. The Educators and Interpreters Breakfast was pretty good, but not earth-shattering. There were really no sessions today that interested me. The keynote address by Cokie Roberts was very good. I was impressed by her outlook on history and thoroughly enjoyed her presentation. The exhibition hall was a happening place all day long and there are some very good vendors at the conference this year.

Our panel presentation on Making Military History Relevant to Diverse Audiences was well-attended and came off very well. I heard nothing but positive feedback from those who attended and have had numerous discussions with some of those people throughout the rest of the day and evening. A number of those who attended told me it was the best session they had been to so far. I'm glad that we apparently did so well.

The real highlight was this evening's reception at the Atlanta History Center. This is a fabulous facility and the hospitality we were shown there was awesome. I had always heard that their Civil War exhibit was one of the best in the country and that is certainly true. It is on par, if not better than the Museum of the Confederacy and Pamplin Park. I was quite impressed.

For me, the conference really begins tomorrow. There are a number of sessions I am looking forward to, including the Plenary Sesson with Dr. David Blight. I also look forward to more conversations with fellow military history colleagues, as well as new folks that I have yet to meet.

Atlanta - Day One

So here I am, having arrived safe and sound. The trip was fairly easy and we found the hotel without a hitch. We are staying in the Omni at CNN Center which is the conference hotel. This is easily the nicest hotel in which I've ever stayed and its so big you could easily get lost. For our part, the conference kicks off tomorrow, though there were some workshops today. I start the conference with the Educators and Interpreters Breakfast. Our panel presentation is tomorrow afternoon.

I had dinner at an absolutely fabulous restaurant this evening. It is called Luckie. The atmosphere was very trendy, the staff were all very friendly, and the food was great. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting Atlanta. The desserts were especially to die for, and I'd recommend the Triple Chocolate Pyramid. I'm willing to go out on a limb and say its the richest thing I've ever put in my mouth.

So things have started out well and I expect them to continue that way for the rest of the week. I'll keep posting as the best is yet to come!

New Blog Y'all Should Check Out

My friend and partner in crime, Chris Grimes has started his own blog called Albemarle Soundings. I blog quite frequently about our living history activities, but you can also keep up with what we are doing through Chris' blog as well. Chris and I (along with a few others) are pretty much the backbone of the living history group, which now includes not only Ship's Company of the Roanoke, our maritime group, but also the 5th NC Regiment, Continental Line. This new group was formed by Chris and his neighbor Bill Barber to portray North Carolina Continental Line soldiers in the Revolutionary War. They chose the 5th to portray because their members were all from eastern NC. Anyhow, I haven't really plugged Chris' blog yet because he was just getting started, but he's doing a really good job with it so check it out!

Going to Atlanta

I will be heading to Atlanta on Wednesday morning to attend and give a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH). I attended the organization's annual meeting in 2005 in Pittsburgh, but missed last year because it was in Phoenix. Since its so close this year a number of Historic Sites folks are attending. For the past two years I have served as a member of the AASLH Military History Committee and have been selected to serve another two year term. This has allowed me to broaden my horizons in terms of networking with other history professionals on a national level, as opposed to a state and regional level. I'm looking forward to this conference; some of the highlights (at least for me) are as follows.

Plenary session by Dr. David Blight, author of Race and Reunion
Thursday evening reception at the Atlanta History Center (I've never been there)
Book discussion on Robert Penn Warren's The Legacy of the Civil War led by David Blight and Dwight Pitcaithley
Numerous sessions on the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial and related topics

It should prove to be an entertaining and educational few days. The downside for me is that I really do not like Atlanta. I've been to that city three or four times at different stages of my life and I've never liked it. Maybe this time will be different because I will be going with three people of have a vast knowledge of the city; somehow I don't think that's going to make a difference for me. I'll blog from the conference if possible (i.e. if I have time in the evenings or early morning). At the very least I will post a report upon my return.