Attend A Free HGAC Educational Lecture
HGAC Educational Speakers program presents
“Three Young Men In Gettysburg – 1863”
Hear the stories of three young men in Gettysburg in the year 1863 -- Daniel Skelly, Albertus McCreary, and Gates Fahnestock – at Historic Gettysburg Adams County’s Educational Speakers program on Tuesday, August 15 at 7:30 p.m.
There are many first-hand accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath. In this program, Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide Ted Hirt recounts the experiences of these three young men of Gettysburg who were caught up in the battle and the devastation that followed. Learn about their encounters with the armies, their perspectives on the battle, and their post-Civil War careers.
This free program will be held at the historic G.A.R. Hall on 53 East Middle Street in Gettysburg, PA 17325. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Ted Hirt has been a Gettysburg Licensed Town Historian/Guide since 2018. He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Adams County Historical Society and of the Board of the Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg.
Hirt is semi-retired attorney and a member of the District of Columbia Bar. He is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School. From August 1979 to March 2016, he was a career attorney in various capacities in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division
The HGAC educational speaker programs are held in the handicapped accessible historic Grand Army of the Republic Hall (G.A.R.) in Gettysburg. These free, no reservations-needed lectures will be held the third Tuesday evening of the month thorough the year. For more information, please call Keith Schultz @ 717-420-2155.
Prepare to have your assumptions about the Battle of Gettysburg challenged! HGAC’s Educational Speakers program on Tuesday, May 16, will feature Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Ralph Siegel, who will present a talk entitled “Gettysburg Shadows.”
This free program will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the historic G.A.R. Hall on 53 East Middle Street in Gettysburg, PA 17325. Doors open at 7 p.m.
The focus will be on the sweeping command decisions made by Gettysburg battle commanders – with a new perspective intended to question assumptions enshrined in many of popular books. Why did Lee ignore Longstreet? Why did Ewell fail to attack? How did Meade win?
Siegel credits the concept of “Shadows” to the writings and tours of legendary Harper’s Ferry Chief Historian Dennis Frye and his book, “Antietam Shadows.” Siegel’s talk takes Frye’s concepts and his appetite for challenging convention, and applies these “shadows” to Gettysburg.
Ralph Siegel has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park since 2004. He has conducted hundreds of battlefield tours for all manner of visitors, groups and military classes from around the United States, and is the co-author of “Peach Orchard: A Gettysburg Battlefield Guided Tour.”
The HGAC educational speaker programs are held in the handicapped accessible historic Grand Army of the Republic Hall (G.A.R.). Doors open at 7 PM with the event beginning at 7:30 PM. These free, no reservations-needed evenings will be held the third Tuesday evening of the month beginning in March at the G.A.R. Building, 53 E. Middle Street, Gettysburg.
For more information, please call Keith Schultz @ 717-420-2155.
HGAC thanks author Ron Kirkwood for his excellent and informative talk on the importance of the George Spangler Farm during the Battle of Gettysburg at the first Educational Speakers program for 2023 on March 21.
Kirkwood, author of “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg," spoke on Tuesday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the historic G.A.R. Hall on 53 East Middle Street in Gettysburg, PA 17325.
Kirkwood argues in “Too Much for Human Endurance” that the George Spangler farm was the most important farm in the Battle of Gettysburg, revealing factors that have been overlooked for generations. The book and his presentation also offer newly found information about Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead’s time at Spangler and how the Spangler family and their farm suffered while their land was occupied -- along with stories of the agony and heroism of the surgeons, nurses, wounded and mortally wounded at the two hospitals on the Spanglers’ land.
Kirkwood is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines including USA TODAY, where he edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports and was National Football League editor for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. He also worked for newspapers in Baltimore, Harrisburg, York and Wilkes-Barre.
Kirkwood has been a Gettysburg Foundation guide at the George Spangler Farm Civil War Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013.
