Previous Talks

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2021

  • January 20: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Rochambeau, the French International School, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • January 27: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Montgomery County Historical Society.
  • January 28: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, VA.
  • February 2: “The Confederate Battle Flag and Civil War Memory, Discussion with students at Endicott College, Beverly, MA.
  • February 10: “Civil War Memory After the Monuments Come Down,” Discussion with Dr. Hilary Green Ford’s Theatre.
  • February 11: “Telling the History of American Racial Justice,” Newton North High School, Newton, MA.
  • February 16: Hosting discussion of the movie Glory for the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Richmond, VA.
  • February 18: “Is This Who We Are?: Reflection on the Capitol Insurrection,” Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA.
  • February 23: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Book talk with students at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • February 24: “The History and Memory of Confederate Monuments,” Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
  • March 2: “Winning and Losing in the Civil War,” The British School, Den Haag, Netherlands.
  • March 2: “Reconstruction and Public Memory,” Discussion with students at the Brooklyn Latin School.
  • March 16: Blair Academy, Society of Skeptics.
  • March 20: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Catawba County Truth & Reconciliation Committee
  • March 25: “Is This Who We Are?: Reflection on the Capitol Insurrection,” Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
  • March 30: “The History and Memory of Confederate Monuments,” Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, CA.
  • April 6: “Uses and Abuses of History,” University of Ottawa.
  • April 22: “Searching for Black Confederates,” #sschatreads online discussion at Twitter.
  • April 28-29: “Understanding Confederate Monuments,” Castilleja School, Palo Alto, CA.
  • May 28: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Walpole High School, Walpole, MA
  • July 12: American Civil War Museum/NEH grant supported summer teachers institute on emancipation, Richmond, VA.
  • July 30: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.
  • September 21: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Newburyport Public Library, Newburyport, MA.
  • September 30: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Norwich University, Northfield, VT
  • October 15: “When Slavery Came to Pennsylvania: The Role of Enslaved Labor During the Gettysburg Campaign,” Chambersburg Civil War Seminars.
  • November 4: Book Discussion, Searching for Black Confederates, Gettysburg College.

2020

  • February 4: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Filson Historical Society, Louisville, KY. (more info.)
  • February 10: “Searching for Black Confederates,” University of Maryland at College Park. (more info.)
  • February 15: “Searching for Black Confederates,” National Civil War Center, Harrisburg, PA. (more info.)
  • February 19: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Mitchell-McPherson Memorial Lecture at Troy University, AL.
  • February 20: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Flagler College, St. Augustine, FL.
  • July 21: Webinar, “Teaching the History and Controversy Surrounding Confederate Monuments,” National Council for History Education.
  • July 28: Webinar, “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Constellation Pharmaceuticals.
  • July 29: Interview, Battle of the Crater and Confederate Monuments, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Facebook Live.
  • July 30: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Ford’s Theatre.
  • July 30: Discussion with Mitch Landrieu and Eugene Robinson, Ford’s Theatre.
  • July 31: Roundtable Discussion: Confederate Monuments, Shepherd University, Facebook Live.
  • August 13: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Old Baldy Civil War Round Table.
  • September 9: Civil War Monuments discussion with students at Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, NC.
  • September 10: Civil War Monuments discussion with students at The American School in Japan.
  • September 17-18: Civil War Monuments discussion with students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Falls Village, CT.
  • September 22: “Black Confederates and Civil War Monuments,” class discussion with students at Louisiana Tech University.
  • September 23: Civil War monuments discussion with students at Ridgefield Academy, CT.
  • October 2: Interview with Principal Chief Joseph Hoskins Jr. of the Cherokee Nation on the Removal of Confederate Monuments, Mountain-Plains Museum Association.
  • October 16: Panel discussion: “Addressing Contemporary Events Through the Lens of History in the K-12 Classroom,” New England Historical Association.
  • October 19: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Log Cabin Village, Fort Worth, TX.
  • October 26: Panel on Confederate Monuments, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI.
  • October 28: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” New England College, Henniker, NH.
  • November 18: “Reconsidering Confederate Monuments in the First Capital of the Confederacy,” Old Town Alabama.
  • November 19: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Olde Colony Civil War Round Table, Dedham, MA.
  • November 20: Civil War monuments discussion with students at New Tech High School, Coppell, TX.
  • December 9: “Confederate Monuments and Race in America,” Glenview Public Library, Glenview, Illinois.

2019

  • February 2: “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” General Lander Civil War Round Table, Lynn, MA.
  • February 27: Guest lecture on public history and Confederate monuments, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
  • March 16: “Searching for Black Confederates,” History Camp, Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
  • March 22: “Searching for Black Confederates,” Greater Boston Civil War Round Table, Waltham, MA.
  • April 7, Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, Forum on Independent Historians, Philadelphia, PA.
  • April 24: “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” Civil War Round Table of Central Massachusetts, Holden, MA.
  • June 14: “The Last Confederate Monuments: The Myths and Lies We Tell About Loyal Slaves and Black Confederates,” Auburn University. (more info.)
  • July 21-26, Teacher Workshop on Reconstruction and Historical Memory, Ford’s Theater, Washington, D.C. (more info.)
  • August 7-9: Teacher Workshop on Reconstruction, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA. (more info.)
  • September 10: Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA. (more info.)
  • September 16: Skype discussion about Civil War memory with San Diego school.
  • September 18: Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA. (more info.)
  • September 24: National Archives, Washington, D.C. (more info.)
  • September 25: Teacher Workshop on monuments and memorials at American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia. (more info.)
  • September 26: Hood College (co-sponsored with The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, Frederick, MD. (more info.)
  • September 30: University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD. (more info.)
  • October 1: Virginia Museum of History & Culture, co-sponsored with American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia. (more info.)
  • October 22: Skype discussion about Searching for Black Confederates with class at Charleston College.
  • October 24: Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters, Cambridge, MA. (more info.)
  • October 25: Skype discussion about Searching for Black Confederates with class at Austin Peay State University.
  • October 28: North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC.
  • October 29: The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
  • October 30: Fly Leaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC. (more info.)
  • November 4: Royall House & Slave Quarters, Medford, MA (more info.)
  • December 11: Interview with Civil War Talk Radio.
  • December 15: “Myth and Memory in Charlottesville’s Confederate Monuments,” St. Anne’s-Belfield School, Charlottesville, Virginia.

2018

  • January 16, 2018: “Understanding Confederate Monuments in the Wake of Charlottesville,” Rhode Island Civil War Round Table, Cranston, RI.
  • January 19, 2018: Skype discussion with Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, WI.
  • February 1, 2018: “Understanding Confederate Monuments in the Wake of Charlottesville,” New Trier Public School, Chicago Ill.
  • February 28, 2018: Webinar, “Contested Monuments and Contested Civic Spaces in the United States, 1865 to the 21st Century,” National Humanities Center, w/Prof. W. Fitzhugh Brundage.
  • March 9, 2018: “Understanding Confederate Monuments in the Wake of Charlottesville,” General Lander Civil War Round Table, Lynn, MA.
  • March 12, 2018, “Contested Memories of the Civil War,” (student workshop), St. Ann’s School, Brooklyn, NY.
  • March 15, 2018, Skype discussion with interpretive staff at the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA.
  • March 17, 2018: “Monuments & Historical Memory,” Teacher Workshop, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA.
  • March 26-27: Interpreting Freedom and Slavery in New England Workshop, Providence, RI.
  • April 19, 2018: Keynote Address, National Council of History Education, San Antonio, TX.
  • April 21, 2018: Teaching Reconstruction and Historical Memory w/Ford’s Theatre Staff at National Council for History Education, San Antonio, TX.
  • May 30-31: Workshop with students at Walpole High School on Confederate Iconography, Walpole, MA.
  • June 2, 2018: “Frederick Douglass and the Fight for Civil War Memory,” Teacher Workshop, Lynn, MA.
  • June 6: Walking tour of Boston, Saul Ewing, LLP.
  • June 11: Teacher Workshop in Charlottesville, Virginia on teaching Confederate monuments.
  • July 11: “The Contested Landscape of Confederate Monuments, Teacher Workshop, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.
  • July 22-27, 2018: Teacher Workshop on Reconstruction and historical memory at Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.
  • October 2: Social Media and the Black Confederate Myth, University of Virginia, Nau Center for Civil War Studies, Charlottesville, VA.

2017

  • June 21, 2017: NEH/Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, GA.
  • July 23-28, 2017: Ford’s Theatre Teacher Workshop on Reconstruction, Washington, D.C.
  • December 5, 2017: “Monuments & Historical Memory,” Teacher Workshop, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA.

2016

2015

  • “The Pay Crisis and the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,” Rhode Island Civil War Round Table, Cranston, RI, February 17.
  • “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” Medford Historical Society, Medford, MA, April 8.
  • “Remembering the Battle of the Crater,” Joshua L. Chamberlain Civil War Roundtable, April 9.
  • “Appomattox and Civil War Memory,” Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, June 19.
  • “William Mahone and Virginia’s Reconstruction,” Facing History and Ourselves, September 24.
  • “Black Confederates Out of the Attic and Into the Mainstream,” The National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg, PA, September 26.
  • Skype Discussion with Chris Lese’s Civil War Class at Marquette University High School, October 14.
  • Skype Discussion with Adam Dean’s class at Lynchburg College, October 26.
  • Skype Discussion with Chris Lese’s Civil War class at Marquette University High School, October 30.
  • “The Future of the Confederate Flag,” General Lander Civil War Round Table, Lynn, MA, December 11.

2014

  • January 10: Book Signing and Talk, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater,” North Shore CWRT/GAR Hall, Lynn, MA.
  • February 7: “Lincoln, Race, and the Battle of the Crater,” Boston Union Club, Boston, MA.
  • February 9: Book Signing and Talk, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater,” Sons of Union Veterans, Concord, MA.
  • February 17: Book Signing and Talk, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater,” University of North Carolina at Pembroke/Workshop with area teachers on digital literacy and the myth of the black Confederate soldiers.
  • March 15: “Until Every Negro Has Been Slaughtered”: Confederates Assess the Battle of the Crater, Longwood University, Civil War Seminar, Longwood, VA.
  • March 19: “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” Rhode Island Civil War Round Table, Cranston, RI.
  • April 14: Book Signing and Talk, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater,” Ann Arbor Civil War Round Table, Ann Arbor, MI. (Canceled)
  • April 22: “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” New Bedford Civil War Round Table, New Bedford, MA.
  • April 23: Skype Discussion with Class at Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, WI.
  • May 28: Signing and Talk, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater,” Walpole, MA.
  • June 20-25: “The Battle of the Crater in Memory,” Gettysburg College, Civil War Institute, Gettysburg, PA.
  • July 5: Gettysburg National Military Park & Gettysburg Foundation: Sacred Trust – 2014 Talks and Book Signing Event, Gettysburg, PA (3:30pm).
  • July 9: “The Shaw Memorial and Civil War Memory,” Skype discussion with Civil War Institute students at Marquette University High School.
  • August 1: 150th anniversary of the battle of the Crater, Keynote Speaker for National Park Service Commemoration, Petersburg, VA.
  • September 18: “Searching for Black Confederate Soldiers,” Olde Colony Civil War Round Table, Dedham, MA.
  • September 26: “Forgetting and Remembering Private Louis Martin,” Conference on Illinois History, Springfield, Ill.

2013

  • February 27: Skype discussion about the movie Glory with De La Salle Institute, Chicago, Ill.
  • March 14-16: Interpreting Issues of Civil War Memory for the Classroom and Museum Audiences, Conference sponsored by the Gettysburg National Park and the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College.
  • March 22: Talk on the Battle of the Crater and Book Signing, Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, VA.
  • April 20: Massacre at the Crater: Addressing the Tough Questions of Civil War History in the Classroom, Civil War Trust, Regional Teacher Institute
  • May 15: Book Signing and Talk, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, Rhode Island Civil War Round Table, Cranston, RI.
  • June 21-25: “The Other Gettysburg Address: An Introduction to Civil War Memory” The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA.
  • July 11: “Remembering and Commemorating Civil War Soldiers,” Framingham History Center, Framingham, MA.
  • July 21: “Hey Boston, Embrace Your Civil War Memory,” Boston Harbor Islands Reservation, National Park Service, Boston, MA.
  • August 4-14: Teaching American History Grant funded Civil War tour from Nashville to Washington, D.C.
  • October 31: Race and the American Civil War, Skype Discussion with Civil War class at Marquette University High School.
  • November 4: “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, The Nevins Memorial Library, Methuen, MA.

2012

  • January 19: Topic TBA, Olde Colony Civil War Roundtable, Dedham, Massachusetts.
  • January 30: “From Civil War to Civil Rights”, Teaching American History Grant Workshop for teachers from Virginia Beach, Virginia.
  • March 6: “Until Ever Negro Has Been Slaughtered”: Remembering United States Colored Troops at the Crater, Genesee Community College, Batavia, New York.
  • March 27: Guest in Civil War Memory seminar taught by David Blight and Brian Jordan, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
  • April 19-22: Panelist on Civil War Sesquicentennial Working Group sponsored by the American Association for State and Local History at the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, Milwaukee, WI.
  • April 19-22: “Teaching Civil War History Through Film”, Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, Milwaukee, WI.
  • June, 22-26: “Blogging the American Civil War”, Civil War Institute, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
  • July 12-15: “Teaching Civil War Monuments”, Civil War Trust, National Teacher Institute, Charleston, SC.
  • July 15-19: The Richard Bartol, Jr. Educators’ Conference at Gettysburg National Military Park.
  • July 28: Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, Abraham Lincoln Bookshop, Chicago (Virtual Book Signing).
  • August 4: Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, GAR Hall in Scituate, MA, sponsored by Sons of Union Veterans (11am).
  • September 20: Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, Olde Colony Civil War Roundtable, Dedham, Massachusetts
  • September 28: Appearance on Civil War Talk Radio with Gerry Prokopowicz (3pm).
  • October 10: Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, Merrimack Civil War Roundtable, Newburyport, Massachusetts.
  • October 17: Representations of USCTs in Public History, Skype discussion with class in public history at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
  • October 26: Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, Civil War Roundtable of Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts.
  • October 31: Skype discussion with Civil War memory class at Skidmore College
  • November 1: “Black Confederates Out of the Attic”, Charleston, West Virginia (Rescheduled for 2013).
  • November 19: Skype discussion with Civil War class at Marquette University High School
  • November 27: Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, New Bedford Civil War Roundtable, New Bedford, Massachusetts
  • December 1: “Teaching Glory in the Classroom”, John Brown Lives! Educators’ Workshop
  • December 10: “Civil War Memory in a web2.0 World”, Guest lecturer for Nina Silber’s Civil War survey course at Boston University.
  • December 19: “Book Signing and Discussion, “Remembering the Battle of the Crater”, Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York, (NYC).