Back by popular demand, the Berks History Center has scheduled an exciting program for Friday evening, June 28th! Learn about the attacks on Berks County settlers during the French and Indian War, including the tragic irony of murder and abduction of Amish, Brethren and Mennonite families along the Blue Mountain, and the prominent role of Conrad Weiser in...
The 22nd Campaign of the First Defenders Civil War Roundtable is rapidly drawing to a close, but one program remains on May 14th at the Inn at Reading. Dr. Paul Kahan returns as the featured speaker to discuss the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant and its impact on Reconstruction. “Sam” Grant did not have an...
The Berks History Center has scheduled its spring conference for Saturday, April 13th, with an all-day program focusing on the Civil War. Speakers for the event include Mark Pflum, John M. Lawlor, Jr., Stephen Recker and Scott Mingus. Click here for a complete agenda and conference description:...
The First Defenders Civil War Round Table unveiled its first-ever “member survey” during its March program. Designed to help chart the organization’s future, 33 surveys have already been returned and the results are being compiled. In developing the survey, special attention was focused on the types of programs members would like to see in the...
With the vernal equinox in the rear view mirror, the trees will begin to bloom and the roads will dry sufficiently to let the First Defenders again take to the field. Two advances are already planned… Starting off, the Berks History Center is hosting another Stroll Through History on Saturday, April 6, 2019, at 12:30...
Noted author and prolific speaker Scott Mingus will provide a presentation on the “Louisiana Tigers at Gettysburg” during the First Defenders Civil War Round Table program on Tuesday, April 9th. Perhaps second only to the famed “Stonewall Brigade,” the Tigers had developed a fierce reputation by the time they arrived in Pennsylvania during the summer...
In the spring of 1865 following Appomattox and the Lincoln Assassination, the Civil War was not yet over. Yet following euphoria and shock, the tragic explosion and sinking of the “Sultana” on the Mississippi River near Memphis and resulting deaths of hundreds (including many former Union POWs) became little more than a footnote to the...
“Phil Kearney – International Soldier” to be presented by Wally Heimbach will be re-scheduled in the 23rd Campaign. You won’t want to miss it!
The First Defenders Civil War Round Table will meet on Tuesday, February 12th (Lincoln’s Birthday!) at the Inn at Reading beginning at 6:00 PM. First Defender Wally Heimbach will present a program on the flamboyant and world-renowned soldier, Phil Kearny. Had the life of the one-armed general not been cut short at Chantilly in 1862,...
It is axiomatic that many military advances were born in the cauldron of the American Civil War, and none more so than treatment of battlefield casualties and medical care for huge armies on the march. Many of these advances are still seen today in military settings around the world. Vice President Mark Quattrock has long-studied...
