Advantage Of Cooperation Between Civil War Round Tables

By William (Bill) Hallett · Originally published June 2016 · p. 2

Advantage Of Cooperation Between Civil War Round Tables Cooperation between Civil War Roundtables can be a great way to boost membership and interest for all involved. I’m a member of two Roundtables and have visited five others. There are some differences, but overall my impression has been that the concept remains universal: achieve a more detailed study and share the common interest in the American Civil War. Greg Biggs wrote in the April 2016 issue of Civil War News of the concept of sharing speakers between certain groups and how well it worked for those groups. Similar events have taken place here in New England, and I’d like to share more ways these groups help each other. In the mid-1990’s, I joined the Civil War Roundtable of New Hampshire. After returning to my New England roots, I was thrilled to find fellowship in my interest in the Civil War. Moving from south central Pennsylvania, I assumed New Englanders would only be interested in the Rev War. I was happily wrong. By 1999, the New Hampshire group elected me as president and I wasn’t sure what the job would entail but soon found my niche. Most meetings operated well, and we were still riding in the high tide wake of Civil War interest from the early 1990s, but the group rarely planned far ahead in scheduling speakers. Coming from a radio background, I knew that promotion was key to any successful event: Get the word out! But to do so meant looking months down the road and perhaps even a year. Around that time I visited the Monocacy Battlefield in Frederick, MD, and spoke with Park Ranger, Gloria Swift. She explained how she did a few different talks for groups like roundtables and was agreeable to the idea I proposed of taking a New England trek. As president, one of my many tasks was handling the incoming mail for the group. Usually reading other roundtable newsletters was after the fact of their meeting, but I got a feeling of how neighboring groups operated and most importantly, I got contact information. Once back home, I reached out to the Green Mountain CWRT in Vermont and the Joshua L. Chamberlain CWRT in Maine. I already knew the contact for the CWRT of the Merrimack in northeast Massachusetts. All three other groups were very interested in the idea of having Gloria Swift in

New England, and so it began. After the meeting in New Hampshire with Gloria, I asked her if she knew other people who might be willing to come to the northeast and tour as she had. She gave me a half a dozen names and contact information. Before long, people like Robert E.L. Krick, Craig L. Symonds, and others were taking the trip north. We continue all these years later and look for sharing a couple of times a year. Usually, the guest is treated to dinner that night by the CWRT, and the guest gets a hotel room that night paid by the local roundtable. Then the overall travel expense is split between the four groups. It works out perfectly. Green Mountain meets on Tuesday, Merrimack on Wednesday, Chamberlain on Thursday and finally, New Hampshire CWRT on Friday. The network of Civil War Roundtables has helped us beyond historians and park rangers from far away. With the chance of bad weather in the winter months in here in New England, the idea of importing a speaker is usually not worth the risk as cancellations can happen which could cost a lot of money for nothing. Most roundtables work on limited budgets. Some our members have volunteered to give a talk on various Civil War subjects for our roundtable. Each has perhaps a favorite subject within the Civil War. These speakers are scheduled for the cold months so as to avoid issues if cancellation is necessary. As we have contacts from our neighboring roundtables, options for our members have opened up. If someone has gone through the hard work of research and putting together maps, handouts and in many cases creating a PowerPoint presentation, to share it only once can leave one with the unpleasant feeling that their time and materials were not worth the effort. With each roundtable looking for speakers to fill the calendar, many members of one roundtable can become the guest at another. Usually, the other roundtable is close enough still for the speaker to drive up and head back home for just the meeting, meaning no need to hotel expense. People get to give their talks more than once, and now a stronger bond is made between roundtables. Names aren’t just email addresses but now have a face and voice. I first spoke to another Civil War group in the fall of 2001 and was able to share my personal interest in Monocacy. It was soon after the 9-11 attacks and felt reassuring to find even more people like me.

MOVING?

In 2006, a young man from our group was attending Bowdoin College and involved with the Joshua L. Chamberlain Museum. I worked on putting together a tour with him as our guide and teamed up with members of the CWRT of the Merrimack. The dozen or so in our party traveled as one group and got a first-rate visit with extra treats beyond that which the usual tourist would get. We then ate a meal together and got to share in the camaraderie of mutual interest in the history. The May 2016 meeting of the Civil War Roundtable of New Hampshire marked our 25th anniversary. We have worked on creating a special meeting with a musical program by The Hardtacks, a New Hampshirebased group who perform period music. We’ve invited our friends from other Civil War Roundtables to join us in our celebration. The Civil War Roundtable of the Merrimack will add to the festivities by presenting their “Stephen C. Foster Award” to The Hardtacks that night. Our friends at the Merrimack group present the Foster Award to individuals and groups who perpetuate and promote the musical culture of the mid-nineteenth century. So again, cooperation between the roundtables will make a great night even better with the excitement of the award and with friends from other roundtables joining us. Civil War roundtables can do much more by working in cooperation. Even if your flavor is blue or gray, we are all working on the same team and together many special things can happen. In 2007, I joined the Civil War Roundtable of the Merrimack, and I consider the friends in that group as important as the ones from New Hampshire. My wife, Elizabeth is the president of the CWRT of the Merrimack and the vice-president of the CWRT of New Hampshire. I run the websites for both organizations. William (Bill) Hallett is past president of the CWRT of New Hampshire, past newsletter editor for the CWRT of NH. With his wife Elizabeth, they have hosted “Footsteps of Heroes: Civil War Walking Tour of Newburyport” since 2010.