ISSUED: 16 June 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — THE SEMINAR IS SOLD OUT
Registration is now open for the annual fall Civil War and American Society Seminar sponsored by Shepherd University’s George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War. The seminar, titled “Fire on the Mountain, Death in the Valley,” will take place Thursday, September 14-Sunday, September 17.
This year’s seminar will focus on the Battle of South Mountain and the last phases of the Battle of Antietam. On Friday participants will visit Crampton’s Gap, Turner’s Gap, Fox’s Gap, and Pleasant Valley. Saturday will focus on Bloody Lane and Burnside Bridge at Antietam. Saturday evening seminar particpants will take part in the Antietam National Battlefield sesquicentennial celebration of the founding of the National Cemetery. The seminar will wrap up with a tour of A.P. Hill’s march route to Sharpsburg and a tour of the grounds where the battle culminated.
“The 1862 Maryland Campaign marked a turning point in the Civil War and seminar participants will learn about how the campaign unfolded by visiting the fields, valleys, and mountains of western Maryland,” said Dr. James Broomall, director of the George Tyler Moore Center. “Our seminar focuses on a highly individualized experience in which participants have ample opportunities to interact with one another and our guest scholars. We immerse our audiences in 19th century military history by walking the contested terrain over which Union and Confederate armies fought and by considering the critical decisions enacted by key historical figures.”
Guest scholars for the seminar will be:
- Dennis E. Frye, chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. A writer, lecturer, guide, and preservationist, Frye is a prominent Civil War historian who has made numerous appearances on PBS, History Channel, Discovery Channel, and A&E. Frye is a well-known author, with 95 articles and nine books.
- Dr. Tom Clemens, history professor emeritus at Hagerstown Community College, president of Save Historic Antietam Foundation, Inc., and an Antietam National Battlefield guide. Clemens has written many book reviews and magazine articles and has appeared on several television shows focused on Civil War topics. He edited and annotated Gen. Ezra A. Carman’s 1,800-page narrative of The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, which has received awards from the Army Heritage Foundation.
- Kevin Pawlak, director of education for the Mosby Heritage Area Association, a licensed battlefield guide at Antietam National Battlefield, and a Shepherd alumnus. Pawlak is on the board of directors of the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Pawlak published his first book, “Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital,” in 2015.
Cost for the seminar is $1,110 per person to stay in the Bavarian Inn and $665 per person to stay in the Quality Inn. There are two price options for participants who don’t need overnight lodging, $410 per person with all meals included and $255 per person, which only includes lunch on Friday.
For the second year, two Shepherd students will be able to attend the seminar through a scholarship fund started last year by Broomall and Frye and sponsored this year by Friends of Gabor, a group that encourages the interest of young people in the Civil War. In addition, Frye started a new scholarship this year, the Dennis E. Frye Visiting Scholar of Civil War Studies for graduate students.
The Civil War Center is taking applications for the Frye graduate scholarship until June 15. For more information about the seminar and to apply for the scholarship, visit www.shepherd.edu/civilwar/civil-war-seminars.
Anyone interested in contributing to either scholarship fund May contact Monica Lingenfelter, executive vice president of the Shepherd University Foundation, at the Shepherd University Foundation at 304-876-5286 or mlingenf@shepherd.edu.
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