Civil War

03 11, 2018

MPL Talks: Warrior to the White House

By admin|2018-03-11T06:00:09-04:00March 11, 2018|

Several of the men who served in the Civil War also served as president of the United States, including Mentor’s most famous resident.

Todd Arrington (site commander of James A. Garfield National Historic Site) discussed the lives of six of these men as the subject of his latest Civil War talk.

Find out who among them:

had a grandfather who also served as president
was injured in battle and nearly lost his arm
never won an election until they were voted vice president
began their military career as a private
had the nickname Rather-fraud after a controversial election. (That one should be easy.)

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, March 14, at our Main Branch. The topic will be Major General Ambrose Burnside. The talk is free and open to all.

If you’re interested in Civil War history, some other previous talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety:

01 18, 2018

MPL Talks: General Winfield Scott Hancock

By admin|2018-01-18T06:00:29-05:00January 18, 2018|

General Winfield Scott Hancock was a spectacular corps commander, perhaps the Union’s best.

But that’s not the only reason Todd Arrington (site commander of James A. Garfield National Historic Site) chose Hancock as the subject of his latest Civil War talk.

Learn about Hancock’s life, his accomplishments, his friendship with Confederate General Lewis Armistead, and why he’s especially pertinent to President Garfield.

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at our Main Branch. The topic will Civil War veterans who also served as president. The talk is free and open to all.

If you’re interested in Civil War history, some other previous talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety:

12 29, 2017

MPL Talks: USS Michigan & the Civil War

By admin|2017-12-29T06:00:16-05:00December 29, 2017|

The USS Michigan was one of the Navy’s first iron-hulled ships and it sailed the Great Lakes for more than a century.

It represented the transition between wood to iron and sail to steam. The USS Michigan also played a pivotal role in the Civil War when Confederates attempted to hijack it.

Ted Karle discussed the historic ship during our monthly Civil War program with James A. Garfield National Historic Site.

He discussed:

the USS Michigan’s role in the assassination of James Strang
how it was nearly hijacked during the Civil War by Confederate pirates
how the lauded vessel ended up as scrap metal

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at our Main Branch. The topic will be General Winfield Scott Hancock. The talk is free and open to all.

If you’re interested in Civil War history, some other previous talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety:

09 17, 2017

MPL Talks: Political Cartooning after the Civil War

By admin|2017-09-17T06:00:43-04:00September 17, 2017|

Alan Gephardt, a ranger at James A. Garfield National Historic Site, discussed the role of political cartooning in the latest program of our Civil War series.

He talked about how illustrators like Thomas Nast and Joseph Keppler affected political discourse and changed the lives of post-Civil War politicians like Boss Tweed and Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Garfield.

He also explained:

the origins of the donkey and elephant as totems for Democrats and Republicans, respectively.
how cartoonists of different political affiliations approached the same events.
how the artists used allegory and references to Shakespeare, Fine Art, and more to make their point.

Those who may have missed Gephardt’s talk can watch it in its entirety right now.

Our Civil War series continues with a look at Commodore John Carter, the skipper of the first U.S. iron-hulled boat, at noon on Oct. 11 at our Main Branch. The talk is free and open to all.

Other talks from our Civil War series:

08 19, 2017

MPL Talks: Civil War to Civil Rights

By admin|2017-08-19T06:00:29-04:00August 19, 2017|

During the most recent talk in our Civil War series with James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Judge Paul Mitrovich took on the ambitious task of tracking civil rights from slavery to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

During his talk, he highlighted landmark Supreme Court decisions like:

the Dred Scott case
Plessy v. Ferguson
and Brown v. Board.

Those who may have missed Mitrovich’s talk can watch it in its entirety right now.

Obviously, this is an audacious subject and Mitrovich has to speed through some substantial topics. For a deeper dive, you can borrow his book, Justice Delayed, from our collection.

Our Civil War series continues with an overview of political cartoons, humor, and satire during the war at noon on Sept. 13 at our Main Branch. The talk is free and open to all.

Other talks from our Civil War series:

the history of the Grand Army of the Republic

Civil War

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