The organization meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month September
through May. Meetings are held in the Williamsburg Regional Library
Theatre located at 515 Scotland St in Williamsburg, VA, unless otherwise
posted. The meetings begin at 6:30 PM. Membership is open to the
general public.
March's Speaker
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
March 26, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Dr. Jonathan S. Jones
“Opium slavery: Drug Dependency Amoung Civil War Veterans"
Join us on Tuesday, March 26th, for the meeting of the
Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable, commencing at 6:30 PM in the
Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre. The library is located at 515
Scotland Street in Williamsburg.
The program will also be presented online via a Zoom link for our
members and friends near and far. The details for the Zoom link will be
provided by a follow-up announcement several days prior to meeting date.
On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Jonathan Jones will present “Opium
Slavery: Drug Dependency Among Civil War Veterans”.
In the wake of the Civil War, many veterans struggled with lingering
pain and disabling illnesses. To cope, former soldiers often turned to
opioids. Tens of thousands became addicted to the drugs. Jonathan Jones,
Assistant Professor of History at James Madison University, will discuss
how the opioid addiction crisis sparked by the Civil War affected
veterans’ lives and what this crisis can teach us about the Civil War’s
traumatic aftershocks in the postwar decades.
Jonathan S. Jones is an assistant professor of history at James Madison
University. His first book, Opium Slavery: The Civil War, Veterans, and
America’s First Opioid Crisis, is forthcoming from UNC Press. Jones’s
research has also appeared in The Journal of the Civil War Era, the
Washington Post, Vice, NPR, and other outlets. Jones received his PhD
from Binghamton University in 2020. In 2020-21, he was a Postdoctoral
Scholar at Penn State’s George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center and
from 2021-23 he was an assistant professor of history at Virginia
Military Institute.”
Last Month
On February 27th, Scott Mingus will present “Confederate Calamity:
JEB Stuart’s Cavalry Ride Through York County PA”.
Many people erroneously believe that Jeb Stuart was on a glory ride
around the Army of the Potomac while the battle of Gettysburg raged,
deliberately depriving Robert E. Lee of "the eyes and ears of the army."
Author Scott Mingus, making extensive use of post-war civilian border
claims and old maps, discusses Stuart's route north, the obstacles that
caused him to miss his planned connection with Lee's army near the
Susquehanna River, and the wearisome, exhausting ride up and down the
hills of York County, PA. on June 30 to July 2, 1863, concurrent with
the first two days of the battle of Gettysburg.
Multiple award-winning author Scott Mingus is a retired scientist and
executive in the global specialty paper industry. The Ohio native
graduated from Miami University. He was part of the research team that
developed the first commercially successful self-adhesive U.S. postage
stamps, and he was a pioneer in the early development of bar code
labels. He has written more than 30 Civil War and Underground Railroad
books and numerous articles for Gettysburg Magazine and other historical
journals. He has appeared on C-SPAN, C-SPAN3, PBS, PCN, and several
other TV networks. Mingus writes a blog on the Civil War history of York
County, PA, where he and his wife Debi live. He also has written six
scenario books for miniature wargaming. He received lifetime achievement
awards from the York County History Center and the Camp Curtin
Historical Society for his many contributions to local Civil War
history. The Gettysburg Civil War Round Table recently presented Mingus
and co-author Eric Wittenberg with the 2023 Bachelder-Coddington Award
for the best new book on the Gettysburg Campaign, If We Are Striking for
Pennsylvania.
New Colonel On General Grant’s Staff” details
Gettysburg Civil War Institute announces summer 2024 conference, June 7-12, 2024 details
Michael Block, a member of the WCWRT interviewed about his new book. read
American Battlefield Trust presents "Head-Tilting History: Bushnell’s Turtle, A Revolutionary Submarine" view
American Civil War Museum upcoming events view
2023 Gilder Lehman Lincoln Prize winner Jonathan White discusses Lincoln'srelationships with African Americans. View
NAU Center programs view
Butch Barringer, a member of WCWRT, publishes new biography on Colonel Thomas Taylor Mumford, "Unhonored Service"