Chambersburg Seminars To Focus on John Brown’s Raid
(April 2009 Civil War News)
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – The Chambersburg Civil War Seminars series for 2009 kicks off with “In the Footsteps of John Brown” from April 3-5. The seminars have raised more than $100,000 for battlefield preservation since their inception in 1989.
The seminar on Brown will be presented at the Four Points Sheraton in Chambersburg. It will include a tour of Brown’s raid sites led by historians Dennis Frye and Ted Alexander.
Author and historian Brian Steel Wills will give a presentation on John Brown and his depiction in cinema.
This year is the 150th anniversary of Brown’s raid on the U.S. arsenal in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Brown planned the raid in Chambersburg, where those who survived the raid returned. It is also where Brown told abolitionist Frederick Douglass about his plans.
The John Brown House, where Brown and his men stayed, survived the burning of Chambersburg by Confederate soldiers in July 1864. Chambersburg was the only town north of the Mason-Dixon Line that Confederates burned.
The Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce will host two additional Civil War Seminars this year:
“Stonewall Jackson in the Valley,” July 22-26, Plaza Hotel, Hagerstown, Md., will include bus tours of Jackson’s 1862 Valley campaign and discussions by Ed Bearss and other historians. Actor Stephen Lang, who portrayed Jackson in “Gods and Generals,” will participate, schedule permitting.
“Riding with Jeb Stuart,” Oct. 9-11, at Four Points Sheraton, Chambersburg, will feature tours and discussions with authors and historians Ed Bearss and Eric Wittenberg.
Ted Alexander, chief historian at Antietam National Battlefield, coordinates the seminars. Costs vary depending on the sessions attended. The price includes motorcoach transportation for guided tours, seminar materials and some meals.
A scholarship allows one teacher and one student to attend the July seminar at no cost, other than their travel and hotel accommodations.
For more information, contact Cindy Baker at (717) 264-7101 or go to www.chambersburgcivilwarseminars.org.
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Civil War News, Used by Permission