Civil War Prisons

by David Keller

David Keller, Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation, Managing Director: David Keller is a long time resident of Chicago and an amateur historian. Mr. Keller’s professional life included various executive positions at Chicago area commercial banks. Currently he is a respected expert witness in banking matters throughout the country. Retired since 2002, he devotes much of his time to volunteer activities including the Chicago History Museum. David’s interest in Camp Douglas comes from his interest in the Civil War, Civil War Prison Camps and 19th century Chicago history.  The founder of the Foundation, Mr. Keller is in demand as a speaker on the Civil War and Camp Douglas and has written two books, The Story of Camp Douglas, Chicago’s Forgotten Civil War Prison and Robert Anderson Bagby, Civil War Diary (Annotated) 1863-1865.

Five Factors Impacting Confederate and Union Prison Camps During the Civil War

Civil War photos, PowerPoint® presentation discusses of a study funded by the National Park Service- Andersonville National POW Research Program discussing five factors impacting conditions in Civil War Prisons. These five factors 1) Lack of a strategic plan for prison development and Management before and in the early stages of the Civil War; 2) Inadequate plans for long-term incarceration of prisoners of war; 3) Poor selection, high turnover, and lack of training of camp command; 4) Lack of training of camp guards, and 5) Failure to provide individual soldiers information on how to behave as POW’s.

We have more exciting topics lined up for the new year with the following speakers:

• March 25, 2020.          Laurence Schiller “Buford and the First Day of Gettysburg”
• April 22, 2020.            Gordon Ramsey “Civil War Balloons”
• May 27, 2020.             Terrianne Schulte “James Longstreet”

Watch for more details as we get closer to the date!

Join us for a Friendly & Fun Evening of Civil War History!

Doors open at 5:30
Meal served at 6:30
Presentation at 7:30

We meet at:

ROYALE ORLEANS BANQUET CENTER
2801 Telegraph Road
Mehlville (St Louis), MO 63125

Dinner and Presentation
Members . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20.00 (each)
Students (under 21). . . . . $7.00 (each)
Guests & Others . . . . . . . $25.00 (each)
Members who do not make an advance dinner reservation will be charged $25.00
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Presentation ONLY
Members/Students . . . . . $ 5.00 (each)
Guests & Others . . . . . . . $10.00 (each)

NOTE: We accept all major credit/debit cards, cash, and checks at our meetings.

Please note – there is a $14.00 per person charge for anyone who registers for dinner and does not show up.  No refunds unless we are notified by 5 p.m. on Sunday prior to the meeting.