Our Speaker for May is Gene Schmiel who will be speaking about “The Civil War in Statuary Hall.” Author/historian Schmiel discusses his recently published book focusing on the question, “Who Should be Memorialized in the U.S. Capitol?”

Gene Schmiel is a retired U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer who also was an Assistant Professor of History at St. Francis University (PA). He holds a Ph.D. degree from The Ohio State University. Gene has written 18 books about the Civil War.  His first, Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era, was published in 2014 by Ohio University Press. His most recent books are “bookends” of the war: Baptism of Fire at First Bull Run and Civil War Last Rites at Appomattox and Bennett Place. He is co-author of the first biography of Union General Irvin McDowell, Searching for Irvin McDowell, The Civil War’s Forgotten General, to be published in July by Savas-Beatie. He has lectured at over 30 Civil War Round Tables, and he currently is a Guest Speaker aboard American Cruise Lines cruises on the Mississippi River and the Southeast Coast.  He and his wife Kathryn live in Gainesville, Virginia, which abuts the Manassas Battlefields.

Gene’s topic is The Civil War in Statuary Hall. Recent years have seen a “new Civil War,” a debate, sadly often violent, over who should be honored in public monuments and statues around the country, including in Statuary Hall in the United States Congress. Many Civil War figures are honored in Statuary Hall, including both the President and the Vice President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens, as well as Confederate military leaders Wade Hampton and Edmund Kirby Smith. One who is no longer there is Robert E. Lee. Union leaders honored there include James Garfield of Ohio and Frank Blair, Jr., of Missouri. Gene’s book with that title is the first ever to review the history of the relationship between Statuary Hall and both Civil Wars, the one which was fought in the 19th century and the one ongoing now.

He will discuss why and how these people and others have been honored as well as the ongoing debate about replacing those with a Confederate background.  He will have copies of the book available for purchase.

We meet at Royale Orleans, 2801 Telegraph Road on May 25, 2022. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

To make sure we have enough food for everyone, please register for the meeting HERE. Members can also register by responding to the forthcoming emailed invitation.

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:

AFFTON ELKS LODGE
6330 Heege Road
St. Louis, MO 63123

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.