Lincoln, Sherman and Davis and the Lost Confederate Gold

Sherman’s brilliant campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas ended in political turmoil with public insinuations from President Andrew Johnson’s administration that Confederate President Jefferson Davis had bought his freedom from Sherman with gold from the Confederate treasury.  Sherman was accused by high government officials of being “a common traitor and a public enemy” while subordinates … Read more

Military Diaries: Personal Accounts of WWI and the Cold War

Veteran reporter, author and USC Professor Emerita Pat McNeely presents recently edited military diaries and family histories of her husband and her father-in-law who served in the Cold War and World War I respectively. McNeely has added family pictures and additional information to both diaries to make them lasting histories. Hear about how she pulled … Read more

Sherman’s Flame and Blame Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas

General William T. Sherman created a new form of physical, economic, and psychological “total warfare” against civilians and private property in Georgia and the Carolinas that he readily admitted would be violent and cruel. In addition to physical and economic assaults, he designed a massive psychological strategy of disinformation, deception, and blame designed to cripple … Read more

54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry & Africans in the Civil War

A brief history of the approximately 180,000 African Americans that served in the Union Army and Navy during the Civil War, with a focus on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the regiment that was portrayed in the award-winning movie, Glory. This presentation is given in a Civil War uniform and includes a first-person characterization.

Civil Rights Movement & the Viet Nam War

This program will feature songs of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States discussed in context of historical events. Lyrics are provided. Dive into an investigation of the folk roots of early Civil Rights songs and the influence of soul/R&B on memorable Civil Rights anthems, from Guthrie to Franklin to Cooke, as well … Read more

Chicano Rights & Puerto Rican Independence Movement (in Context of Viet Nam War)

This program will engage participants in a discussion of literature and music from the Chicano and Puerto Rican American population during the Viet Nam War. Music and lyrics are provided. The presentation includes special emphasis on Roy Brown’s 1970 album Yo Protesto and the continued complicated relations between the US & Puerto Rico.

Anti-War Music & the Viet Nam War

This program offers a brief history of anti-war music in the United States up to the Viet Nam War and further discussion of specific anti-war songs (for example: “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by The Animals, 1965, is the most remembered song by VN War Veterans) and their historical context. More recent anti-war … Read more

Music & the Viet Nam War

This program gives an overview of different genres of music of the war, with lyrics displayed while songs play. “Top 40” hits are interspersed with “deep cuts” from the Viet Nam War era, and the discussion includes global cultural, social, and historical contexts for the songs presented.

The Legacy Of A Common Civil War Soldier: Private T. M. Shields

Humphries authored a book using the letters her great grandfather wrote back home to his beloved wife during 1861-1865. Based on the book The Legacy of A Common Civil War Soldier, this program offers a rare glimpse of what life was really like for a Confederate soldier and his wife.