Feb 4, 2012
BATAVIA (readMedia ) -- Genesee Community College continues its Civil War history lecture series in the spring with four more talks, beginning Tuesday.
The talks are part of GCC's Civil War Initiative commemorating the 150th anniversary of that terrible conflict. The four-part series is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 7, March 6, April 3 and May 1 in Room T102 of GCC's Batavia Campus, 1 College Rd.
A similar lecture series is planned at GCC's Lima Campus Center, 7285 Gale Rd., Lima. Lectures are scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 15, March 6, April 11 and a May date to be determined.
All lectures are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is encouraged. To register for the Batavia talks, contact the BEST Center at (585) 345-6868, or email bestcenter@genesee.edu.
To register for the Lima lectures, contact the Campus Center at (585) 582-1226.
"We are very excited to have another great line-up of dynamic speakers, who are all authorities on the history of the Civil War and each with his or her own area of expertise," Derek Maxfield, GCC's resident Civil War historian and history instructor, said in a statement.
The schedule for Batavia:
-- Tuesday: "Goats of War" by Derek Maxfield covers some unusual and not often discussed antiheroes of war-the goats.
"The term goat is all encompassing," Maxfield said. "It refers to the scapegoats or the political generals who didn't quite fit into the normal context of the war. Some officers were ridiculed for their actions or inactions, others were considered villains. This lecture will cover these unsung compatriots of the Civil War."
The talk will explore the differences between the heroes and goats, and why the Civil War produced a significant number of goats.
The lecture will also be presented Feb. 15 in Lima.
-- March 6: In "Until Every Negro Has Been Slaughtered: Remembering United States Colored Troops at the Crater," Kevin Levine will discuss how the African American troops held the front defense of this battle which was preceded by a planned underground explosion at the Confederate camp.
This battle is also known for the significant number of African American troops killed during the encounter.
Levine, chairman of the history department and an instructor at St. Anne's -- Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va., is the author of upcoming book "Remembering the Battle of the Crater."
-- April 3: "From Bondage to Freedom" by Kevin Cottrell, founder of Motherland Connextions, will discuss the Underground Railroad as it pertains to Western New York and Southern Ontario.
Motherland Connextions is one of the first multi-cultural humanitarian efforts helping to spotlight the many effects diversity had in sustaining freedom, and instilling courage and hope in our communities nationwide.
-- May 1: "The Longstreet Family in War and Peace" by Dr. Terrianne Schulte of D'Youville College explores the impact of the war and its aftermath with the well-known and controversial southern family, the Longstreets.
Schulte will focus on Confederate Gen. James Longstreet, his second wife, Helen Dortch Longstreet, and his uncle, Judge Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, the author of Georgia Scenes.
Three different lectures will be among the four offered at the Lima Campus Center.
Maxfield will reprise his "Goats of War" program on Feb. 15.
Other programs include:
-- March 6: "Considering Strategy: Military vs. Political" will be presented by William Drumright, instructor of history at Monroe Community College
This lecture will explore how quickly President Lincoln learned to balance the tension between political and military strategies and how the Emancipation Proclamation became a dynamic opportunity for tactical policies that addressed both political and military objectives and events.
-- April 11: "Frederick Douglass -- A Man of Vision in the Civil War" is the title of a talk by Robert Babcock, retired City of Rochester American history teacher.
Babcock will explain the incredible life of Frederick Douglass, from his humble beginnings as a slave to becoming a renowned lecturer throughout New England and Europe on slavery, the Equality of Women and other important topics from American history.
Douglass founded the North Star and the Douglass Papers in Rochester and had ongoing communications with President Lincoln, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, and William H. Seward.
-- May: The date and topic is to be announced.
