CWRT-- Part 9: Rock River Valley CWRT

Before he resigned as vice president in 2023 for health reasons, Pete Thomas had all but completed a schedule of speakers for 2024.  In addition to members of the RRVCWRT, speakers include members of nearby CWRTs and authors from various sources (some self-published), including Savas Beatie, a history publishing house from El Dorado Hills, California.

David Byrnes, current president of the RRVCWRT, is the retired executive director of Midway Village Museum in Rockford and past president of the Rockford Rotary.

"We currently have more than 80 members on the rolls, and a fourth are women," says Byrnes.  "Our average in-person attendance is about 30 to 40, with eight to ten others on Zoom.  We also share our Zoom links with other CWRTs, so some attendees are from other groups.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 7: Rock River Valley CWRT

Bob Pressman and other officers decided it was time to look for another venue to hold their meetings.  This search eventually brought them to Veterans Memorial Hall, which they describe as "a perfect fit."  Hall manager Scott Levandowski was already providing hybrid meetings for the Rotary of Rockford and other organization.  (This would be in-person meetings and Zoom.)

Meetings are held the first Monday of the month.  Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. and the presentation starts at noon.

Currently, lunches can be pre-ordered from a nearby Jimmy Johns or attendees can pack their own brown bags.  Annual dues are now $35, which covers hall rental ($50 per month), Zoom fees and honoraria for out-of-town speakers ($100).

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets Tomorrow: Topic 'The Fall of Richmond'

In April 1865, the capital of the Confederacy fell to Union forces.  The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table discussion group will be talking about it from 10 am to 11:30 am at the Crystal Lake, Illinois.

It will also be on Zoom.  So if you're in the area, stop on in.  Everybody's welcome and all you need is an interest in the Civil War.

And, we actually do stay on topic most of the time.

Panera Bread is located on Northwest Highway (US-14) by Main Street.

Come On Down.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 6: Rock River Valley CWRT

When Wesley Willows shut down their facilities during the pandemic, Don Barrett and Ed Kuehl kept the meetings going on by presenting them online via Zoom.

Bob Pressman was elected president  in 2021, and with the help of other officers, went to work reorganizing the Round Table and putting it on solid financial footing.  "We formed a committee to rewrite the bylaws, based  on those of other round tables," said Pressman.

"Prior to the pandemic, attendees paid Wesley Willows for the meal, but paid only $1 for expenses.  Jerry Paris volunteered to be treasurer and we raised dues to $25 a year, opened a bank account, and started paying for our Zoom subscription."

Zoom meetings were a mixed blessing.  "It allowed us to use speakers from all over the country, since we didn't have to pay travel expenses, so the pool of presenters became very large.  It also kept us in contact with each other, but we missed the face-to-face interaction, the camaraderie of in-person meetings.

By 2022, things were starting to reopen, and Wesley Willows said they would allow us to meet there again, but without meals."

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 5: Rock River Valley CWRT

Bob Ash, Dick Wolff, Mary Webber, Ray Schoenfeld, Ed Rounds and others were instrumental in maintaining and growing the organization.  Meeting locations changed a bit, but eventually they moved to the new facilities at Wesley Willows, where an optional lunch preceded each meeting presentation.

By the time COVID -19 closed down all such public gatherings in 2020, the average attendance was over 50.

"I've been a member of the Rock River Valley Round Table for about 15 years, retired Rockford radio and TV journalist Bob Pressman says.  "At my first meeting, I was impressed with the number of people and surprised by how many I already knew-- none of whom had ever mentioned [the group] to me."

Pressman, like others in the group, has presented several programs, including ones on Reconstruction and myths and facts about the Civil War.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 4: Rock River Civil War Round Table

In November 1998, Ed Hunt and Tony Tobak offered a class on Civil War battles through the Center for Learning in Retirement at Rock Valley College.  At the conclusion, several members expressed an interest in continuing meetings on the subject.  Eventually, about ten people agreed to meet monthly at the Wesley Willows retirement community, where several of them already lived.

Early meetings were informal, and topics or presentations were provided by members of the group.  They called themselves the "Rock River Irregulars" or "Rockiregs" for short.  As time went on, more people joined the monthly meetings and the name was changed to the Rock River Valley Civil War Round Table (RRVCWRT).

A formal organization developed, complete with bylaws and officers, modeled after similar groups in the area.  By 2006, monthly attendance averaged around 30.

--Old Secesh

Seven Illinois Civil War Round Tables Listed

The Civil War.com site lists seven CWRTs in Illinois:

Champaign County CWRT

Chicago CWRT

Decatur CWRT

Joliet Area CWRT

McHenry County CWRT

Northern Illinois CWRT

Salt Creek CWRT

There is also a Rock River Valley CWRT

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 3: Civil War Round Table Congress

There is no national organization which oversees Civil War Round Tables.  However, the Civil War Round Table Congress serves as an advisory service.

It maintains a website and  and convenes meetings to share ideas and promote best practices.  It was created partly in response to a trend among CWRTs to disband during the pandemic.

The organization is "dedicated to the sustainability and long-term benefits of CWRTs.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 2: And Then There's the McHenry County Civil War Round Table

Although operations at meetings differ, most Civil War Round Tables (CWRT) follow a similar format at their monthly meetings.  Some meet at a restaurant where a meal preceded the program.  Announcements or publicity for related events are usually followed by a formal presentation from an author, professor, historian, re-enactor, member or others on a topic related to the Civil War.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many CWRTs have hybrid programs where the live meeting is shared online on Zoom.

This is how my McHenry County Civil War Round Table operates as well.  Plus, once a month we have a discussion meeting at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  And, we usually stick to our topic somewhat.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 1

From the Cabin Fever Issue of Northwest Quarterly 2024 "Civil War Round Tables" by Jon McGinty.

I currently belong to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table and at one time, back in the 1970s and 80s to The Civil War Round Table of Chicago, which is regarded as the very first CWRT.

Civil War Round Tables are independent groups of people who meet regularly to share a common interest in the military, political and sociological history of that war.  

The first Civil War Round Table (CWRT) was started in Chicago in 1940 by Ralph Newman, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Bookstore in that town.  He assembled a small group of authors and amateur historians to discuss topics about the Civil War.

Current estimates say that there are roughly 300 such groups  worldwide, with most of them in the United States,

There are 17 of them in Illinois.

--Old Secesh

The Illinois Department of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War-- Part 2: Camps

Continuing with Illinois camps:

E. F. Dutton Camp 49, Sycamore

Colonel John C. Bryner Camp 67, Peoria

Colonel Friedrich K. Hecker Camp 443, Belleville

U.S. Grant Camp 1863, Schaumburg

Old Glory Camp 6165, Chicago

Hard to believe there are so few camps in Illinois.  At one time there were eight Sons of Confederate Veterans camps in Illinois.  

--Old Secesh

The Illinois Department Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

This all started when I posted about the Sycamore Camp of Sons of Union veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) working on the DeKalb County Civil War Memorial in Sycamore.

There are eleven SUVCW camps in Illinois according to the department website:

**  General George A. Custer Camp 1, Wilmette

**  General Philip H. Sheridan Camp 2, Aurora

**  General John A. McClernand Camp 4,Springfield

**  Captain Frank Reed Camp 24, Tuscola

**  John A. Logan Camp 26, Rockford

**  Private Henry M. Hardenbergh Camp 39, Tinley Park

--Old Secesh