From the Brigade Commander~ March 2026

I’ll get right to the topic I’m sure many of you have been waiting for: The funds our Round Table will receive from the proceeds of last year’s pop-up museum.

During its February meeting, the Board determined it needed to take a closer look at the expenses incurred and determine what a fair split of cost-sharing of operating expenses ought to look like, e.g., electricity, insurance, security system installation, etc. What I can tell you is the speculative estimate I shared in last month’s newsletter (circa $5,200) is still very much in play.

And for an organization like ours, which once boasted a membership in the hundreds, the final financial outcome will be a big deal. Here’s why: Although our membership has greatly dwindled since the initial effect of Ken Burns’ Civil War series began to wane, operating expenses have not dropped off nearly as steeply.

In other news, in the March newsletter on page 7, you’ll find a link to the American Battlefield Trust’s website that will take you to a simple web form. In less than five minutes, you will be able to add your voice in support of legislation under consideration, which proposes to extend the existing Federal battlefield preservation grant to 2035 AND have the legislation enacted before the official celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary.

I ask that you consider taking part in this survey. No fee is associated with participation. And, to mirror the words of our Round Table’s mission, it’s an easy way we all can keep making a “real difference” in the fight to preserve battlefield land.

Thanks.

Barry

March 3 Meeting Deatails announced - Gettysburg: One Woman’s War

Synopsis

Gettysburg: One Woman's War is a one-woman performance embodying three stories from famed Pennsylvania author Elsie Singmaster’s collection Gettysburg: Stories of the Red Harvest and the Aftermath. In Singmaster’s powerful and specific exploration of a Civil War icon’s physical and emotional terrain, fictional townswoman Mary Bowman lives the war and its legacy—from the first shots at Willoughby Run to the consolation of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to the country’s healing a half century on. Published in 1913, on the eve of another fateful cataclysm : World War I.

Author Elsie Singmaster (1878 – 1958) lived most of her adult life on the campus of Gettysburg’s Lutheran Seminary, where her father was a professor—and where, just a few decades earlier, Confederate soldiers had fatefully charged a Yankee defense. She is credited with having written 350 short stories—most published in popular American literary journals and magazines—and 42 books. Several of these center on the Civil War.

Bios

Professional actress Michèle LaRue has toured nationally for 24 years in her repertoire of Tales Well Told: stories by America’s Gilded Age and Progressive Era writers. She has performed Gettysburg: One Woman's War nearly 50 times, in Gettysburg itself and in eight states from DE to WA. A Chicago native, Michèle majored in Acting at University of Kansas, then relocated to the East Coast of her ancestors. Her theatre credits range from Off-Broadway to several Pennsylvania stages. As a writer and editor Michèle has collaborated on numerous theatre books. Of her forebears, at least one Union fighter was from PA.

February Meeting Highlights and Photos

The February Meeting was highlighted by a fascinating look at the Dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery and how Lincoln, being a second thought after Edward Everett, came to be the highlight of the incredible day.

With historical pictures, archival documents, and some conjecture, Brad Gottlieb, told the story of how the cemetery came to be; how it was organized and funded; who paid for it (not the federal government); the how the dedication was planned, organized, and the President, “invited” to say “a few appropriate remarks.”

Many of us remember Gottlieb from his incredible walking tour of downtown Gettysburg we enjoyed a few years ago. He, sometimes collaborating withhis wife Linda, has written over 20 books. He served as a college educator for over 40 years, rising to the presidency of two colleges before he retired in 2017.  He is a Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide and an Antietam Licensed Battlefield Guide.

 As usual we held our book raffle to benefit Preservation and the winners are pictured below.

From the Brigade Commander - February

Over the last several months,
our Roundtable accomplished some thing never attempted in its 48 years of existence:
Operate a museum.

Commander Barry Arnold

Of course, this couldn’t have happened without a LOT of hard work by several Roundtable members, especially Jack Stanley, who negotiated an agreement for the space and, with little help—and a fair amount of personal funds—set up a professional-looking museum that largely incorporated items from Jack’s collection.

Ed Root leveraged his contacts from both the Bethlehem area and elsewhere to garner support. Twenty-six Roundtable members, a few friends, and 17 students donated their time to serve in multiple capacities, including greeters, docents, reenactors, and presenters.

Several members were also involved in behind-the-scenes efforts, both prior to and after opening day.

All of which all brings me to what might be the most satisfying ending to any event I’ve ever been a part of. First, circa 5,200 individuals visited the museum during operating hours. Second, our Roundtable will likely see proceeds that look reasonably close to the number of visitors the museum attracted!

Jack Stanley

Our Preservation Committee will soon begin its work to identify preservation efforts that fit our criteria for funding. Following our Board of Directors meeting, scheduled for late January, I’ll have more to share as it relates to the funds that our Roundtable will receive from this venture and what we plan to do with these funds.

I want to thank Jack, first of foremost, but also the rest of the team members who helped to make this event an amazing success. You’ll find a listing of volunteers in the February newsletter on page 4.

February Program Details Announced

Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg: The Story of the Dedication of the National Cemetery

We have all heard about Lincoln’s visit to Gettysburg to help dedicate the Soldiers National Cemetery, but few know about the mysteries relating to his visit. These mysteries include: why the invitation to Lincoln was an after-thought, why his Gettysburg Address was so short, when and where he wrote it, why he almost didn’t come to Gettysburg, if he had guards during his visit, what type of horse he rode during the procession, whether the audience applauded during and after his speech, whether he ad-libbed parts of his speech, how he felt about the speech, why he visited a church after the ceremony, and so much more! Get ready for an informative and fun presentation.

Brad & Linda Gottfried

Brad Gottfried earned a Ph.D. in Zoology and served as a college educator for over 40 years, rising to the presidency of two colleges before he retired in 2017.  He has written 23 books on the Civil War. Brad is a Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide and an Antietam Licensed Battlefield Guide.

Linda Gottfried earned a BFA and served as a graphic designer and development officer at several colleges and nonprofit organizations before retiring in 2015.  She now spends her time as sculptor and enjoying retirement.  Several of her pieces have won awards. 

Brad and Linda have collaborated on four projects: Hell Comes to Southern Maryland (published by Turning Point Publications), Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg: The Creation of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (published by the Emerging Civil War), and The Antietam Paintings of James B. Hope (published by Turning Point Publications). Their most recent collaboration is Race to the Potomac: Meade and Lee After Gettysburg (published by the Emerging Civil War).

The Gottfrieds live in Fayetteville, PA and have five children and seven grandchildren.

January Meeting Highlights and Photos

Ed Root started wth a short recap of the highly successful Bethlehem Popup Civil War Museum. (See the post about the museum here)

Robert Hilliard presented an interesting talk about Spies, Slaves, and Secrets of the Civil War. Based on research for the multiple award-winning historical espionage thriller In Freedom’s Shadow, Hilliard provided an overall background on Civil War espionage, and highlighted individual operatives who served each army during the Civil War as well as the technology they used to conduct operations. It also focused on the contributions of escaped slaves as a valued source of information to the US Army and as covert intelligence operatives who risked their lives serving undercover in the Confederacy.

As always, we held our book raffle for preservation with the winner pictured below.

Pop Up Museum Follow Up Report

2025 Bethlehem Pop Up Museum Report

Our story began with post-Civil War research by member Jack Stanley. That research led to the discovery of an 1891-time capsule buried at the former Woolworth building at 555 Main Street in Bethlehem. Jack approached the owners of the building, Lou and Lisa Pektor, about the possibility of “hidden treasure” and they enthusiastically joined him in the discovery of the item which contained fascinating documents and information from 134 years ago. Further discussion with these history buffs resulted in the free offering of the space for a pop-up museum right in downtown Bethlehem during the busy Christmas season.

Jack approached the CWRT of Eastern PA, Inc. Board about our participation which was enthusiastically accepted. The idea of bringing local and civil war history to downtown visitors was too good to pass up. The overwhelming portion of the museum artifacts and informational items came directly from Jack’s personal collection. The Jonathan Taylor sword, which normally resides at Nitschmann Middle School, became the strong personal connection of civil and local history. Other items came from Round Table members and friends. After a month or more of preparation where Jack had installed a security system, obtained insurance, painted, made electrical improvements and lugged 60 barrels of dirt by hand to make a camp scene and more. We opened on Friday, November 28.

Over the course of 15 days, ending on December 28, the museum drew some 5172 visitors. We probably missed a few as occasionally it was so busy it was hard to keep count. It’s even more remarkable considering that of the 15 days, five were less than perfect weather. Twenty-six Round Table members and friends volunteered time to be docents. Jack and Gary Weaver were there all 15 days. Additionally, eighteen students from Liberty and Freedom High Schools volunteered as part of their community service program. It was encouraging to see so many young people participate.

There were costs involved in this endeavor, but Round Table members provided almost everything needed, which included buying lunch for volunteers, providing water, coffee, sugar, sweetener, stirrers, hot chocolate, and cookies, lots of cookies. 

The museum was free, but we did accept donations. We used extra books from our inventory and original minie balls in cases as incentives as folks did indeed make donations. (Jack made a special trip to Gettysburg to buy more bullets.) Alan Lowcher, Jeff Stocker, Michael Harris, Don Levick as a CW surgeon, Dr. Robert Hicks as a CW surgeon, Lou DelBianco as Abraham Lincoln, Ken Serfass as U.S. Grant, Bruce Mowday and Ed Root all made presentations which drew in visitors.

We learned some fascinating things from the experience:

Folks came from not only the Lehigh Valley and environs, but from all over the United States. We talked to folks from everywhere including Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Vermont, California, and more.  Even more interesting was the number of folks from other countries who were fascinated by our history. Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey were just a few. Sadly, foreigners showed more interest than a number of our countrymen who sometimes were just in a hurry, were blasé or worse.

We learned that if someone stood outside the event door and encouraged folks to enter it took only a moments hesitation to make contact that resulted in a visit, rather than just walking by…

In general, women were more curious than men and more often than not were the first of a group or family unit to want to enter.  We have a few theories on the subject, but over the five weeks it became clear that this observation was an accurate one. (A survey done at Gettysburg NMP a few years ago came to the conclusion that more women visited than men.)

              Invariably folks leaving the event expressed warm appreciation for the museum and were extremely grateful for the opportunity to explore our history. Some children rushed in to get a cookie and came out talking about President Lincoln. Visitors came in every size, shape, color, age, language and background.

              We received great coverage from WFMZ and received a certificate from the City of Bethlehem. Many local people mentioned that coverage as the reason for their visit.

              A extremely positive result of the event is that we picked up at least eight new paid members. Many visitors took the informational Round Table brochure made up by Marie Maly so hopefully that number of members will grow. Look for new faces at upcoming meetings and be sure to engage and welcome them. Bill Dax and Charlies Unger not only joined but immediately became volunteers.

              None of this would have been possible without Jack and his folks, Jack Sr. and Carol. Without them none of this would have occurred.

The Bethlehem Civil War Museum has wrapped up its incredible run!

the cwrt museum has wrapped up its run.

thank you to all who helped make this possible

especially jack stanley, all the volunteers,

our co-sponsors, and all who visited.

thank you!

Here’s what happened…
——————————————————————

CWRT’s pop-up museum in downtown Bethlehem has been an incredible success!

Below are more photos - taken Sunday December 21st.

LAST DAY FOR THIS INCREDIBLE FREE MUSEUM IS SUNDAY DECEMBER 28.
Right in downtown Bethlehem!

The exhibit will be housed in the former Woolworth Building,
located at 555 Main Street in Bethlehem.

Hours of operation:
Friday 4-8PM
Saturday 10AM - 8PM
Sunday 10AM - 8PM
New Walnut Street Parking Garage is now open!

There is no admittance fee
We do accept donations!
or donate $10 - receive a book
donate $20 - receive a book AND a real CW bullet.

There are bathrooms
There are reference books for Union soldiers to look up a CW ancestor
—————————-

We have a large amount of artifacts from private collections depicting soldier life.

A center piece is the Jonathan Taylor sword. Taylor was the captain of Co C. 129th PA who was mortally wounded at Fredericksburg. He was the only Bethlehem officer who died from battle injuries. 

From the Brigade Commander ~ January 2026

Our pop-up museum in downtown Bethlehem’s former Woolworth Building (555 Main Street) is creating quite a stir. The response from the public best tells the story: Over three weekends, the museum has attracted 2,900 visitors. In the words of Bethlehem’s mayor, J. William Reynolds, “The exhibit honors the power of museums to spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and connect people to the stories that shaped their history.”
The visitors, largely out-of-towners visiting Bethlehem for the holiday season, have also made donations that are more than enough to cover expenses. All this is thanks to the efforts of Round Table members who have/are contributing in a number of ways: generating publicity for the event and/or serving as museum greeters, docents, and in a few cases, reenactors and/or speakers.
Of course, special thanks must go to Round Table member Jack Stanley, who convinced the building’s owner to okay the use of existing vacant space as a temporary museum. Save for several exceptions, exhibit items represent Jack’s impressive collection of Civil War memorabilia. He’s also done the lion’s share of setting up the exhibits and is at the museum pretty much whenever it is open to the public.
The museum operates each Friday (4-8 pm); Saturday (10-8 pm) and Sunday (10-8 pm). Entry is free. You’ll find the most current listing of speaker and historical impersonator appearances on page 3 of the January newsletter. See more pop-up museum information on pp. 4 and 6.
NOTE: Parking in downtown Bethlehem is FREE on Sundays.
We’re always looking for more folks to volunteer during museum business hours. If you can donate even a few hours of your time to serve as a greeter or a docent, contact Ed Root at sartilly@hotmail.com. The last day of the exhibit will be December 28th.

BARRY

January Program Details Announced

Spies, Slaves, and Secrets of the Civil War presented by Robert Hilliard

Based on research for the multiple award-winning historical espionage thriller In Freedom’s Shadow, Robert Hilliard has developed a 60-minute program/Q&A entitled "Spies, Slaves, and Secrets of the Civil War." The presentation provides an overall background on Civil War espionage, and highlights individual operatives who served each army during the Civil War as well as the technology they used to conduct operations. It also focuses on the contributions of escaped slaves as a valued source of information to the US Army and as covert intelligence operatives who risked their lives serving undercover in the Confederacy.

Robert has previously presented this interactive discussion at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall as part of their distinguished Lincoln Gallery Second Saturday Civil War Lecture Series, the Cooper-Siegel Library, and the Gettysburg Heritage Center. He has also recorded a scripted version for the Gettysburg Beyond the Battle Museum YouTube channel.

Robert Hilliard Bio:

Award-winning author Robert Hilliard has written on sports, history, and the outdoors for over three decades. Rob worked as a freelance reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and wrote for other outlets such as Upland Almanac, Pennsylvania Wildlife, and Pittsburgh History Magazine.

Rob’s first book, A Season on the Allegheny, was published in 2012 and garnered national attention.

His first novel, In Freedom's Shadow, was published in November 2023 and became a #1 Category Bestseller with multiple retailers in its first week of publication. In Freedom's Shadow went on to earn the 2024 International Firebird Book Award for African American Fiction, the Spring 2024 PenCraft Book Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2024 Reader’s Favorite Bronze Award for Southern Fiction.

Rob’s latest work is the holiday short story entitled The Christmas Whistle. Set in colonial America, this heartwarming tale reminds us that the strength of a family’s love endures – especially with a dash of Christmas magic added!