The Official Fort Larned Old Guard Project

Fort Larned Old Guard Partners With Kinsley Library
For Civil War Project in 2012

The Kinsley Public Library has received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to host Let's Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War. The book discussion series will be conducted during 2012 at 65 libraries throughout the United States, with Kinsley being the only Kansas site.

"We feel very privileged to have been chosen from over 175 applicants to receive this grant," said library director Joan Weaver. "Most of the 65 libraries selected are located in large cities and universities so our inclusion in this group is quite an honor."

The grant includes 25 copies of March by Geraldine Brooks, Crossroads to Freedom: Antietam by James McPherson, and 50 copies of the anthology America's War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries. A complete schedule is online (see website below).

Conversations based on these books will be conducted in the Kinsley City Room one Sunday afternoon a month from January to May, 2012. Dr. Leo E. Oliva of the Fort Larned Old Guard will lead the discussions. He hopes participants will read the selections to be discussed at each session and join in the discussion. The Old Guard is one of many partners supporting this project.

"We hope to have participants come from all central and western Kansas," said Weaver. "To attract people, the five afternoon programs will not only have the National Endowment for the Humanities conversation, but also feature a companion session sponsored by a grant partner."

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. The Kansas Humanities Council supports programs throughout the state.

     Visit the following websites for more information:
     Kinsley Public Library: www.kinsleylibrary.info
     Kansas Humanities Council: www.kansashumanities.org

Let's Talk About It: Making Sense of the Civil War
Presented by the
National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association
and the
Kinsley Public Library

A program of five conversations exploring different facets of the Civil War experience, informed by reading the words written by powerful voices from the past and present.

     America's War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries, a new anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers and published by NEH and ALA
     March by Geraldine Brooks [2005]
     Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam by James McPherson

Monthly conversations lead by Dr. Leo Oliva on selected readings
followed by complimentary presentation as follows:

January 22: Imagining War
     Conversation on Selected Readings led by Dr. Leo Oliva
     JEB, John, and Bleeding Kansas presented by David Clapsaddle
     JEB Stuart who was to become the dashing Confederate cavalry officer and John Brown who was to be martyred for his abolitionist passion both came to Kansas in 1855. Both men witnessed the pro-Civil War conflict in the young territory during what became known as Bleeding Kansas. Strange that both men were to die in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Brown at the end of the hangman's noose; Stuart from a wound received in the Battle of Yellow Tavern.

February 12: Choosing Sides
     Conversation on Selected Readings led by Dr. Leo Oliva
     Kansas and the Civil War in American History and Memory presented by Dr. Brian Miller
     The Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and Kansas coincide. Fr. Miller will present a critical re-examination on how the Civil War affected the state of Kansas and why the Kansas struggles have been largely ignored in American History.

March 11: Making Sense of War
     Conversation on Selected Readings led by Dr. Leo Oliva
     John Brown Speaks Abolitionist John Brown will tell of his life and the events that led him to wage war on slavery.
     He speaks on his role in the turbulent history of Kansas Territory, including the crucial Battle of Black Jack, and about his attempts to end slavery by organizing and leading an army of freed slaves that resulted in his capture during the Raed on Harpers Ferry. Brown will be portrayed by Kerry Altenbernd

April 15: The Shape of War
     Conversation on Selected Readings led by Dr. Leo Oliva
     Civil War Detective: Researching Veterans and Grave Sites presented by Kerry Ivey
     On exhibit: Kansas Territory, Kansas State Historical Society Traveling Trunk

May 6: War and Freedom
     Conversation on Selected Readings led by Dr. Leo Oliva
     David Lester's Soldier's Monument presented by Ray Wetzel, Hillside Cemetery Sexton
     Followed by visits to Soldier's Monument at Hillside Cemetery, Kinsley and the
     KSHS traveling exhibit Lincoln in Kansas at the Edwards County Historical Museum