I am sure that most of you all are familiar with the Gettysburg Winter Lecture Series that are now, in this day & age, archived online. Due to the nature of our protocols with Covid-19, attending this year's events have not been a plausible occasion. If I am to retire with wisdom & leisure at hand, I believe that I will one day set up shop in or nearby the battlefield in Gettysburg, PA. I do not have to describe how our Holy Grail of setting & experience revolves around Gettysburg---Save those words for a poem or memoir. I am hoping that this community continues to thrive & grow & in the coming years we will be able to plan an annual meeting at Gettysburg. Though there are several great Rangers at Gettysburg, I have found Matt Atkinson to be my favorite. So my treat to y'all, if you have not checked it out already is this link that has a series of Winter Lectures given by the Rangers at Gettysburg. In 2021, Ranger Matt discusses, in a 21 minute video, the legacy of John Brown. Who he was, what he believed in, what Gettysburg owns now as artifacts & a few questions of controversy surrounding Kansas & the Harper's Ferry incident. If you haven't had the chance to dive into these lectures, please do yourself a favor & be sure not to miss out on the vast amount of Civil War fireworks & stories. In the past, Matt has discussed General Forrest at the Battle of Brice Crossroads, General Earl Van Dorn, Freemasonry in the Civil War & my favorite: After Gettysburg. Check out his latest video & those of other rangers at this link here:
https://www.nps.gov/gett/learn/photosmultimedia/winter-lecture-series.htm
As always, take care & rest easy.
-----Michael