Espy Post Past Programs

Great Ancestral Records!; October 8, 2011

Annual Civil War Event; April 29 and 30, 2011

Civil War Photography Exhibit; April 12, 2011

The Angel of Marye’s Heights; November 27, 2010

Aaron Copland’s: A Lincoln Portrait; April 11th, 2010

Annual Civil War Event; April 4th, 2009

Mr. Lincoln Comes to Washington; February 9th, 2009

Annual Civil War Event; April 25th, 2008

Great Ancestral Records!
October 8
The Grand Army of the Republic created records that are valuable sources of information to the family historian researching Union Civil War ancestors. This fact is little known and underutilized by genealogists. This lecture will 1) explore the creation of the GAR, thus providing historical context for the records; 2) provide a listing and examples of the records of most value to genealogists; and 3) provide researchers with a sound strategy for finding extant records. Library Director, Diane Klinefelter will lecture followed by a tour of the Thomas Espy Post 153.
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Lecture is free and open to the public.
Donation of $3 per person requested for the tour.

Annual Civil War Weekend
April 29th-30th, 2011
Re-enactment Photographs
Photographs from the Ball
History came alive with the ACFL&MH’s 6th Annual Civil War Weekend. All day programming. Most events free and open to the public. Tour the restored Thomas Espy GAR Post 153, stroll through vendor exhibits, partake in a Civil War era tea, and watch military drills and skirmishes between Yanks and Rebs. Skirmishes took place at Carnegie Park. There was also a ball on Friday evening.

 

 

“150 Years Ago Today…”
April 12, 2011
The Library & Music Hall commemorated the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War with opening of two Civil War photography exhibits and a reception with collector Ron Palm and photographer James E. Meldrum.

 

The Angel of Marye’s Heights – A Pittsburgh Movie Premiere!
November 27, 7:30 p.m.
This documentary short tells the compelling story of a Confederate soldier’s selfless compassion. In the wake of the devastating battle for Fredericksburg, Sgt. Richard Rowland Kirkland risked his life to provide aid and comfort to the enemy—wounded and dying Union soldiers. Includes a conversation with writer/producer (and Pittsburgh native) Michael Aubrecht, and a dessert reception. One showing only.

 

Aaron Copland’s: A Lincoln Portrait April, 11th, 2010
Performed by Duquesne University’s Wind Symphony, directed by Robert Cameron. Pittsburgh/Los Angeles actor David Conrad narrated this haunting piece composed by Aaron Copland in 1942. The Wind Symphony and Mr. Conrad will round out the program with more Americana/Lincolnalia music and readings.

 

Annual Civil War Event, 2009
The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall’s annual Civil War program was the last chance to visit the Captain Thomas Espy Post No. 153 of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Saturday’s programming included:

• Ongoing tours of the Espy Post (9:30 – 4:30)
• An exposition in the Reception Hall featuring exhibitors and vendors, 9:30 – 4:30
• “Mothers, Marms and Madams,” Diane Klinefelter, 11:00, Music Hall
• Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” 12:00 and 3:30
• “Ambition, God, and Freedom: Lessons from Abraham Lincoln’s Life and Death,” Scott Sandage, 2:00, Music Hall
• An encampment, drills (10:30 and 1:30) and skirmish (4:00) on the grounds
• Children’s Activities, 10:00 – 4:00, Children’s Room
• One-on-one historical and genealogical research instruction in the Library’s Kathleen Bowman Eynon Memorial Civil War Collection (1:00 – 4:00)
• Acoustic Shadows of the Blue and Gray, 8:00 p.m.

The day’s program was made possible by a generous grant from the Massey Charitable Trust. The Pittsburgh Foundation provided underwriting for the Acoustic Shadows concert.

 

Mr. Lincoln Comes to Washington
Edwin Coles Bearss (pronounces “bars”) drew an enthusiastic audience of more than 200 people to his February 9, 2009 lecture marking the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Described as “one of the most distinguished historians (and spellbinding storytellers) of the Civil War,” Bearss began his career with the National Park Service in 1955 at the National Battlefield Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He ended his official career (40 years later) having served 13 year as Chief Historian for the National Park Service.

Mr. Bearss’ talk signals the caliber of programming the ACFL&MH is committed to providing to complement its Captain Thomas Espy Post No. 153 of the Grand Army of the Republic and to further understanding of the American Civil War.

 

 

 

Annual Civil War Event 2008
The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall’s annual Civil War program began with a concert on Friday April 25th; offered a full day of programming on Saturday April 26th, and concluded with a keynote address on Sunday April 27th. The Civil War programming was made possible through a generous grant from the Massey Charitable Trust.
Friday night’s concert featured the NewLanders singing “Songs of Southwestern Pennsylvania.” The NewLanders are a group of Pittsburgh area musicians and songwriters who have researched and rediscovered songs written by, and about the people of southwestern Pennsylvania. Featuring vocals, guitar, bass, violin, octave violin, jaw harp, bones, Appalachian dulcimer, and mandolin, the NewLanders have forged a rich musical sound all their own to tell the tales of southwestern Pennsylvania’s rich past.
According to NewLander Art Gazdik (violin, octave violin, mandolin and vocals), “The New Landers and the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall are a perfect fit; both work to make elements of our past vital again.”
Saturday’s programming included:

• Ongoing tours of the Espy Post
• An historical interpretation of Confederate spy, “Rebel Rose” O’Neal Greenhow
• An exposition in the Reception Hall featuring exhibitors and vendors with booths on the G.A.R., shoulder arms, commissaries, civilian life, art, antiques, currency, and more. Exhibitors include representatives from Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial, members of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves, and Mechling Book Bindery with author Art Fox; who’s most recent book is “Our Honored Dead: Allegheny County in the American Civil War.”
• An historical interpretation of Abraham Lincoln delivering the “Gettysburg Address”
• An encampment, drills and skirmishes on the grounds
• One-on-one historical and genealogical research instruction in the Library’s Kathleen Bowman Eynon Memorial Civil War Collection

On Sunday at 2:00 p.m., Stuart McConnell (Professor of History at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA) delivered the weekend’s keynote address. Professor McConnell is the author of GLORIOUS CONTENTMENT: THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, 1865-1900. The book is a close look at how the G.A.R. worked at the local level; coupled with an examination of its meaning as a national organization lobbying for Union Army pensions, “correct” Civil War history, and a kind of preservationist vision of American nationalism.
A special exhibit, LOOKING AT LINCOLN: Political Cartoons from the Civil War Era (on loan from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History), was on display at the Library & Music Hall from April 21st- May 21st.