Public Programs

The Second Friday Lecture Series is a monthly Civil War lecture program organized by the Civil War Museum of Kenosha, Wisconsin. All programs are held for an in-person audience at the museum. The lectures are recorded and posted to the museum’s YouTube channel.

The Second Friday Lectures begin at 12:00pm and there is no cost to attend. The Civil War Museum graciously thanks the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table and Iron Brigade Association for sponsoring this series of lectures.

New Philadelphia, Illinois: Seven Ways to Freedom

Friday, May 9  |  12pm – 1pm  |  Presented by Dr. Kate Williams-McWorter and Dr. Gerald McWorter

From a distance, New Philadelphia looked like a typical Illinois pioneer town of the mid-1800s. But New Philadelphia was not a typical pioneer town. As travelers got closer, they would find a small but bustling community where Black and White villagers lived and worked side by side. For formerly enslaved Free Frank McWorter, the town meant new beginnings and an opportunity to free family members enslaved in Kentucky. New Philadelphia, which he founded in 1836, is the first U.S. town platted and registered by an African American.

Gerald McWorter and Kate Williams-McWorter’s presentation will tell the story of this unique central Illinois town from its inception to its recognition at the United States’ 424th National Park in December 2022.

Gerald McWorter is professor emeritus from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a founder of the field of Black Studies. His great-great-grandfather Frank McWorter was the first African American to found a town in the U.S., New Philadelphia in 1837, and with his wife Lucy freed 16 family members from slavery and helped countless others.

Kate Williams-McWorter is associate professor emerita from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and co-authored the book New Philadelphia with her husband Gerald.

The Congdon Brothers and Significant Others: Their Civil War Times

Friday, June 13  |  12pm – 1pm  |  Presented by Michael T. Sullivan

Eli, Hannibal, and Sylvester were brothers, farmers, soldiers, and friends from Palmyra, Wisconsin. They were respected for what they did and the American Civil War made them forever friends of the country.  While holding the military rank of private, the brothers honorably served in Wisconsin military units within the Union Army. They made it home, partially, but the home front presented its own family and personal struggles.  

Wisconsin Author Michael T. Sullivan’s presentation will introduce you to the Congdon Brothers and their extended families. Their acts rise from browned and fragile pages where they have respectfully remained silent for many years.

Spared and Shared: Saving History from the American Civil War

Friday, July 11  |  12pm – 1pm  |  Presented by: William Griffing

When William Griffing (“Griff”) retired 15 years ago, he dedicated himself to the preservation of American history. He uncovered a substantial volume of historical content hidden within letters and diaries from the Civil War era, much of which remained unpublished and unknown to the public. Most of this material was held by descendants or collectors. Griff will elucidate how he accessed these invaluable sources and made transcriptions accessible to the public through his Spared & Shared websites. He will also discuss how the materials he unearthed culminated in a recently published book on Abraham Lincoln, featuring contemporaneous accounts of the 16th President that had never been published before. Copies of his book, A Great and Good Man; Rare, First-Hand Accounts & Observations of Abraham Lincoln will be available for purchase for those who are interested.

Combat in the American Civil War: Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery

Friday, August 8  |  12pm – 1pm  |  Presented by: Dr. Steve Fratt

Some have seen the Civil War as the first modern war due to the introduction of new technologies. They also mention that sadly, the casualties on the battlefield were caused by employing obsolete tactics against these new technologies. Our guest will explain how the American Civil War fits within the era of modern warfare and how the tactics used were appropriate for the last musket war of the nineteenth century. 

Dr. Steve Fratt is Professor of History – Emeritas who taught for 30 years at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. His perspective on the Civil War is uniquely informed by his study of the historical sources, his articles and publications, 25 years of experience in the field as a reenactor (including 7 years of commanding the Federal Army in Chicago), and his design of tabletop miniature games of “war college” quality.

The 6th Wisconsin and the Antietam Campaign

Friday, September 12  |  12pm – 1pm  |  Presented by Dr. James Marten

Reimagining one of the oldest genres of Civil War history, Dr. Marten’s program will explore the Antietam Campaign through the lens of a single regiment, the Sixth Wisconsin. One of the core units of the famed Iron Brigade, the Sixth was organized in July 1861 and mustered out in the summer of 1865, playing major roles at Antietam as well as Second Manassas, Gettysburg, and the Overland campaign of 1864.

Dr. James Marten, Professor Emeritus of Marquette University, has written, edited, or co-edited over twenty books in two different fields: The Civil War era and the histories of children and youth. His books include The Children’s Civil War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), a Choice “Outstanding Academic Title” and winner of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Book Award, as well as more recent books on Civil War veterans, including Sing Not War: The Lives of Union and Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011), America’s Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace, a short biography of the disabled Civil War veteran and activist James “Corporal” Tanner (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2014), and Buying and Selling Civil War Memory in Gilded Age America (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2021), co-edited with Caroline E. Janney. 

His latest book is The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War: The Biography of a Regiment (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2025), explores the war-time experiences and the long-term effects of the Civil War on a regiment that fought in one of the most famous units in the Union army—the Iron Brigade.