Suzanne Sanders and John Miller
Join Chesapeake Forum the week of October 3d for epic stories, lost causes and new perspectives. The week kicks off with Savoring Shakespeare’s King Lear and The Lost Cause Mythology on October 3rd, followed by New Aspects of the War of 1812 on October 4th.
Join instructors Suzanne Sanders and John Miller on Tuesday, October 3rd from 1-2:30 pm for the first of this Savoring Shakespeare series and the tragic tale of the old King who tried to put a price tag on his daughter’s love. Over five weeks, the class will explore several of Shakespeare’s works at a relaxed pace, reading together, discussing plot, themes, and sharing personal reactions. The main direction of the classes will be decided by participants’ interests.
Savoring Shakespeare’s King Lear is five sessions Tuesday, October 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 from 1-2:30 PM. $50.00. In person at the Easton Family YMCA. To register, visit https://chesapeakeforum.org.
If Shakespeare’s not your thing, how about a lost cause? In the Lost Cause Mythology, Tuesday, October 3rd from 10-11:30 AM, Dominick “Mickey” Terrone examines the post-war effort to reframe the Confederate’s Civil War defeat in the best possible light. Over three sessions, Terrone will detail how the initial concept was identified and developed as a southern narrative written by former Confederates and eventually, their following generations. He will identify the major tenets and discuss how and why that version was preferred by those authors. He will show how novelists, poets, songwriters, and movie makers added to the distorted, heroic picture of the war and the antebellum South. Finally, he will cover the long-term impacts of the Lost Cause on the collective memories of the large majority of Americans today and how the Civil War still has significant relevance in the political life of Americans.
The Lost Cause Mythology is three sessions, Tuesday, October 3, 10 and 17 from 10-11:30 a.m. $30.00. HYBRID (in person at the Easton Family YMCA or via ZOOM). To register, visit https://chesapeakeforum.org.
In the years before the Civil War, the most significant battle of the young U.S. may have been the forgotten and under-appreciated War of 1812. In “New Aspects of the War of 1812”, on Wednesday, October 4th from 1-2:30 PM, William S. Dudley, former Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command and author of several books about the naval history of the war, looks at how a woefully unprepared U.S. prevailed in an unequal fight with Great Britain, at that time, the most professional army on earth. The War of 1812 constituted an existential crisis for our young nation. Considering the odds against the U.S., it was less a matter of winning outright than of surviving and outlasting a larger, more experienced enemy. This is a rare opportunity to look closely at a period of our history that some might say was pivotal to the building of the American nation.
New Aspects of the War of 1812 is two sessions, Wednesday, October 4 and 11 from 1-2:30 PM. $30. HYBRID (in person at the Easton Family YMCA or via ZOOM). To register, visit https://chesapeakeforum.org.
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Glenn C Baker says
Lost Cause Mythology, as told by Dominick “Mickey” Terrone who has adapted The Southern Poverty Law Center’s rewriting of the history of the South following The War Between the States. Mr. Terrone has been repeating this tiresome reinvention of Southern History for many years here in Talbot County, where Lincoln received 2 votes for President. If the Chesapeake Forum is so desperate for subject matter about the War Between the States they should consider the story Of Judge Carmichael in the Historic Talbot Courthouse and one of the many True Stories of that time in the history of Talbot County.
Mickey Terrone says
Glenn, you might be interested in learning numerous historians’ descriptions of the Lost Cause mythology, how it grew under the influence of Jubal Early and the Southern Historical Society Papers, the UDC and numerous former Confederate officers and politicials including Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens. I cover how the mythology was later sold to the American public through weekly magazines, romantic novels of the antebellum South and movies like “Birth of Nation” and “Gone with the Wind”. The course has nothing to do with the Southern Poverty Law Center. The course demonstrates conclusively that in the case of the American Civil War, the losers had a considerable role in writing and spreading their romanticized version of history. In fact, I didn’t know until today that the SPLC even had a statement on the Lost Cause mythology.