NOTE: This will probably be essentially the same talk by Gilot & Pawlak as the one on September 5 sponsored by CWRT Congress.

TOPIC:  The first shot of the American Civil War was not fired on April 12, 1861, in Charleston, South Carolina, but instead came on October 16, 1859, in Harpers Ferry, Virginia—or so claimed former slave turned abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Discover the story of John Brown’s Raid and the first shots that led to disunion with authors Jon-Erik Gilot and Kevin R. Pawlak.

SPEAKERS:  Jon-Erik Gilot has been indelibly fascinated with Harpers Ferry since his first visit as a child—so much so that he later proposed to his wife on Maryland Heights. A native of historic Mount Pleasant, Ohio, Jon-Erik has spent more than fifteen years in the fields of history and preservation. He works as an archivist and records manager in Wheeling, West Virginia; since 2021 he has also served as curator at the Captain Thomas Espy Grand Army of the Republic Post in Carnegie, PA. Outside of work, Jon-Erik is a historic landmarks commissioner with the City of Wheeling, West Virginia, and a board member with the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation.

Kevin R. Pawlak is a historic site manager for Prince William County’s Office of Historic Preservation and a Certified Battlefield Guide at Antietam National Battlefield. He previously worked as a park ranger at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Kevin is the author of four books about the American Civil War, including To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862, part of the Emerging Civil War Series.

To register for this FREE event, copy and paste this link into your browser:  https://acwm.org/event/book-talk-jon-gilot-kevin-pawlak/