Upcoming CCWRT Program
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
September 9, 2026: First Meeting of 2026-2027!
Information about the September 2026 Roundtable meeting can be found below following the item about the 2026 Civil War Round Table of the Year.
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Named 2026 Civil War Round Table of the Year
Emerging Civil War (ECW) is an organization that provides a national platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War. ECW is the collaborative effort of more than 35 historians who are committed to sharing the story of the Civil War in a way that is accessible for the general public. ECW’s initiatives include its award-winning series of books published by Savas Beatie, LLC; an annual symposium; a speakers’ bureau; and a daily blog (www.emergingcivilwar.com). ECW announced on January 30, 2026 that it was sponsoring a Civil War Round Table of the Year Award for 2026 and that all Civil War roundtables were invited to submit nominations for that award. In its announcement, ECW stated that the award is to cover the previous calendar year, and ECW listed several criteria for the award. These criteria included meetings, membership, external education initiatives, external preservation initiatives, and ECW participation. The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, with input from several members of the Executive Committee, wrote a nomination for the award and submitted it for consideration. (Our Roundtable’s nomination is available on our website by clicking on this link.)
After reviewing the nominations, ECW selected the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable as the 2026 Civil War Round Table of the Year. In its announcement of this decision, ECW noted that while many Civil War roundtables in the country are decreasing in membership, our Roundtable has had a robust increase in membership of 25% per year in recent years, and we routinely have between 70 and 120 attendees at our monthly meetings. ECW also indicated that our Roundtable has an annual field trip to a Civil War site and invites members of other Civil War roundtables to participate, which is an effective way to foster camaraderie between different roundtables.
ECW also noted that in 2025 our Roundtable organized a week-long program that featured living historian Dr. Curt Fields, the nation’s preeminent portrayer of Ulysses S. Grant. This program included several presentations by Dr. Fields at schools and at evening venues, and it involved over 1,300 students and over 450 community members through Dr. Fields’ lectures. Also discussed in ECW’s announcement of the award is the participation of our Roundtable in the annual National History Day competition, where members help students by acting as judges for the students’ projects. In addition, our Roundtable sponsors our own awards to National History Day students for exemplary projects related to the Civil War. ECW said that activities such as these demonstrate that our Roundtable extends beyond our meetings to community programs that expand knowledge of the Civil War across the city.
ECW concluded its announcement by stating that our Roundtable has shown that it is possible nowadays for Civil War roundtables not just to survive, but to thrive via engaging meetings, community outreach, and an astute and wide-ranging perspective.
We are extremely grateful to ECW for giving this award to our organization and thrilled that our Roundtable has been so recognized. Being named the 2026 Civil War Round Table of the Year is a tremendous honor and a powerful affirmation of the purpose and dedication that define our organization. Our collective efforts have long reflected a standard of excellence, and it is gratifying that what we do as an organization has been nationally recognized.
What makes this moment especially profound is that it represents far more than a single submission. This award reflects years of sustained commitment to strong programming, meaningful engagement, and the preservation and thoughtful interpretation of Civil War history. This distinction meaningfully elevates our Roundtable within the broader Civil War community, and it is something we should carry with pride, not only as acknowledgment of past efforts, but also as inspiration for the future.
Congratulations to every member of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable. Each of you has played a part in shaping an organization that is respected, valued, and now nationally recognized for its contributions. This is a collective accomplishment and a testament to the passion, care, and devotion that characterize our organization. To every member of our Roundtable as we begin the 2026-2027 meetings, welcome to the Civil War Round Table of the Year.
September 2026 Roundtable Meeting: “A Civil War Road Trip of a Lifetime”
The September 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable will take place on September 9, 2026 beginning at 6:00 p.m. This will be an in-person meeting. The speaker will be John Banks, and the title of John’s presentation is “A Civil War Road Trip of a Lifetime.”
Over more than a year, John Banks crisscrossed the country exploring battlefields, historic houses, forts, and more. He rode on the back of an ATV with his “psychotic connection” in Mississippi, went under the spell of an amateur hypnotist at a U.S. Army fort in Tennessee, admired a sunset from the grounds of the notorious Andersonville prison camp in Georgia, prayed during a tense boat ride in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, and briefly interviewed Louie the wild boar in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Join him on a road trip like no other.
John Banks is author of A Civil War Road Trip of a Lifetime, Connecticut Yankees at Antietam, and Hidden History of Connecticut Union Soldiers. His work has been featured in such notable publications as The New York Times, Civil War Times, Civil War Monitor, Civil War News, America’s Civil War, and Military Images. Banks and his friend Tom McMillan, a historian, author, and former journalist, co-host “The Antietam and Beyond Podcast.” Banks attended Mount Lebanon (Pennsylvania) High School and graduated from West Virginia University (BA in Journalism). A longtime journalist (The Dallas Morning News, ESPN, The History Channel), he is secretary-treasurer of The Center for Civil War Photography.
The September 2026 meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Independence (6001 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio 44131). Reservations should be made by sending an email to the Roundtable’s reservation email account (ccwrtreserve@gmail.com). Reservations must be made no later than eight days before the meeting (i.e., no later than September 1, 2026). When making a reservation, please include your name and the number and names of any guests. Please also indicate the meal choice for you (and any guests). The three meal options are grilled sirloin, bourbon salmon, and grilled eggplant bruschetta. If a reservation needs to be canceled, it must be canceled no later than September 8, 2026. Dinner will be provided to anyone who has a reservation. The cost of dinner is $40 per person. It is not necessary to purchase dinner in order to attend the meeting, but reservations are requested from everyone in order to have sufficient chairs set up in the meeting room. Those who plan to attend the meeting without purchasing dinner should indicate “no dinner” when they make a reservation. Other details can be found on the Reservations web page by clicking on this link.
Click on the book titles above to purchase from Amazon. Part of the proceeds from any book purchased from Amazon through the CCWRT website is returned to the CCWRT to support its education and preservation programs.
August 2026 Charger Uploaded
The August 2026 issue of The Charger has been uploaded. It can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Program Schedules of Other Cleveland-Area Civil War Roundtables Posted on This Website
In addition to the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, two other Civil War roundtables in the Cleveland area are the Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable and the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable. Both of these roundtables, like the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, have a lecture series with monthly meetings that feature a presentation about a Civil War-related (or sometimes other historical) topic. To make visitors to our website aware of these presentations, the program schedules of the Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable and the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable have been posted on this website. Both of these program schedules have a nice mix of interesting topics and speakers, and all of the presentations are worth attending. Below are links to the web pages for each of these program schedules. Each web page contains the program schedule and also information about attending the meetings as well as a link to a downloadable PDF of the program schedule.
The Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable’s program schedule can be accessed by clicking on this link.
The Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable’s program schedule can be accessed by clicking on this link.
2026 Roundtable Field Trip – Updated Information Document (4/23/2026)
The Roundtable’s 2026 field trip is scheduled for September 17-20, 2026 to the Shenandoah Valley to study the 1862 Valley Campaign. A block of rooms has been reserved, and the itinerary has some very enticing activities on it. As of now, the following activities have been scheduled for the 2026 field trip: the First Battle of Kernstown, the Battle of Front Royal, the First Battle of Winchester, the Battle of Cross Keys, and the Battle of Port Republic. Check back for updates. A downloadable PDF containing information about the hotel, the tentative itinerary, and information about signing up for the field trip can be found by clicking on this link. This document was recently updated to include the order form for the box lunches. This order form should be completed and returned by September 1, 2026 as indicated in the instructions on the form.
Membership Roster and Contact Information
We have worked very hard to improve our membership database and contact information this year, but we know we probably have more work to do. Please be sure to keep us advised of changes in contact information by sending us the information at clecwrt@gmail.com. We monitor that email account on a regular basis, so this would be a big help in making sure we can keep you informed of group activities. If you want to see what has been posted on our Facebook page, you do not have to become a member of the Roundtable. Everyone is welcome to view our Facebook page. These can also be accessed by googling “Cleveland Civil War Roundtable” and “Facebook” and then clicking on the appropriate link in the search results.
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Monthly Meetings
Meeting Time: Monthly meetings of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable are typically held on the second Wednesday of the month from September through May. Meetings ordinarily begin with a social hour at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program at 7:00 p.m. Meetings usually end by around 9:00 p.m. All of our meetings are currently held in person, and barring any future health-related restrictions, we anticipate that all meetings will be held in person.
Meeting Location: In-person meetings are held at the Holiday Inn Independence, 6001 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio 44131.
Reservations: For in-person meetings, you must make a dinner reservation for any meeting you plan to attend. Reservations must be made no later than eight days prior to the meeting (so we can give a head count to the caterer). For information on making a dinner reservation, click on this link. It is not necessary to purchase dinner in order to attend a meeting. Anyone is welcome to attend the presentation without purchasing dinner. We ask that people who are not purchasing dinner make a reservation so that enough chairs will be set up in the meeting room. Simply make a reservation at the reservation email address (ccwrtreserve@gmail.com) and indicate “no dinner” in the reservation. If dinner is not purchased, there is no charge to attend a meeting.