Here are four "must see" Oregon Civil War 150th commemorative events being held in Portland, Oregon during the last part of January 2013.
(1) January 20, 2013. 9:00 AM. Free lecture on “Abraham Lincoln, Spielberg and a Search for Meaning in the Civil War.” Dr. Elliott Trommald will talk about the life and times of our 16th President as interpreted in Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln.” Trommald’s lecture will be repeated on the following Sunday, January 27, starting at 9:00 AM. The lectures will be held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 147 NW 19th Avenue, Portland, OR. (503) 790-2877. www.trinity-episcopal.org/
(2) January 20, 2013 Free commemorative ceremony at Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery honoring the service and sacrifice of Civil War women hospital nurses (both enlisted and volunteer). Several thousand women worked to save the lives of injured and sick soldiers during the Civil War, and Lone Fir is home to the burial plots of two Civil War veterans, Charlotte Olney and Elizabeth Smaldren, who assisted the surgeons in the military hospitals in Washington (D.C) and in the field.
The ceremony will place on the 150th Anniversary of the death of Union Hospital matron Hannah Anderson Ropes, author, nurse and abolitionist, who died at the very hospital where she had nursed countless soldiers back to health, before she herself contracted typhoid. Ironically, Matron Ropes had been tending to a soon-to-be famous writer, Louisa May Alcott, who had reported for duty as a nurse in December of 1862 after she had reached the required age of thirty years. Miss Alcott would barely survive her own bout with typhoid, and was taken home to recover by her father, Amos Bronson Alcott. The illness permanent ruined Alcott’s health; but she would go on to publish an account of her nursing service in the acclaimed “Hospital Sketches.” Event location:Lone Fir Cemetery, SE 26th and Stark. Portland, Oregon. www.oregoncivilwarsesquicentennialcommission.com
(3) January 23, 2013 7:00-8:30 PM. “A Town hall with Abraham Lincoln” In the last of three appearances this month as President Abraham Lincoln, scholar and playwright Steve Holgate gives a compelling performance as our 16th President as he talks about his years in the White House and the dark days of the Civil War. Free and open to the public. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 147 NW 19th Avenue, Portland, OR. (503) 790-2877. www.trinity-episcopal.org/
(4) January 31, 2013. 10:00 AM. Free lecture: “Just in time for Black History Month 2013: African American Pioneers of Portland, Oregon.” Come and hear seldom-told stories of early Portland Black settlers, many were ex-slaves who went to work for the railroad after the Civil War, and some were escaped slaves who arrived in Portland during the last years of the Civil War. All were industrious workers who added to the growth and prosperity of our then newly-minted state. Courtyard Fountains in Gresham, Oregon 1545 SE 223rd Ave. Gresham, OR 97030 http://courtyardfountains.watermarkcommunities.com/classes-activities-and-outings/
