WCC Civil War series moving to larger venue
By Staff Reports
Published in News on September 7, 2010 1:46 PM
Overwhelming interest in a series of lectures on Wayne County's role in the American Civil War has led the Foundation of Wayne Community College to move them to a larger venue.
The five free lectures that highlight different aspects of the county's involvement are set for Thursday evenings, Sept. 9 through Oct. 7.
They will now be held at 7 p.m. in Moffatt Auditorium at the college, with the exception of the Sept. 16 event, which will remain it its original location of Room 101 in the Walnut Building.
Dr. Bryson Bateman, a history instructor at the college and event organizer, said the topic should interest a lot of people.
"This is the stuff that isn't written about, but it is Wayne County history," he said. "Instead of importing some experts from the university of whatever, we are using local people, and instead of focusing on big events in Virginia or other places, we'll talk about the little events that shaped our history.
"I want people to come away saying, 'I didn't know that!'"
The stage will be set with a recap of the county's history, including its founding, Waynesborough, the role of the coachroad and railroad in development, and agriculture and industry. His talk on "Antebellum Wayne County" will be held Sept. 9.
On Sept. 16, Jeff Bocket, a Civil War specialist with N.C. Department of Cultural Resources and chairman of the N.C. Civil War Tourism Council, will speak on "Wayne County Men in the CSA Army" and the life they led during and between battles.
Randy Sauls, a Goldsboro attorney and leader in the Goldsborough Bridge battlefield restoration movement, will speak on Sept. 23. His topic is "Foster's Raid and the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge."
The topic of Kirk Keller's Sept. 30 lecture will be "The Federal Occupation of Wayne County." An engineering instructor at WCC, Keller is an avid relic collector, which helped him determine where troops, including 110,000 Union soldiers, camped in the county.
The final event will be a roundtable discussion moderated by Roy Heidicker, historian for the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The discussion will serve to bring the subject matter home, Bateman said.
"It is a part of our fabric today. Insight into how we got where we are prepares us for our future," he said.
The lecture series, held in recognition of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War, is provided by the Foundation of WCC.