Welcome from President Robert Fugate

Notes from the Round Table President

Fellow Atlanta Civil War Round Table Members:

Welcome to our 2023-2024 Campaign Year! I am excited about our lineup of speakers this year and look forward to the opportunity to join together with you in our mission of the serious study of the American Civil War.

In writing this address, I reflected on why we study the Civil War and why we meet together for that purpose. We could cite the importance of the Civil War in general - that it represents the pivotal moment in our nation's history, that it decided the type of country we would be in the succeeding 160+ years, or that the influence of the war is still being felt in many ways today. But for me, and I expect for many of you, studying the war is interesting because of the people of the past that we can learn about - what they did and why, how they did things as we do now or differently - to me it's like an epic adventure novel with a vast list of characters.

Because the war was so extensively documented, we can know a lot more about the people involved in the Civil War than we can about those involved in probably any other momentous event in history that preceded the war. And because we know so much about them, the Civil War era people become living personalities for us. For some of us, they really aren't that far removed from the present. For instance, my mother's grandfather was a soldier who
fought for three years, including all through the Atlanta Campaign, and my uncle used to tell me of
personally knowing octogenarian veterans when he was a boy.

Just as the study of the Civil War is for me largely the study of its participants, the Atlanta Civil War Round Table is largely its members. Recently, the Board has focused on learning more about the members through taking surveys and studying trends. Our aim is to provide the best experience we can for you through the Tuesday night meetings as well as other programs, to encourage attendance, and to grow our membership. Please help us by continuing to give us your input, encouraging fellow members to attend, and letting your friends know about what we offer.

Thank you to all who serve on the club's Executive Committee and in other leadership roles: Loran
Crabtree, Sam Moses, Mary-Elizabeth Ellard, Tim Whalen, Bill Dodd, John Ottley, Elizabeth Buttimer,
Elizabeth Talmadge, Gould Hagler, Gary Barnes, and David Hicks. The business of the Round Table
encompasses a variety of extensive work in order to manage our programs, and the division of labor among all these skilled and helpful workers is very much appreciated.

The photograph accompanying this address is of longtime Round Table member and former president Grant Moseley and me visiting Chickamauga Battlefield together last year. To me, Grant was the animating spirit of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table; always enthusiastic, generous with his time, and
ready to help in meaningful ways, Grant loved the organization. We lost Grant in December, but for me
he will always be a part of the club, so I am dedicating this campaign year to Grant.

Robert Fugate
President, Atlanta Civil War Round Table