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The Cincinnati Civil War Round Table observed the 50th Anniversary of its founding at its meeting on October 19, 2006. The group is dedicated to the study and understanding of the American Civil War. Its organizational meeting was held in March 1956 at the home of Cincinnati businessman and attorney William Reardon, who went on to serve three years as the first president of CCWRT. The Cincinnati Enquirer, in a July 1956 report on the group’s creation, used the headline “To Revive Civil War, But Without Hate: Sons Of Yanks And Rebels Form Round Table To Discuss 1861-1865 Split And Cross Words At Meetings Are Barred.” The group’s first program chair, Ernest I. Miller, indicated in the article that “Many aspects of the Civil War will be discussed pro and con---but without bitterness.” The intent was to combine “out-of-town speakers of scholarly standing” with talks by local members. CCWRT began its program meetings that fall, with the first talk given by J. Louis Warm on the subject, “The Man Who Created Lincoln.” Nineteen men became the group’s charter members, including business and professional men in addition to two students.
CCWRT has been fortunate to have the involvement of many capable members and leaders throughout its history, including among them:
William Reardon
When Mr. Reardon died in 1972, the editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote that “The Queen City has lost one of its most dynamic and dedicated civic leaders with the sudden death of William J. Reardon. It is a loss that will be shared by all residents of Greater Cincinnati because so many local improvements can be traced to Mr. Reardon’s foresight and drive.” He was born in Cincinnati, and graduated from Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati Law School. In addition to his law practice, he also started Reardon Industries, an insulation and chemicals business. He was appointed to several public commissions on pollution, interstate highways, and airports. The Enquirer noted that “he was widely known and respected for his efforts in the field of transportation. Those who knew him best will likely remember him as a man ahead of his times.”
Ernest Miller
Ernest I. Miller was a native of a small town in Nebraska, and came to Cincinnati in 1947 as Assistant Librarian of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library. He served the library as its Director from 1955 to 1972, and was a member of the Cincinnati Historical Society’s board of trustees and its chair of Library and Acquisitions Committee for several years. He kept a deep interest in the Civil War throughout his life, and presented one of CCWRT’s 1957 programs on “The Valley of East Tennessee in the Civil War.”
Stephen Starr
A native of Cleveland, businessman Stephen Starr joined CCWRT early in its history and served as its president from 1961-1963. Among his many program talks was a Centennial observance in February 1965, entitled “Appomattox: 100 Years Later”, in which he challenged members to apply Lincoln’s words to the civil rights movement then underway, noting that Lincoln described the Civil War as “a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men---to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all; to afford all an unfettered start, and a fair chance in the race of life.” Mr. Starr also wrote several books, including the classic three-volume The Union Cavalry in the Civil War.
James Barnett
Mr. Barnett was orphaned at age 11 and grew up in the Masonic Home in Franklin, Indiana. After attending Franklin College, he became a merchant seaman, followed by a seven-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps and a career in the insurance business. He joined the CCWRT early in its existence, and served as president in 1965-1966. He and his wife, Armen, were also members of the Hamilton CWRT. Their son, James B., also served as CCWRT President in 1984-1985. Jim was deeply interested in the Germans who served in the Union Army, and his articles on that subject were published in numerous historical publications, such as “Willich’s Thirty-Second Indiana Volunteers”, The Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin (1979). He also authored an unpublished biography of August Willich. Jim is best remembered today as a researcher on the Civil War veterans buried at Spring Grove Cemetery. His classic article, “Forty for the Union: Civil War Generals Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery” was published in The Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin (1972) and is available here on the CCWRT website, along with his Spring Grove map of Civil War burial sites.
Today’s CCWRT
The CCWRT today has a membership of 95 men and women, who meet eight times per year (in the months of September to November, and January to May). The programs are still a combination of both vocational and avocational historians from the club membership, the local area, and nationwide. As Mr. Reardon once put it in a letter, at these meetings and in these programs, “the past gets up on its feet and walks around. It becomes ‘now’.” In addition, CCWRT makes contributions to preservation projects, such as preservation of the Johnson’s Island Prisoner of War Depot near Sandusky (2005), and development of the James A. Ramage Civil War Museum on the Battery Hooper site in Fort Wright KY (2006). A complete listing of the speakers in CCWRT’s history and their topics, the past presidents of the CCWRT, and recent CCWRT newsletters are available on the website under the "Canister Newsletter" tab on the navigation bar. Many documents from CCWRT’s history are in the manuscripts collection at the Cincinnati Historical Society Library.
October 19th, 2006, Meeting
The speaker for the October 19th meeting was Dr. James I. Robertson Jr, Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. Dr. Robertson first spoke to the CCWRT in January 1960, and has now spoken to the group twelve additional times. Dr. Robertson earned his Ph. D. in 1959 at Emory University under the guidance of renowned Civil War scholar, Dr. Bell I. Wiley, and served as executive director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission. He has written eighteen books and edited seventeen on various topics related to the Civil War. His topic was “Reflections on the Civil War Centennial,” and the talk is summarized in the
November 2006 Canister.
Charter Members of the Cincinnati Civil War Round Table
(From the Cincinnati Enquirer, Monday, 9 July 1956)
William J. Reardon, President
J. Louis Warm, Vice-president
Ernest I. Miller, Program Chair
Roger W. Parry, Secretary
Thomas E. Holt, Treasurer
Charles S. Adams, Trustee
Frederick A. Breyer, Trustee
Dr. John W. Miller, Trustee
Joseph S. Stern Jr., Trustee
John C. Varelmann, Trustee
Arthur A. Adler
Frank P. Atkins
Virginius C. Hall
Larz R. Hammel
John P. Malone
Fraser B. Rhodes
Michael Schneider
Lee Shepard
Chester R. Shook
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