CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – The Ross County Historical Society will kick off its 2023 Spring Speakers Series with a program titled “General Ulysses S. Grant: The War Years—Fort Donelson through the Chattanooga Campaign.” The program will be presented by acclaimed living historian Dr. Curtis Fields, Jr., of Memphis, Tennessee. The event will take place on Wednesday, April 19, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ross County Heritage Center, located at 45 West Fifth Street, Chillicothe.
Fields is the country’s foremost portrayer of Grant and has played to a full house at both the society’s 2022 and 2019 Spring Speakers Series. His previous presentations have covered Grant’s life growing up in Georgetown, Ohio, his exploits as a West Point cadet, service in the Mexican/American War, life on lonely western military outposts, and Grant’s desperate years as he struggled to earn a living following his resignation from the army in 1854. This time he will chronicle Grant’s unexpected successful return to the army at the beginning of the Civil War and follow him through the Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg campaigns, the raising of the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, and promotion to Commanding General of all Union Armies in March 1864.
The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
The Ross County Historical Society’s 2023 Spring Speakers Series will also feature two additional programs. On Wednesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m., Gary Argabright will present “Rediscovering Chillicothe’s Forgotten Prehistoric Mounds.” The area encompassed by Ross County was once a center of prehistoric mound-building and geometric earthen construction. On Wednesday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m., Ericka Osen, a nationally recognized authority on historical textiles and clothing, will present “Through Chillicothe Doors—A look at the clothing worn in Chillicothe in the 19th Century.”
Both programs are free and open to the public and will take place from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ross County Heritage Center, located at 45 West Fifth Street, Chillicothe. Refreshments will be served.
For more information about the Ross County Historical Society and its upcoming Spring Speakers Series, visit their website at www.rosscountyhistoricalsociety.org.
