Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration Speaker Series: "Union Fort at Morganza"

Property Description

ATCHAFALAYA NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA CIVIL WAR SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION SPEAKER SERIES

"Union Fort at Morganza"

A presentation about a massive Union fort in the heart of Louisiana

Date: Thursday, November 14, 2013

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Julien Poydras Museum and Arts Center, Pointe Coupée Historical Society, 500 West Main Street, New Roads, LA 70767. For more information call 225-638-6575.

Richard H. Holloway is a native of Alexandria, Louisiana. Upon his graduation from Bolton High School, Holloway moved to Baton Rouge and started work at the Louisiana State Archives where he specialized in researching Louisiana's participation in the American Civil War. A founding member of the Confederate Memorial Hall Foundation in New Orleans, Holloway served on the Foundation's board of directors until 1990.

From 1990-1992, Holloway volunteered as an archivist in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Liverpool, England, providing tours of sites significant to England's involvement in the American Civil War. Holloway subsequently worked as a Records Manager at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. During his tenure there, he wrote and published "How to Manage Your Records", and trained over 400 university section heads. Additionally, he re-inventoried the school's entire archives collection using modern procedures. During this time, Holloway served as the writer and co-editor for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference's (MARAC) newsletter and was a member of the prestigious Washington Rare Book Group who held their meetings in the Library of Congress.

After a short stint in politics as a senatorial campaign manager and as executive assistant for the Texas Society of Professional Engineers in Texas, Holloway returned to his native Louisiana. Here he re-ignited his passion for Louisiana's history as an employee of the Louisiana Office of State Parks.

Over the last dozen years, Holloway served as a curator for the Louisiana National Guard where he was awarded the Legion of Merit medal and assisted in the reorganizing of the damaged records rescued from Jackson Barracks after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He was called to duty during the subsequent Hurricane Gustav as a member of the Louisiana State Guard in order to safeguard the records collections at Camp Beauregard. He also served as director of the Louisiana Native American Library.

In 2009, Holloway represented the Louisiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial at the United States Capital Building and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as a guest of the President of the United States and members of Congress.

Last year, Holloway returned to the Office of State Parks, specializing in research of Louisiana during the American Civil War. He is a member of the Lieutenant Governor's Civil War and Reconstruction Task Force, where Holloway is writing the text for information panels for an exhibit that is to travel the state promoting our involvement in the American Civil War.

He has served as president of the Civil War Round Table of Central Louisiana for the last six years.

Holloway is also a member of the Louisiana Historical Association and Louisiana Association of Museums, as well as other similar organizations.

Among several writing projects, he is currently completing a chapter on Confederate Brigadier General Hamilton P. Bee for the University of Tennessee Press for inclusion in its series, "Confederate Generals in the Trans-Mississippi Theater."

The Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration Speaker Series is sponsored by the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, a program of the National Park Service, and the Office of Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne. Special thanks to Capitol Park Museum and Louisiana State Museum Friends.

Check our calendar at http://www.atchafalaya.org/news.php?action=submit&story_id=17 for upcoming monthly presentations in this series. The presentations are free and open to the public; additional fees, if applicable, will be indicated in the event calendar listing. Changes, if any, will be posted on Atchafalaya.org.