Bryan S. Bush

My Dear Fellow Readers:

On April 24, from 9 am to 11 am, I will be giving my first guided tour of Cave Hill Cemetery during the Civil War. I will be discussing the forts and soldiers that visited Cave Hill Cemetery during the Civil War, and I will also be discussing military and civilian leaders who are buried in Cave Hill Cemetery that had a major impact on the Civil War. I will discuss such figures as James Guthrie, Lovell Rousseau, George Prentice and many others. We will also visited the National Cemetery where over 5,000 Union soldiers are buried. The cost is $15.00 per person and tickets can be acquired by contacting Cave Hill Cemetery. So come out and learn some history about Louisville’s most beautiful cemeteries. And what a better season to have the tour then spring, when the flowers and trees will be in full bloom.

My Dear Fellow Readers:

On March 26-27, the University of Louisville Arts and Sciences Department will hold a symposium on Louisville during the first two years of the Civil War. Many of my friends and fellow colleagues were shocked to find out that I was not asked to present a paper on Louisville During the Civil War, considering I wrote the book Louisville During the Civil War: A History and Guide, which by the way in in its second printing. Luckily I will be able to share a table with the Carnegie Center and hopefully have people join the Louisville Historical League and buy my book on Louisville During the Civil War. I will be attending the conference since I met so many of my fellow friends and colleagues at the last conference.

On March 25, 2010, on KET on Louisville Life, I will be portraying Dr. Samuel Shipp. Dr. Shipp married Evalina Bray. Evalina inherited Bashford Manor in February 1865, when her only sister, Nancy Bray passed away and left her the estate. Dr. Shipp was a surgeon in the Confederate army.
I will be also discussing the thousands of Union soldiers that were camped on or near Bashford Manor during the Civil War.
Cythiana Cooke, who owns Bashford Manor, has beautifully restored the home and has turned the estate into a bed and breakfast. She is very much interested in the history behind the property, especially the Civil War.
The program on KET will focus on Bashford Manor during the Civil War and today’s efforts to revitalize the Bardstown Road area.

My Dear Fellow Citizens:

This Saturday on November 7, plans to be a busy day for me. I will be at the Hardin Co. Library in Elizabethtown, Kentucky discussing Louisville During the Civil War at 1 Pm, and then I will be heading to the Frazier International History Museum at 3 Pm to also give a lecture on Louisville During the Civil War, but the Frazier Museum is also having a Civil War artifacts workshop. Several of the items from their collection will be on display for the general public to see upclose. I have asked that George Prentice’s Henry Rifle be put on display. This is a rare opportunity and I encourage everyone to come out to the Frazier Museum. They are also having a fantastic exhibit on local heroes from WW II. So come out and have some fun.

My Dear fellow readers:

October is shaping up to be a real busy month for me. On October 3, I will be in Elizabethown at the Hardin County Library at 1 pm to give a lecture on Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge. I now have a power point presentation to go with the lecture.
On October 10, I have my Louisville During the Civil War bus tour. I am looking forward to the event, and if the event is successful, I plan to hold it again next year.
On October 17, I will be going to a new event called Books on the River Bank at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati. My stepbrother Bud Halbeisen actually designed the art work for the event.
I hope to see everyone at my events, especially the civil war bus tour….you will learn alot and should be alot of fun too.
Bryan

My Dear Fellow Readers:

I am looking forward to my speech at the Highlands Library on Bardstown Road, which is located in the Mid-City Mall. The lecture is at 2 PM August 29 and will include a power point presentation. The lecture will be on Louisville During the Civil War. Bardstown Road had alot of activity during the Civil War. From Cave Hill Cemetery to the Speed mansion, soldiers were marching up and down Bardstown Road during much of the war.

My Dear Fellow Readers:

I encourage everyone to come out and see my lecture on August 16th, at the Memorial Auditorium on James Guthrie. If you have never heard of James Guthrie, you should as a Louisvillian. He is literally Mr. Louisville. He was the founder and president of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. He helped build the Jefferson County Courthouse, the School for the Blind, founder of the University of Louisville, founded out first fire department. The list goes on and on. I learned a lot myself. There will be a full powerpoint presentation to follow the lecture.

Check out this announcement on Louisville History & Issues: “Louisville During the Civil War Bus Tour, Saturday, October 10 — A Fun Event for Local History Buffs!“

There’s also a Facebook event set up for it.

Bryan will be leading the tour around many spots in Louisville, and will be selling/signing his book Louisville and the Civil War: A History & Guide.

My fellow readers:

Good news. I received an email from Dr. Blaine Hudson and he stated that he would like to have me as a presenter next year at their conference on Louisville During the Civil War.

My Dear Fellow Readers:

I recently attended the reading of Lincoln in Louisville by David Straub. There were many quotes from the play that are very historical. The play has good and bad moments. The play accuratly portrays slave life on a large plantation, and his portrayal of James Speed and Lucy Speed was accurate, but the play portrayed Lincoln as a radical abolitionist in 1841. He fought twice with the overseer of Farmington, and showed Lincoln to be an angry man over the issue of slavery. Although Lincoln did not like the institution of slavery, I don’t think he would have fought with the overseer at the plantation of his friend Joshua Speed. Plus Lincoln argued slavery in front of Joshua Speed, Mary Speed, Lucy Speed and James Speed. Although Lincoln discussed slavery with James at his law office in Louisville, I doubt that Lincoln would have argued slavery in front of his hosts at the plantation. The subject of slavery was like the big gorilla in the room, everyone saw it but no one discussed it.
The play needs to dwell more into the friendship between Lincoln and Joshua Speed. I think with a little more rewriting I think the play could become a lasting tribute to Lincoln and his friendship with the Speeds.