The 465th Regular Meeting of the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City was held on Tuesday, February 24, 2015.

Our featured speaker was Harold Holzer, who spoke about his new book, Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion. This book sheds new light on the long-ignored intersection of press and politics in the age of Abraham Lincoln. The book examines Lincoln’s lifelong career as a dabbler in journalism, his efforts to win loyalty from pro-Whig and pro-Republican journals over the years, his use of political patronage to secure and maintain press support, and his Administration’s much debated use of censorship and suppression to minimize press dissent during the Civil War. 

Harold Holzer, one of the country's leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era, serves as chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. He has authored, coauthored, and edited forty-two books, including Emancipating Lincoln, Lincoln at Cooper Union, and three award-winning books for young readers: Father Abraham: Lincoln and His Sons, The President Is Shot!, and Abraham Lincoln, the Writer. His awards include the Lincoln Prize and the National Humanities Medal. He lives in New York City. On the anniversary of Lincoln's birthday, Mr. Holzer was awarded the 2015 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for his book Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion.

At this meeting, Lane Smith was pleased to present Mr. Holzer with the 2015 Harry S. Truman Award, the Round Table's most prestigious award.

One other item of note. Arnold Schofield served a auctioneer for the first public Rare Book Auction during the meeting. This month’s book is a Souvenir Edition of Notes of a Private by John Milton Hubbard, Company E, 7th Tennessee Regiment, Forrest’s Cavalry Corps, C.S.A. Betty Ergovich made the winning bid of $55 for the book.

Here are some photos taken by Dave Pattison, President of the Round Table.