What is the Civil War Round Table Congress and Why Does It Matter?

ECW welcomes Carol Van Ornum, a Civil War CWRT vice president.

After joining the Twin Cities Civil War Round Table in 2009, it wasn’t long before I wanted to contribute to the organization in some way. When I asked the current secretary/treasurer what I could do to help, he replied, “Funny you should ask, I’m announcing my resignation tonight.” I am sure he couldn’t believe his luck! And so, my service began in 2010.

Being a board member was easy. Other than reviewing financials and looking for a Civil War project to fund, the board didn’t do much else. We were just cruising along. We had 128 members in 2010, and as I look back at the names today, many of them are gone.

Fast forward to 2017. One board member had received a notice from a new organization called the Civil War Round Table Congress. They were advertising an upcoming conference in Manassas titled How to Improve Your Round Table. The board unanimously voted to send me to the conference.

The CWRT Congress was created in 2016 by five men: Founder Mike Movius of the Puget Sound CWRT, and founding members Dr. John Bamberl of Scottsdale CWRT, Wallace Rueckel of Brunswick CWRT, and Matthew Borowick and Jay Jorgensen, both of the Robert E. Lee CWRT of New Jersey. They recognized that many round tables were struggling to survive, let alone thrive, within their communities. Members were aging out, unable to drive at night, or were dealing with illness. Young people were not joining organizations. So, they decided to do something to help; they formed the CWRT Congress.

It is not a Civil War Round Table. It is a non-profit resource center for Civil War round tables. Its mission is to provide new and existing Civil War Round Tables with time-tested tools to help them to remain or become sustainable.

At the conference, I learned so much! I brought all the information back, and we began to give our Twin Cities CWRT a facelift. We asked one member, a retired newspaper illustrator, to redesign our logo. We hired a young professional to redesign our website, using photographs taken by our members. We added PayPal to make registrations easier and have since included payment by Zelle. We created committees to work on membership, marketing, and technical aspects. We began a newsletter, The News, now in its 54th issue. We removed the time-consuming book raffle and replaced it with book sales. We recruited additional board members. We now have 158 members, with 13 new ones recently joined.

I had to inform the CWRT Congress how much of an impact they had on our round table. I kept the congress apprised of our progress. And when the congress determined that more working board members were needed, they invited me to join. I was incredibly honored.

Before long, I was a vice president (that Minnesota work ethic pays off) and am now editor of the quarterly newsletter, The Light Post. Through the newsletter, I share the best practices and highlight Civil War round tables around the country that are finding unique ways to thrive. I’m privileged to learn firsthand the methods to enable round tables to continue to grow and improve. But we cannot be complacent.

Just this past summer, the CWRT Congress held workshops to assist regional round tables in Virginia and Indiana. Mike Movius, president of the CWRT Congress, opened the session by sharing the following story. On June 17, 2024 he received an email from the president of a CWRT in North Carolina that was founded in 1955. They had overcome many hurdles until the pandemic, which left them with no place to meet due to the closure of their longtime venue.

Aging membership continued to impact them. They were unsuccessful in establishing joint meetings with another CWRT. No members stepped forward to accept leadership roles. The president had continued his efforts despite having five major surgeries over a three-year period.

Despite the best efforts of the members, by the summer of 2021 they “suspended operations and the executive committee began the heartbreaking process to face the inevitable and following their constitution to officially disband.” Mike ended this story by saying, “Founded in 1955. Died in 2024. So that’s why we exist.”

Our TCCWRT was also founded in 1955. This coming January, we will celebrate our 70th birthday. We have much to be grateful for – and primarily a membership that truly cares about our organization. Our board members are working hard to make our organization better every day so that you, our members, will continue to enjoy the TCCWRT. Let’s keep moving forward. If you have suggestions on ways we can improve, grow, and lead the charge of keeping Civil War history alive, please let the board know. Thank you!

Carol VanOrnum is secretary/treasurer of the Twin Cities CWRT (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and a vice president of the CWRT Congress. She originally wrote this piece as an October article for The News – TCCWRT. It has been slightly edited for ECW.