ECW Welcomes Kevin C. Donovan
ECW is pleased to welcome a new member
Kevin C. Donovan, Esq., a retired lawyer originally from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, is the former head of the New Jersey Employment & Labor Law practice of a national law firm. Kevin graduated with a B.A. (magna cum laude) in History from St. Joseph’s University (Philadelphia) and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Since assuming the status of a “recovering lawyer,” Kevin has focused on his passion for the Civil War, with an eye to topics reflecting the intersection of the war and the law.
Kevin’s interest in the Civil War initially was cultivated by his father, who loved American history and hoped his son ultimately would become a history teacher. But the key spark came when, as a grade school student, Kevin found Bruce Catton’s Army of the Potomac trilogy in his small Catholic school’s newly established library (placed in an old house). Hundreds of Civil War books/magazines read and literally dozens of trips to Gettysburg later, Kevin’s passion endures. The opportunity to work in the field of employment law, which Kevin came to realize has roots in Reconstruction Era legislation, further whetted his appetite for combining love of the Civil War with the law. Kevin looks forward to honoring his father’s desire for his son to become, in at least some small measure, a teacher of history.
Kevin is active in the Roanoke (VA) Civil War Round Table, spearheading its marketing activities, and has spoken to multiple groups on the topic “The Court Martial of Fitz John Porter: Fair or Fixed?” He expects to set a long-distance speaking tour record by giving that same talk while spreading the good word about ECW to the American Civil War Round Table of the United Kingdom in June 2025, an idea originally prompted by Chris Mackowski’s podcast interview of that group’s leaders.
Kevin is a UVa, Penn State, Phillies, and Eagles fan. Kevin and his Virginia-born spouse Martha Loving (nee Nase) now reside in Martha’s childhood house in Roanoke, VA with their two cats, Thurston Howell III and Ulysses S. Grant (successor to Mosby the cat). They have two children, John and Virginia, and four grand cats.
Kevin has written several guest posts through the years, and here’s a list from the ECW archives:
- A Tale of Two Tombstones
- The Last Casualty of Second Manassas
- Making America’s Civil War Great Again
- Fine Dining, POW Style
- The First Things We Do, Let’s Kill All the Lawyers
- Book review: Searching for Irvin McDowell
- Book Review: Creating a More Perfect Slaveholders’ Union
- Book Review: The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism
- Book Review: War on Record
Welcome to the team, Kevin!
Welcome aboard, Kevin!
Thank you both. Glad to be here.
Hi Kevin
I am a member of the ACWRT(UK) and would have liked to have met you when you come to the UK in June however I will be in Italy at that time. Your topic on June 28th is the trial of Fitz-John Porter. I have a copy of a book published in 1883 being the collected speeches to Congress by the Hon Joseph Wheeler of Alabama.
A large section of the book is given over to his defense of Porter and the book contains some excellent battlefield maps which he uses to illustrate the rightness of his cause. You may of course already have this book but if not I will be happy to send it to you with my complements. My email address is below.
Kind regards
Basil Larkins
basilelaine@aol.com
Basil, I would be very happy to have the book you so kindly offer. I’ll follow directly to you with an email.
Welcome, Kevin, looking forward to working with you!
Happy to have you as part of the ECW family!
Welcome to the team Kevin!
Welcome to the team, Kevin.
Fair or fixed?
My southern parents went to grad school at Penn State in the late 60s.
Definitely “fixed.” And nice to meet a fellow Nittany Lion.
They loved their time in Happy Valley.
Welcome, Kevin!
Thank you Chris (and all). (Note: Sent from a barstool in Georgetown with my ECW cap by my side – always show the flag!).
Kevin, if you have written an essay on the Fitz-John Porter you should let us read it on ECW … nice to see a fellow Philly boy, Nittany Lion (’77) and Iggles fan … and i married an Upper Darby girl.
Mark, I have no up to date full blown essay although there is my blog article on ECW. Sadly, you may have to wait to hear my talk on the trial. And I am an old Ridley Township boy myself.
Welcome Kevin, like you I retired from the practice of law in CLE( schools were John Carroll and Michigan Law). Retirement has allowed me to read about the American Civil War and visit multiple battlefields. I look forward to your contributions to ECW.
Mike Hardy
Thank you Mike. Happy to be here.