O Round Table, Where Art Thou?: Introducing an Improved Civil War Round Table Locator

Emerging Civil War welcomes Jared Peatman, Ph.D.

For many years, the Civil War Round Table Congress has offered a registry of Civil War Round Tables on its website.  The intent was to provide those who are looking for Round Tables an easy place to find all the basics about the nation’s roughly 200 Round Tables and, crucially, links to the webpage or Facebook page where they can find the most up-to-date information and schedules.  Many other organizations have, at various times, tried to provide a similar list, but to our knowledge the CWRT Congress registry is the most comprehensive and accurate one currently in existence.

In the past we have heard from folks who have recently been bitten by the Civil War bug and used the locator to find their local Round Table, from long-time enthusiasts who have recently relocated and are looking for their local chapter, from those who are interested in attending a meeting while on a vacation or trip, and from presenters who have used the locator to line up multiple speaking events in one region – thereby making a trip economically feasible that they might not otherwise undertake.

Prior to this month the CWRT Congress website contained various pieces of information on the nation’s Round Tables, but it was parsed out into separate pages.  Recently, we have published a new “Civil War Round Table Locator 2.0” containing all the pertinent information on one page.  We encourage you to check out the new database by going to the Congress’ website, and then clicking on the “Resources” tab, or by going directly to https://www.cwrtcongress.org/resources/locator.php 

We hope that this improved database will benefit Round Tables in a few ways.  First, it should make it easier for potential members to find all the relevant information about a Round Table at one glance and discover if the location and meeting time might be a fit for them.  They then can go to the group’s web address or Facebook page where they can take the next step to learn more about the Round Table and attend their first meeting.  Second, we hope this aggregated data will make it easier for speakers to find and then contact groups they wish to address.  In an ideal world, this will lessen the work on the programming committee and perhaps help them secure novel or far-flung speakers that they might not have otherwise been aware of or thought to approach.  

Last fall, each member of the CWRT Congress board of directors was assigned roughly 25 Round Tables and we all did our best to confirm and update the information we have for those groups.  In some cases, we found that our information was outdated and we were able to add the new data.  In other cases, we struggled to find the information we would need to make updates.  We are asking for your help in that regard: please take a look at the information for your Round Table and any others of which you have a working knowledge, and if there are any pieces that are missing or inaccuracies, please send any updates you have to info@cwrtcongress.org. 

While you are on the Congress’ page, check out some of the site’s other great resources such as the Five Star Speaker Registry, the Sustainability Challenge, or “Proven Practices.”  

Jared Peatman, Ph.D., has recently completed a book on the 20th Maine that he began as a pre-teen, titled A Hell of a Regiment: To Gettysburg and Beyond with the Twentieth Maine, which came out in June 2026. In his day job Jared is the founder of Four Score Consulting, a small company that provides history themed leadership development events. He is a Board Director of the CWRT Congress.