The Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee of the Cranford Historical Society is proud to present "McGowan and the First Shots," a Civil War lecture by Steven Glazer on Sunday, January 9, 2011, at 2:00pm at the Crane-Phillips House Museum.
To most Americans, the sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War begins in 2011 on April 12th, the day in 1861 when Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Although this is the story we were taught in school, in fact, more than three months earlier, a 55-year-old Union County, New Jersey, sea captain drew the first rebellious Southern fire. Local historian Steven Glazer of Cranford will tell the true story of how the first Rebel shots actually came to be fired by South Carolina military cadets against the North on January 9, 1861.
The 150th anniversary of the American Civil War begins in 2011 and runs until 2015. On October 27, 2009, the Township of Cranford adopted a resolution designating the Cranford Historical Society as the lead organization for celebrating that defining period of American history. The Society will be sponsoring educational and entertaining programs throughout the anniversary to broaden public awareness of the transformative events leading to the conclusion of that great struggle.
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Thanks to the support of our membership, the newly painted Crane-Phillips House Museum is the site for this lecture. The Crane-Phillips House Museum is located at 124 North Union Avenue in Cranford. Admission is free. For further information, please call the Historical Society's office at 908-276-0082 or email us at cranfordhistoricalsociety@verizon.net. Founded in 1927, the Cranford Historical Society's mission is to preserve and perpetuate the history of Cranford. This History Program is made possible in part by a HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
