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General Meade Visits General Meade School

On May 31, 2019, Civil War General Meade visited the General George G. Meade School, 1600 North 18th Street in Philadelphia.

General George Meade is played by Andy Waskie, Vice President and Historian of the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Frankford. He addressed 200 kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade students at the beginning of their annual end-of-school year “Play Day”.

The General’s spirited remarks were well received and many questions about the Civil War were answered.  The students received rewards for achieving reading goals, attendance and all around cooperation. The assembly program also included a class dance performance.

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In the afternoon the “Play Day” for the whole school included games, snacks and drinks that was fully funded by the General Meade Society of Philadelphia.

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Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War and Philadelphia

It was a full house at the Historical Society of Frankford on Tuesday night as Dr. Anthony Waskie, an Assistant Professor at Temple University, lectured on the subject.  His insights into the times and personalities was unique and especially relevant to Frankford and Philadelphia.

Also on display is an exhibit commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 1809.  The exhibit draws on the Society’s extensive collection of Lincoln related books, photographs, original documents, and artifacts to tell in brief the story of the rail splitter from Illinois.  Thanks to the HSF for assembling this exhibit.  It will be available to view for the next few months whenever the Society is open.

waskie-goodDr. Waskie has written and lectured widely on the Civil War and is very active in Civil War history, research and preservation. He is a specialist on the life and career of Gen. George G. Meade whom he portrays in a “first person” style living-history performance. Active with the Philadelphia Consortium for Civil War History, he is part of the group seeking to promote the Civil War History of the city; and the foundation of the new Civil War & Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia, for which he serves on the Advisory Board. He is a charter member of the Philadelphia Civil War History Consortium. He was elected to membership in the Union League of Philadelphia in 2003. He is an active participant and founding member in the “Civil War & Emancipation Studies program” at Temple University, a part of CHAT (Center for the Humanities at Temple ).

Coming up in June at the HSF is a the Antiques Appraisal Fair on June 7th and a program on Historical Flags and Banners on June 9th.