Fifth Annual War of 1812 Heritage Talks April 26-27, 2013

Once again the Fort La Présentation Association offers a varied fare from a wide geography for those interested in the War of 1812. From the Midwest to the Atlantic Coast, militia, regulars, religion and women, Native allies, the navy and privateers barely define the seminars offered by our seven American and Canadian speakers.
In 2013 we are forgoing the closing banquet and dinner speaker. Our participant survey told us people want more time for networking and more opportunity to take in the displays, of which there should be more from local museums and heritage organizations in 2013.
As in the previous years, we have all the facilities of Ogdensburg’s Freight House Restaurant, from the side rooms to the banquet hall to the bar.  Friday evening, there will be the customary meet and greet with hors d'œuvres.  Saturday, a continental breakfast and buffet lunch are in order, and the Freight House will offer a special menu for those who stay for dinner.
You can expect a lower registration fee when online registration will be active in early January 2013.
Here is an alphabetical glimpse of our presenters.

Chancey's Impact on Western Operations 
Sandy Antal holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario, Carleton University and the University of Toronto. After twenty years’ service, he left the Canadian Forces as a major and turned to research, writing and teaching. Mr. Antal’s latest book is Invasions – Taking and Retaking Detroit and the Western District during the War of 1812 and its Aftermath. He first was A Wampum Denied: Procter’s War of 1812, which received the American Library association “Choice Award” and is in its third printing. He has presented internationally and has appeared in TV documentaries. Mr. Antal co-authored Duty Nobly Done: the Official History of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment.

John Norton and the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Experience in 1812
Dr. Carl Benn, Chair of the Department of History at Ryerson University, Toronto, will speak on John Norton and the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Experience in 1812. Dr. Benn’s main areas of academic interest centre on Euroamerican and First Nations history in eastern North America before the 20th century. He has published extensively in journals and other venues, and his books include Historic Fort York (1993); The Iroquois in the War of 1812 (1998); The War of 1812 (2002); and Mohawks on the Nile: Natives Among the Canadian Voyageurs in Egypt, 1884-85 (2009). He currently is completing two books on aboriginal memoirs from 1812-15.

The War of 1812 in the West
James Brenner, a retired U.S. Army colonel with 30 years of service, will take a topical perspective on the War of 1812 in the west, primarily as it relates to Ohio with a view to generally familiar events and people. Col. Brenner has published on the Ohio Militia, Ohio Militia Clothing and Ohio’s Regular Army Infantry Regiments, 1812 to 1815. He currently works with Leonie Industries, a defense contractor in Afghanistan. He holds an MA in American military history from Ohio State University, as well as a Masters in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

The Battle of Stoney Creek
James Elliott is a Canadian journalist and author with a keen interest in early North American history. Mr. Elliott will discuss the pivotal Battle of Stoney Creek. His book Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek won the Ontario Historical Society J. J. Talman Award as the best book in 2011 on Ontario’s social, economic, political and cultural history. With the Hamilton Spectator, he wrote widely on the War of 1812 on subjects ranging from the Bloody Assizes to the Burlington Races. He worked on several episodes of the CBC’s award-winning Canada: A People’s History as a consultant and a special-skills extra.

Religion and the War of 1812 
T.R. (Ray) Hobbs (B.D., M.Th., Ph.D.) will delve into Religion and the War of 1812. Dr. Hobbs taught at McMaster Divinity College and McMaster University, Hamilton, where he was Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Interpretation from 1969 until 1995. He is the author of three books and several articles on Theological and Biblical subjects, with special emphasis on the social and cultural background to the Old and New Testaments. He enjoys his early retirement from ‘regular’ work, but writes much and lectures occasionally. His special interest is ancient military history, especially as it applies to biblical interpretation.

Privateering in Atlantic Canada
Dr. Faye Kert is the author of Prize and Prejudice: Privateering and Naval Prize in Atlantic Canada in the War of 1812. This is standard work on the subject and will be the basis of Dr. Kert’s presentation. She is the book review editor of the Canadian Nautical Research Society's journal The Northern Mariner. She also authored Yankee Sails: Pirates and Privateers of New Brunswick. Dr. Kert worked on two important underwater archaeological projects: the discovery, survey and excavation of a 16th-century Basque whaling vessel at Red Bay, Labrador, and the raising of Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose.

Women in the War of 1812
Susan Spencer will present on Women in the War of 1812. Ms. Spencer, the proprietress of Spencer’s Mercantile in Hamilton, Ontario, has had a lifelong passion for history. As a Western Canadian, her first interests were centered on the late 19th century - however, with a move to Ontario in 1988, her in-depth study of the War of 1812 period began. An active member within the War of 1812 re-enactment community, she participates in some 30 period events each year, as well as giving presentations, lectures, and workshops on period subjects.

The War of 1812 and the Rise of the U.S. Navy: Developing the Book
David A. Taylor is co-author, with Mark Collins Jenkins, of The War of 1812 and the Rise of the U.S. Navy (National Geographic, 2012). Mr. Taylor will speak about the process of developing the book: working with the Navy's historians and primary materials, visits to the Navy's underwater archaeological work in search of the U.S.S. Scorpion, and the illustration design research that followed. He will also discuss a few profiles highlighted in the book. His other books include Ginseng, the Divine Root (Algonquin, 2006), and Soul of a People (Wiley, 2009), ranked among the Best Books of 2009. His articles have appeared in Smithsonian, The Washington Post, Chesapeake Bay, The American Scholar and Science. He has written and co-produced documentary films for National Geographic and the Smithsonian Channel, including the film of Soul of a People. He lives in Washington, DC and teaches at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda.

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