Available on this website are a variety of local and American history programs and publications.
CONTACT: civanoff@sbcglobal.net if you wish to schedule at program for your organization.
Carolyn Ivanoff is a retired high school administrator and independent historian. She writes and speaks frequently on American history at local, state, and national venues. In 2003 Carolyn was named Civil War Trust's Teacher of the Year. In 2010 and 2011 her education programs received Awards of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations. In 2016 Carolyn was honored by the Connecticut Council of Social Studies with the Bruce Fraser Friend of the Social Studies Award. In 2018-19 Carolyn served as project coordinator for the 17th Connecticut Flagpole preservation and re-dedication ceremony on Barlow’s Knoll at Gettysburg National Military Park. This project was honored with a 2019 Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO) for preservation. Her book, We Fought at Gettysburg, features first-hand accounts by the survivors of the 17th Connecticut Infantry and their experiences on the greatest battlefield of the American Civil War.
WE FOUGHT AT GETTYSBURG follows the 17th Connecticut Regiment during the Gettysburg Campaign and beyond in June and July 1863. These first hand accounts describe what these men experienced at Gettysburg. What they saw, and thought, and felt on the battlefield. These accounts are the words of those who lived through the trama of combat and survived to write about it. Many of these men were wounded, taken prisoner, lost friends and suffered themselves on this great battlefield of the Civil War. Their fascinating firsthand accounts tell their story with hundreds of photographs and maps by Phil Laino.
DARE TO TEACH tells the story of Prudence Crandall who began a school in Canterbury, Connecticut in 1833 to educate black girls. She would be bullied, harassed, threatened, fined, jailed, and tried three times because she dared to teach. The school was victimized by the populace who contaminated the well, attempted arson, and ultimately the school was destroyed by rioters and closed. Connecticut and Canterbury recanted their positions and voted a pension to Prudence in old age. Prudence Crandall would ultimately be honored and celebrated as the Connecticut State Heroine. This program was awarded a 2013 Connecticut League of History Organizations Award of Merit Honorable Mention for education programming.
CLARA BARTON'S CIVIL WAR AND THE CREATION OF THE MISSING SOLDIERS' OFFICE: Miss Clara Barton was known as the Angel of the Battlefield for her service as a nurse and relief worker during the Civil War. In March of 1865, with written permission from President Lincoln, Barton established the Missing Soldiers Office in her boarding house on 7th Street in Washington, D.C. As the Civil War was coming to a close, over 40 percent of the dead remained unidentified. Tens of thousands of grieving families did not know the fate of their loved ones. From the time she first went onto the battlefield Barton was acutely aware, and deeply concerned, for the fate of the men whom she cared for and their families. With the opening of the Missing Soldiers’ Office, Barton dedicated herself to the search for the missing and the identification of the dead. By time the office closed in 1868, Barton had worked herself into exhaustion. More than 22,000 unknown dead had been identified, 13,000 at Andersonville alone. In 1868 Barton left for Europe to recover her health. Upon her return to the United States Barton would dedicate herself to the founding of the American Red Cross and by the end of her life in 1912 her work would touch millions of lives around the world and continues to do so today.
Often individual encounters with history, experienced by common people like us, caught in the maelstrom of events, hold larger truths. Sometimes these experiences have meaning—not only for those who experience them, but for us in today’s world. This program follows twelve members of the 17th Connecticut Regiment through the three-day Battle of Gettysburg and beyond in July 1863. It focuses on the stories of the wounded, the caregivers, and the honored dead. These men fought for their lives, lost friends, and suffered themselves at Gettysburg. Their sacrifices are still with us today and from them we inherited great social and medical advances. Because of their sacrifices we began to understand the hidden costs of war, and that not all wounds are visible. The stories of these twelve citizen soldiers highlight the meaning that their lives and experiences have for our generation today: socially, medically, and psychologically. These are their stories.
WE FOUGHT AT GETTYSBURG: COMRADES IN COMBAT: hear the voices of the men of the 17th Connecticut, the Fairfield County Regiment, who were at the Battle of Gettysburg. These firsthand accounts from those who were wounded, captured, nursed their comrades, lost friends, and survived to fight on to preserve the Union in the American Civil War.
THE RED CROSS CLUBMOBILE SERVICE in World War II is little remembered today. The Clubmobile was a mobile service club in a "deuce and a half" truck staffed by "Clubmobile Girls" or "Donut Dollies" that provided servicemen with food, entertainment, and a connection to home. The Red Cross had supported U.S. armies in the field since the Spanish American War in 1898 when Clara Barton led the organization to Cuba.It was the sole nonmilitary agency designated to provide welfare and recreation services for the US Armed Forces in World War II. With the official job description of “club services worker,” Clubmobile crews, usually three young women, were tasked to prepare and serve coffee and doughnuts, and other reminders of “home” that might allow the soldiers to momentarily forget the stresses of war. After D Day the women volunteers who staffed the Clubmobiles followed the American armies into the field often serving on the front lines and sharing all the hardships of the combat soldier.
THE HOME FRONT IN WORLD WAR II - A tribute to the Greatest Generation and the American home front. To those who remained behind and helped win the greatest war in world history.
We Fought At Gettysburg
Available from Gettysburg Publishing https://gettysburgpublishing.com/on-line-store-1/ols/products/we-fought-at-gettysburg and wherever books are sold.