Alexandria Local Authors Lecture and Book Signing Series

Join us August 20 at 7 p.m. via Zoom as we continue our Local Authors’ Lecture Series with Chuck Raasch, author of Imperfect Union: A Father's Search for His Son in the Aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. The lecture is sponsored by The Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum and tickets are $6. Once you purchase your ticket, you will receive an email with the Zoom meeting link, Meeting ID, and password by close of business on August 18. (If you purchase tickets after August 18, the link will be sent by early afternoon August 20). Ticket sales will end on August 20 at noon to ensure time to email links to those that buy tickets on the day of the lecture.

Mr. Raasch’s book tells the story of a famous New York Times correspondent, Sam Wilkeson, who arrived at the Battle of Gettysburg on its first day to learn that his son, Bayard, the youngest artillery officer in the Union Army, had been gravely wounded and was missing. Imperfect Union tells about the father's search for the son, amid the countless stories of degradation and heroism and quiet perseverance in the battle's aftermath. Tens of thousands of people from all over the North came to the suddenly famous town in search of wounded or lost loved ones, in what Raasch describes as the second great invasion of Gettysburg. 

Ken Burns, Director of the Emmy Award-winning documentary The Civil War calls Imperfect Union “…an important book, one that contains both an aerial and intimate view of the human cost of the greatest battle ever fought in North America.” Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War historian James McPherson calls it “… an often poetic reflection on the meaning of war and peace, love and death, sacrifice and regeneration. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about Gettysburg, you will find something new here. Award winning historian Harold Holzer says that Imperfect Union “… tugs at the heart with a story of gut-wrenching loss and inspiring faith.”

Chuck Raasch is a journalist, originally serving as an original cover story writer for USA TODAY after the paper launched and was a political columnist for its parent company, Gannett, for 20 years. Mr. Raasch closed out his career as the chief Washington correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has had bylines from 49 states and four continents and covered six presidential campaigns. He and his family have lived in Alexandria for 35 years.

To help set the 19^th-century mood, we invite you to join us in a toast before the lecture with a period beverage. For this lecture we offer options taken from How to Mix Drinks, The Bon-Vivant’s Companion, by Jerry Thomas, published in 1862. Options from Thomas’ guide include a Toddy (stir 1 teaspoon of sugar, ½ of a wine glass of water, and ½ of a wine glass of either whiskey, gin, or brandy and serve over ice) or an “Arf-and-Arf.” (Thomas writes, “In London this drink is made by mixing half porter and half ale.” So “Arf-and-Arf” = Half-and-Half.) If you prefer, Thomas also includes “Temperance Drinks,” such as lemonade (reduced recipe: bruise one sliced lemon with one cup of sugar, add 5 ¼ cups of water, stir) and orangeade (substitute oranges for lemons). We’ll drink a toast to our speaker before the lecture with your beverage of choice.

We look forward to seeing you on Zoom!

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact jim.holloway@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.4994, Virginia Relay 711.