C•A•R•E

PRESENTATION SCHEDULE & SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Saturday, July 14, 2018

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•  9:30AM    “Henry Bouquet’s Destiny:  The March to Bushy Run” 

Presenter:  Matt Wulff, Author & Historical Researcher

Matt Wulff has been a historical re-enactor and researcher for over twenty years.  Research intended to improve his historical persona led to the publication of his first book, Robert Rogers Rules for the Ranging Service: An Analysis.  Three more publications would follow over the next decade, Ranger: North American Frontier Soldier, Volumes 1&2, and Henry Bouquet’s Destiny - The March to Bushy Run.  Matt’s specialty and primary area of interest is the colonial ranger of the 17th and 18th centuries in North America.  Matt is also currently a staff writer for Muzzleloader Magazine, and was a speaker at the 2017 French Creek Heritage Event.

•  12:30PM    “The Origins of Pontiac’s War, 1755-1763” 

Presenter:  David L. Preston, Ph.D, The Citadel – The Military College of South Carolina

Dr. Preston is a Professor of History at The Citadel, with a special interest in war and peace among the French, British, and Indian peoples of the 18th century.  A native of western Pennsylvania (Grove City), he earned his doctorate in American history at The College of William & Mary. His first book, The Texture Of Contact: European and Indian Settler Communities on the Frontiers of Iroquoia, 1667-1783 (2009), examined everyday relations in early America.   His highly-acclaimed book, Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution, was published by Oxford University Press in 2015.  It recently won the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History and the Distinguished Book Award of the Society for Military History.  Dr. Preston returns to the French Creek Heritage Event after participating as keynote speaker in 2016.

•  1:30PM    “Round Table:  Pontiac’s War – Uprising and Revenge on the Frontier” 

Our distinguished panelists will discuss and explore the causes, people and events of Pontiac’s War (1763-1764), with an emphasis on the role and impact of the conflict on the French Creek Watershed. 

Participants:     David Preston •Timothy Todish • Beth Kennedy • Michael Burke  • Matt Wulff   •• Robert Cranmer, Moderator        

•  3:00PM    “A Most Troublesome Situation – An Overview of the Pontiac Indian Uprising of 1763-1764” 

Presenter:  Timothy J. Todish, Author & Historian

Tim Todish is a historical writer and consultant who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He is a graduate of Michigan State University, and retired with over 27 years with the Grand Rapids Police Department.  Since college he has been active in historical reenacting and black powder shooting.  He worked as a consultant and reenactor extra on the 1991 movie The Last of the Mohicans, and as the technical advisor and reenactor coordinator for the 1998 History Channel series Frontier: Legends of the Old Northwest.  He has coordinated and led historical staff rides for the U.S. Army’s elite 10th Mountain Division and the Connecticut National Guard’s 101st Infantry Regiment.   Mr. Todish has authored or coauthored nine books, three of which have won major awards, and he has just recently signed a contract with a New York publisher to coauthor an illustrated history of Rogers’ Rangers along with his long time friend, historical artist and author Gary Zaboly.

PRESENTATION SCHEDULE & SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES, CONT.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

•  10:00 AM    “Settlers and Captives – One Family’s Story”

Presenter:  Beth Kennedy, Living Historian & Author

Beth Kennedy has been researching, reenacting and portraying living history for more than 20 years, attending living history events in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Ohio and Nova Scotia. During that time, she has concentrated on the study of Native American women of the Colonial Period. Her interest in the subject was piqued by family stories of Native American ancestry, which she set out to prove or disprove through extensive research. Recently retired from teaching French and English at the high school level, she is currently working on a book about her ancestors, who were captives of the Shawnee in the mid- 18th century.

[UPDATE: due to a family emergency, this speaker will not be presenting]

•  11:00 AM “Guyasuta’s War and New Insights from the Archaeology of Custaloga Town”

Presenter: Dr. Edward A. Jolie, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology/Archaeology, Mercyhurst University

Dr. Jolie is Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Archaeology at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. He specializes in the archaeology of North America, perishable artifact technologies, and applied anthropology. His academic interests are broad but focus primarily on the archaeology of the Americas, with particular reference to the Southwest and Great Basin culture areas, Native America-Anthropologist relations, and perishable technologies. Dr. Jolie is the Director of the Perishable Artifact Laboratory, which receives archaeological and historical objects such as baskets, sandals and textiles, for identification, analysis and documentation. A citizen of the Creek Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Jolie is of mixed Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and Hodulgee Muscogee (Creek) Indian descent.

•  1:00 PM “Round Table II:  Pontiac’s War – Uprising and Revenge on the Frontier”

Our distinguished panelists will discuss and explore the causes, people and events of Pontiac’s War (1763-1764), with an emphasis on the role and impact on the French Creek Watershed.

Participants: (TBD – Panel of Presenters, Living Historians, Artists, Reenactors)

•  2:00 PM   [PRESENTATION TITLE] – TBA

Presenter: Michael Burke, Exhibit Specialist, Fort Pitt Museum

Mr. Burke from the Fort Pitt Museum will discuss the impact of Pontiac’s War on the colonial fortifications at Fort Pitt, including the Siege of 1763. 

Visit the French Creek Heritage Event website for more information
www.frenchcreekheritageevent.com