Advance StoryWinter 2015Journalism 1

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.—Author James Rada Jr. will give a lecture about the 1913 Gettysburg reunion on March 15 at 2 p.m. in the Passenger Station.

“The Second Invasion of Gettysburg—The 1913 Anniversary” is March’s contribution to the Sunday Afternoon at Museum Square Lecture Series. The lecture will focus on the reunion of Confederate and Union veterans, which took place from June 29 to July 6, 1913.

“My talk about the 1913 reunion is based on a book that I wrote about the reunion,” Rada said. “I originally started out to write a story about how the battlefield became a national military park with an emphasis on the U.S. Supreme Court battle that involved another battlefield.”

While researching the story, Rada said he came across the 1913 reunion, which took place 50 years after the battle of Gettysburg. Further research revealed it was the largest reunion the Civil War veterans ever held. It was nicknamed “The Grand Reunion,” and Rada couldn’t agree more. He said that an estimated 55,000 veterans attended, and that didn’t include the media, spectators or military personnel who ran the camp during that week.

Rada plans to discuss the various ceremonies that began on July 1 at 2 p.m. During the days of the reunion, dedications of state monuments, the reading of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, speeches by more than 12 governors, fireworks and a flag ceremony at Pickett’s Charge took place.

The Battle of Gettysburg was important because it was the turning point in the American Civil War. Before the battle, the South was winning, but the North defeated them during the intense fighting on those first three days in July, 1863.

This will be Rada’s first time speaking in Mechanicsburg, though he has done a book signing at the Civil War and More Store. He is the author of seven novels and has had articles appear regularly in a variety of regional and national magazines, such as History Channel Magazine, Boy’s Life and History Magazine. He has also received numerous rewards for his newspaper articles. Rada, who lives in Gettysburg with his wife and two sons, is looking forward to telling the story of the reunion and showing the pictures from the event.

The Passenger Station is located at 2 West Strawberry Alley, and admission is free for members of the Mechanicsburg Museum Association and for children 12 and under. Non-members will be charged $4 at the event.