Everyone is welcome at our monthly meetings

NOTICE: We've been moved back (by the hotel chain) to the Holiday Inn Oakbrook for our meetings. Meetings for the 2024-25 Year will be in-person, but will also be simulcast on Zoom. Zoom details for each meeting will be emailed to members via the newsletter.


November 8th
Allen Ottens on The Grant-Rawlins Relationship

Galena lawyer and Ulysses S. Grant neighbor John A. Rawlins rose to assistant adjutant general on Grant's staff and ultimately Grant's Secretary of War. From the earliest days of the Civil War to Grant's years in the White House, John A. Rawlins was ever at Grant's side. Yet Rawlins's role in Grant's career is often overlooked, and he barely received mention in Grant's own two-volume Memoirs.

Rawlins teamed with Grant, the two complementing each other in their abilities and ambitions. Rawlins submerged his own needs in the service of Grant. He played a pivotal role in Grant's relatively small staff, acting as administrator, counselor, and defender of Grant's burgeoning popularity.

Allen J. Ottens is Professor Emeritus of Counselor Education and Supervision, Northern Illinois University. He worked as a psychologist at several university counseling centers. He is also a past president of the Manuscript Society. With a lifelong interest in the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln, he is the author of the award-winning biography, General John A. Rawlins: No Ordinary Man (2021).



For our 2024-2025 program year, we proudly welcome these outstanding speakers:

Sept. 13th: John Horn on "The Wilson-Kautz Raid, June-July 1864"
Oct. 11th: Larry Hewitt on "The Birth of Combat Photography"
Nov. 8th: Allen Ottens on "The Grant-Rawlins Relationship"
Dec. 13th: Jon Sebastian on "We Are All in This War--the Northern Home Front"
Jan. 10th, 2025: Bjorn Skaptason on "Shiloh"
Feb. 14th: Hampton Newsome on "Gettysburg's Southern Front"
Mar. 14th: Gerry Prokopowicz on TBA
Apr. 9th (Wednesday): Phil Spaugy on "The 19th Indiana and the Iron Brigade"
May 9th: Steve Phan on "Asian and Pacific Islanders During the Civil War"
June 13th: Dave Powell (Nevins-Freeman Award) on "Lost Opportunities in the Atlanta Campaign"

Copies of recorded meetings are available for a small charge. Click here for a printable list of recorded meetings. More current meetings can be viewed on Youtube.

Our meetings are held at:

Holiday Inn Oakbrook
350 W 22nd St., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Parking at the Holiday Inn is FREE
Map and Directions

Dinner $40.00 Members and Non- Members
Cocktails at 5:30, Dinner at 6:30

Presentation only is $10 per person.
Payable at the door, cash or check. Be there by 7:15. For those attending the presentation only, your reservation is appreciated but not required.
Dinner reservations should be received by Sunday evening prior to the meeting.
Please make your reservation in advance by emailing DinnerReservations@ChicagoCWRT.org with the names of your party or by calling (630) 460-1865
Cancellations: email us at DinnerReservations@ChicagoCWRT.org  or call (630) 460-1865

Dinner choices. The CWRT has gone to a buffet style dinner. The buffet will generally include salad, pasta, garlic bread, two meats and dessert.

Copyright 2009, The Civil War Round Table of Chicago.