ESU History Professor to Speak as Part of Prestigious ‘Lessons in History’ Series

Michael Gray

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on March 18, 2021, No Comments

Last year Michael P. Gray, Ph.D., professor of history at East Stroudsburg University, was selected to participate in The National Civil War Museum’s (NCWN) 2020 Lessons in History Speaker Series. The series, scheduled for early April 2020, was cancelled on account of Covid-19. The National Civil War Museum has rescheduled Dr. Gray’s lecture to be held in person at the NCWM and virtually on Saturday, April 10 at 1 p.m. The topic of Gray’s lecture is “Crossing the Deadlines: The Rise of Civil War Prisons as Dark Tourist Destinations.” Seating for the in person lecture will be limited, those wishing to attend will be required to pre-register.

According to Dr. Gray, students of the Civil War might be surprised that its prison camps have become a central stop in the burgeoning field of “dark tourism”. His presentation will focus on how prison camps witnessed an expansive number of “viewing episodes” that advanced capitalistic patterns of competition, resulting in some prisons evolving into local tourist attractions—at the expense of prisoners and to the profit of businesspersons. Gray adds that contrary to many popular dark tourist stops in 19th century America, these Civil War prison locales, carefully overseen by the military, condoned the actions of civilians who participated in the war by “acting out” against prisoners through a variety of demonstrations.

The 2021 Lessons in History program is free to the public and will require advanced registration due to limited seating. Regular museum admission applies for entrance to the museum galleries. The NCWM will follow CDC and OSHA/HHS guidance as well as orders and recommendations from federal/state/local governments and health officials.

To pre-register for Dr. Gray’s in person lecture, click here. Visit the National Civil War Museum website for information.