Know!

Yours truly had the honor/privilege of being a presenter at this past Monday's in-house staff conference (the theme was "Know!" at The Henry Ford. To be invited to speak to a well-schooled army of professionals in history is, well, not your average challenge. And to try tying the Michigan Civil War story to ideas of innovation and creativity might be another above the norm challenge. Regardless, it was great to give it the effort Monday, to be in a room full of fellow Civil War enthusiasts (unless they had gotten lost on their way to the canning demonstration), and to engage in a discussion about how our forebears helped save the Union and usher in a new era of American freedom and equal opportunity. The photo here was enough souvenir and reward for the work (labor of love, actually) of preparation and delivery ... but several books were sold as well, benefiting the Michigan commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial: