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The Railroaders Memorial Museum will host its seventh guest speaker of the "Along the Broadway: Historical Lecture Series" on Friday, Sept. 4.
Matt Hankinson, founder and director of the Armstrong Civil War Round Table and a member of the 62nd Pennsylvania Living History Group, will present "The Panic of '63 and the Rise of the Chicken Raiders."
Hankinson's presentation will examine Altoona in 1863, when Confederate forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee were campaigning through Pennsylvania. The lecture will explore the impact of the Civil War on the region and the fears that Confederate forces could strike Central Pennsylvania.
The lecture will begin at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. It will be held in the Seidel Auditorium on the first floor of the museum. Admission is $5, with snacks and drinks available for purchase. Seating is limited.
Tickets can be purchased at the door, through the museum's website or through its Facebook page. Proceeds will benefit the museum's Curatorial Department.
"Even though Confederate forces were not in Central Pennsylvania, there was panic that Confederate forces could strike at any moment," said Matthew Wolff, the museum's archivist. "Even by the 1860s, the Pennsylvania Railroad had a fully operational railroad shop complex in Altoona, and one could imagine that Confederate forces would have been keen to destroy it."
The Civil War living history experience will continue Saturday, Sept. 5, when members of the 62nd Pennsylvania Living History Group set up camp in the Luther G. Smith Memorial Yard at the museum. Visitors also can hear music selections performed by the 46th Pennsylvania Regiment Band.
The living history activities will take place during regular museum hours, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and are included with museum admission.