Unfinished Work: Gettysburg Veterans and the Violent Struggle for Reconstruction in Louisiana (Winter Lecture Series)

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, this popular eight-week Winter Lecture Series returns to the Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) Museum and Visitor Center in 2026!

The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center from January 10 through March 8, 2026. Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets are available day of at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.

Saturday, January 10 – Unfinished Work: Gettysburg Veterans and the Violent Struggle for Reconstruction in Louisiana
Christina C. Moon, Licensed Battlefield Guide

Despite the surrender of the Confederate armies in 1865, the great task of the Civil War was far from complete. Unfinished Work examines how Gettysburg veterans experienced the fighting shift from the battlefield to southern streets — with many Union veterans working to defend Reconstruction’s promises, while a significant number of former Confederates engaged in campaigns of politics and violence to destroy them. From New Orleans to the rural Red River Valley, the battles over civil rights, federal power, and the nation’s future played out across Louisiana’s fractured Reconstruction landscape.