Just Before the Battle Mother- A Visit from a Civil War Soldier

The Betty Strong Encounter Center has received funding from Humanities Iowa, a private, non-profit, to host a presentation called “Just Before the Battle Mother- A Visit from a Civil War Soldier.” by O.J. Fargo on March 9, 2025, at 2:00pm. A cultural resource for Iowans since 1971, Humanities Iowa offers many cultural and historical programs and grants to Iowa’s communities. Admission is free; reception to follow.

After an overview of Iowa’s involvement in the Civil War, the audience is introduced to a returning Civil War soldier (played by Mr. Fargo). The audience is encouraged to ask questions and engage in a dialogue with the “soldier” who will stay in character. The speaker will bring along an artifact display and full computerized and searchable roster of all men who served in and from Iowa in the Civil war to enable the participants to check for ancestors who served. Mr. Fargo dresses in full Union Army regalia for the presentation and focuses the presentation on an individual soldier’s experience.

This program is made possible via Humanities Iowa.  O. J. has done more than 100 history presentations throughout the state for Humanities Iowa including historical societies, libraries, schools, professional organizations and many other groups.

In addition to being a Humanities Iowa speaker since 1998, he is the author of three books and editor of two CD-ROMs containing 320,000 pages of searchable text and 10,000 Civil War pictures. He is a contributor to several Iowa history web sites and maintains one on Iowa in the Civil War aimed at students and teachers.

O. J. is a retired Social Studies consultant and Director of Support Services. He became a reenactor in 1993 and got into the hobby because of his love of history and the opportunity to interact with others of like interests. Although retired he continues to teach classes and do talks. Mr. Fargo. is also the president of the Army of the Southwest, a group of Civil War reenactors headquartered in Waukee.

The presentation is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served.  A list of all Civil War soldiers from the area will be available at the library for those who might want to see if a distant relative fought on those hallowed battlefields 150+ years ago.  Please join us for the interesting presentation.