HGAC Educational Speakers Program with author Ron Kirkwood

HGAC’sfirst Educational Speakers program for 2023 will feature Ron Kirkwood, author of “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg.”

The talk will be held on Tuesday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the historic G.A.R. Hall on 53 East Middle Street in Gettysburg, PA 17325.

Kirkwood argues in “Too Much for Human Endurance” that the George Spangler farm was the most important farm in the Battle of Gettysburg, revealing factors that have been overlooked for generations. The book and his presentation also offer newly found information about Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead’s time at Spangler and how the Spangler family and their farm suffered while their land was occupied — along with stories of the agony and heroism of the surgeons, nurses, wounded and mortally wounded at the two hospitals on the Spanglers’ land.​

Kirkwood is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines including USA TODAY, where he edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports and was National Football League editor for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. He also worked for newspapers in Baltimore, Harrisburg, York and Wilkes-Barre.​

Kirkwood has been a Gettysburg Foundation guide at the George Spangler Farm Civil War Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013.