Officers and Directors
of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia
(2017-2018)
Gordon V. Berg, Vice President & Director
Gordon Berg is currently the Vice President of the Round Table. He served as President during the 2007-2008 program year and as an officer or director during other years. Mr. Berg also is a member of the advisory board for The Alliance to Preserve Civil War Defenses of Washington, DC (http://dccivilwarforts.org/) He is a retired civil servant doing freelance writing on the Civil War. His book and media reviews and articles appear on the Round Table’s website at http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/ as well as in the Civil War Times and America's Civil War, among other publications.
Carol S. Bessette, Secretary & Director
Carol Bessette is a career Air Force intelligence officer whose experience ranges from Saigon during the Vietnam War to the highest levels of intelligence coordination in Washington. She has been the tour guide in Washington, DC for over twenty years and is a frequent lecturer on lesser-known aspects of the history of Washington. Ms. Bessette also is a regular presenter for Road Scholar programs.
Ms. Bessette is also a Certified Master Tour Guide and has developed and presents tours for the Spies of Washington Tour program (www.spiesofwashingtontour.com/). Ms. Bessette explains that political capital of the country, Washington, DC, is also the "spying capital" of the country. Since its earliest days, Washington, D.C. has been the scene of international intrigue, espionage, and intelligence activity.
Kurt E. DeSoto, President & Director (Chair)
Kurt DeSoto has previously served as both President and Vice President of the Round Table and has held various other positions on the Board other years. Kurt explains that his love of history was germinated by his high school teachers at Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Texas, and at Thomas Edison High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and then was incubated by the legendary Professor Michael Foley, arguably one of the best and engaging professors at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His interest in Civil War history was nurtured when he was invited on a tour of Gettysburg led by member Henry Rivera and then was encouraged to get involved with the Round Table by Susan Claffey.
Kurt is an attorney at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP, where he represents clients before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other government agencies. He received his law degree at Columbia University in New York City.
Kurt is an attorney at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP, where he represents clients before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other government agencies. He received his law degree at Columbia University in New York City.
Andrew Evatt, Director
Andrew Evatt has served as a Director of the Round Table for almost 10 years and served as President during the 2013-2014 program year. He also serves as the organization's service agent. Mr. Evatt lives in Annandale, Virginia.
Andrew Evatt has served as a Director of the Round Table for almost 10 years and served as President during the 2013-2014 program year. He also serves as the organization's service agent. Mr. Evatt lives in Annandale, Virginia.
David E. Hilliard, Director
David Hilliard is serving as a Director of the Round Table for the first time this program year. He has been a member for almost 10 years and has assisted the organization with recording the speakers' presentations at the meetings, available at https://cwrtdc-audio.blogspot.com/
Mr. Hilliard is a founding member at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP. He represents clients on a wide variety of matters before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including wireless technology, mobile radio operations, and electromagnetic compatibility regulation. Mr. Hilliard also represents clients on matters involving unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Mr. Hilliard received his law degree at the university of Virginia and his and his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky.
Mr. Hilliard is a founding member at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP. He represents clients on a wide variety of matters before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including wireless technology, mobile radio operations, and electromagnetic compatibility regulation. Mr. Hilliard also represents clients on matters involving unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Mr. Hilliard received his law degree at the university of Virginia and his and his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky.
Mary Ann Hoffer, Director
Mary Ann Hoffer is serving as a Director of the Round Table for the third time this program year. She has been a member for over 5 years and has assisted with the speaker program.
Mary Ann Hoffer is serving as a Director of the Round Table for the third time this program year. She has been a member for over 5 years and has assisted with the speaker program.
Stanley R. Schneider, Director
Stan Schneider is a past Board Member, Vice President, and two time President of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (CWRTDC), the third oldest such organization in the United States.
He is a graduate of the City College of New York (CCNY) and its ROTC program. Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he eventually became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves and is an Honor Graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College. Stan’s civilian career began with stints at the National Academy of Science and Naval Intelligence, followed by 36 years of service with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NASA working in positions related to management of weather and earth observing satellites. Stan retired from NASA in 2010 and is currently a consultant to aerospace companies.
Stan has had a lifelong interest in the Civil War. As a freshman at CCNY, he was inducted into Webb Patrol, an ROTC fraternity named after the College’s 2nd President and Civil War hero. As a senior, Stan was elected Commanding Officer of Webb Patrol. On active duty and subsequently the Reserves, Stan was stationed at a series of U.S. Forts named after Civil War Generals--Lee, Pickett, and A.P. Hill--and read Douglas Southall Freeman’s “Lee's Lieutenants” to learn more about the personages mentioned on the ubiquitous signs and road side markers. Stan’s senior thesis at Command and General Staff College was on “Lee’s Lieutenants” and its relevance to the (then) modern Army. For many years, Stan was a member of the Army’s 310th Theatre Army Area Command (TAACOM) with headquarters at Fort Belvoir’s John Singleton Mosby U.S. Army Reserve Center. The 310th unit crest consisted of Mosby’s plumed hat superimposed on the southern (St. Andrews) cross. Stan is currently Vice President of the 310th’s Alumni Association known as the “Mosby Rangers.”
Douglas B. Stuart, Treasurer & Director
Douglas Stuart, Col. (Ret.) is serving as the Treasurer for the Round Table for the first time this program year. He has been a member for over 10 years.
Col. Stuart has written about his experience in Vietnam in his 1981 work The Fall of Vietnam: A Soldier's Retrospection, in which he reflects upon the war, the military principles demonstrated there, and the reasons for the South Vietnamese failure. He is a Certified Public Accountant with a practice based in Fort Washington, Maryland.
Paula T. Whitacre, Director
Paula Tarnapol Whitacre is a freelance writer and editor of articles, reports and web content (e.g., related to health, the environment, and education) for organizations and government agencies. Her company website is at http://www.fullcircle.org/ She also volunteers for Alexandria Archaeology Museum http://torpedofactory.org/archaeology.
Ms. Whitacre previously worked at The Washington Post and as a Foreign Service Officer in Costa Rica. After a year traveling with her husband in Asia, she returned to Washington and worked for a forestry organization and for an environmental education project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Ms. Whitacre earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, but, in retrospect, admits that her favorite courses always involved history. That interest lead her to author A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time; Julia Wilber’s Struggle for Purpose, published in 2017 by Potomac Books. See http://www.paulawhitacre.com/
In her book, Ms. Whitacre brings to life a 19th-century woman who faced issues still relevant today. In the fall of 1862, Julia Wilbur left her family's farm near Rochester, New York, and boarded a train to Washington, DC. An ardent abolitionist, the 47-year-old Wilbur left a sad but stable life, headed toward the chaos of Civil War. She spent most of the next several years in Alexandria, VA, devising ways to aid recently escaped slaves and hospitalized Union soldiers, working closely with Harriet Jacobs and often battling the male establishment.
Paula Tarnapol Whitacre is a freelance writer and editor of articles, reports and web content (e.g., related to health, the environment, and education) for organizations and government agencies. Her company website is at http://www.fullcircle.org/ She also volunteers for Alexandria Archaeology Museum http://torpedofactory.org/archaeology.
Ms. Whitacre previously worked at The Washington Post and as a Foreign Service Officer in Costa Rica. After a year traveling with her husband in Asia, she returned to Washington and worked for a forestry organization and for an environmental education project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Ms. Whitacre earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, but, in retrospect, admits that her favorite courses always involved history. That interest lead her to author A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time; Julia Wilber’s Struggle for Purpose, published in 2017 by Potomac Books. See http://www.paulawhitacre.com/
In her book, Ms. Whitacre brings to life a 19th-century woman who faced issues still relevant today. In the fall of 1862, Julia Wilbur left her family's farm near Rochester, New York, and boarded a train to Washington, DC. An ardent abolitionist, the 47-year-old Wilbur left a sad but stable life, headed toward the chaos of Civil War. She spent most of the next several years in Alexandria, VA, devising ways to aid recently escaped slaves and hospitalized Union soldiers, working closely with Harriet Jacobs and often battling the male establishment.