(2024-2025)
As a college student at NYU in 1972, John reached out to Bruce Catton about a writing project on the Civil War. Mr. Catton responded with a letter of encouragement, which John says makes his election many years later to the Board of the CWRTDC -- which Mr. Catton helped found -- truly an honor. John is also a member of the Ulysses S. Grant Society and the Grant Monuments Association.
In the late 1990's, John and his wife considered producing a feature film on the life of General Grant. During the course of that project, John reports that he had the good fortune to take many tours with Ed Bearss through the Smithsonian program. He also contributed ideas for enhancing the battlefield narration at Chickamauga, which were adopted and put into place in 2019.
John holds an MS in International Finance from Brandies University and a BA from New York University. At NYU, John was awarded the Thomas Wolfe Award for Creative Writing. In addition, John did graduate work at the MIT Sloan School of Management and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has written several technical books that are archived at the Computer Museum in Silicon Valley and at many major universities.
John has spent his working career involved in international marketing for Digital Equipment Corporation (now Hewlett Packard) and served as special technology consultant to Ford Motor Company's National Dealer Council, where he pioneered early internet solutions for the automotive industry.
Although having an active career in the high-tech industry, John has also spent over 25 years working to train students in business. In recent years, he has been involved in developing business curricula for veterans. For his work in connection with the development of federally certifiable degree programs in this area, John was awarded a Congressional Citation in 2016.
John is currently retired from the faculty of Diablo Valley College, where he served as an adjunct Professor of Business and Finance. He is most proud of his work as a faculty advisor to veterans and for developing training programs for faculty working with veterans. John currently serves on the Board of the Peter Sategna Educational Foundation, which awards scholarships to veterans and other worthy individuals.
Robert "Mick" Bedard, Director
William P. Binzel, Director & Immediate Past President
He is a native of New York City, and he has been an independent writer, historian, and journalist since the early 1970s. In 2015, he served as chairman of the awards committee for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize given by the Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, resistance, and Abolition, at Yale University. He is currently a member of the advisory council of scholars for the U.S. Capital Historical Society and serves in a similar role for the Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith historic site in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His articles have appeared in many national magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Smithsonian, and American Heritage.
Mr. Bordewich is a frequent speaker on subjects related to nineteenth century American history. As a journalist, he reported extensively on politics, economic issues, and culture from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. He has also worked for the United Nations and, in the 1980s, served as an advisor on modernization to the Chinese National News Agency, Xinhua. He holds degrees from the City College of New York and Columbia University.
Mr. Bordewich has been a lifelong student of the Civil War. Two of his forebears, John Madigan and Patrick Madigan, served in the 88th New York, in the famed Irish Brigade. Stories of their war experiences were handed down to him by his grandmother. His interest in the war was deepened by a 1956 visit to Gettysburg, and again for the battle’s centennial in 1963. He has since walked many of the war’s battlefields from Maryland to New Mexico.
Mr. Bordewich lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Jean Parvin Bordewich, an advisor to philanthropies on democratic governance and a playwright.
For additional information about Mr. Bordewich and his books, visit: http://www.fergusbordewich.com
Eileen has traveled widely and always tries to fit history tours into her travels. Among the highlights was when she went to Belgium for work and stayed over, hiring a private guide to help her retrace her father’s steps with the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Bulge. It was 69 years after the Battle, but Eileen was treated as an honored guest due to her father’s service.
Eileen recently retired from Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer in the U.S., where she headed the Washington, DC office and directed federal government affairs for the company. Prior to joining Nucor, she was a partner at Wiley Rein LLP in the firm’s international trade practice where she represented U.S. manufacturers on Capitol Hill and in high-profile trade cases. She began her career in the U.S. Senate where she worked on the Special Committee on Aging and as a Legislative Assistant to the late Senator John Glenn of Ohio.
In addition to her history pursuits, Eileen is a founding member and Vice Chair of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, a national support group for families who have adopted from the former Soviet Union. She also leads the Mended Hearts visiting program at Virginia Hospital Center, offering cardiac patients hope and encouragement in the days following surgery.
Eileen is from Toledo, Ohio, and lives in Arlington, VA.
A former Navy Supply Corps officer serving on ships in both the Arctic and Vietnam, Bill is fascinated with the management, logistics and politics of war. He was one of the first to have access to the decrypted diary and journal of Montgomery Meigs, President Lincoln’s Quartermaster General. Employing this rich source material, Bill organized a conference on Meigs and authored several chapters for a book (which he also edited) on the proceedings published for the US Capitol Historical Society.
As a long-time resident of Alexandria, Bill chaired the Alexandria Historical Society and was instrumental in saving several historical properties in the city, including the slave prison, which is now a publicly owned museum. Visit https://www.alexandriava.gov/FreedomHouse
Retired from a Federal career primarily with the Office of Management and Budget and the US Environmental Protection Agency, Bill continues to be involved with local and environmental projects.
Steve Jaren, Secretary & Director
Steve is a relatively new member of the Round Table, but has been increasingly involved in its operation. This is his first year as a Director. One of his projects was the creation of the Round Table’s “Civil War History Education/Learning Links," (located HERE or at https://cwrtdc-meetings.blogspot.com/2020/04/civilwar-history-education-learning.html), a timely resource given the pandemic and the need to advise CW history enthusuasts of relevant programming and information available online. Steve has also coordinated the Round Table's membership drive and has welcomed new members via email and, lately, during its Zoom meetings.
Steve retired in March 2020, with both federal and private sector experience in the procurement field. Most of his career was spent as a federal civil servant supporting the U.S. Army. Being a U.S. Air Force “brat,” he does not call one place home.
His educational background includes a B.S. in Business from Indiana University, and an M.S. in Acquisition and Contract Management from Florida Institute of Technology. His interest in the American Civil War started with his father and has steadily increased over the past five years. An area that he hopes to research further is Welsh American involvement in the Civil War; Steve was born in Ireland and his mother was a WWII GI bride from Britain with an English father and a Welsh mother.
Paul Anthony Mazzuca is a licensed professional tour guide and tour director in the Washington, D.C. area. Paul is also a member of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society; the Historical Society of Washington; the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, DC; and the Smithsonian Associates.
Scott currently works in the Sales Division of the DC Convention Center after having recently completed an extensive, 25-year study of underpaid, struggling artists at Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, Studio Theatre, Warner Theatre, and The Kennedy Center, for which he deeply imbedded himself in those organizations as an underpaid, struggling arts administrator.
Scott serves on the Finance Committee and the Social Justice Initiative Committee of St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill, and is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Anacostia Watershed Society, the Potomac Conservancy, the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, and the DC History Center.
Dr. Frank Smith, Jr., Director
From 1959 until 1962, Smith attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he was a founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Smith left Morehouse during his senior year to play a role in the Civil Rights Movement. From 1962 until 1968, Smith worked with SNCC organizing and registering African Americans voters in Mississippi and Alabama. He is noted for his involvement and leadership role in planning and executing protests and marches in Greenwood, Mississippi, during the Freedom Summer of 1964.
In 1968, Smith moved to Washington, D.C., when he accepted a job as a researcher for the Institute for Policy Studies, focusing on education and planning issues. Smith became involved in local community issues and was elected to serve as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC). In 1978, Smith unsuccessfully ran for the District of Columbia City Council, but the following year he was elected to public office and served one term on the D.C. Board of Education. In 1980, Smith earned his Ph.D. degree from the Union Institute in Ohio.
In 1982, Smith was elected to the District of Columbia City Council where he represented one of the most racially, ethnically and economically diverse wards in the city. Smith was subsequently elected to serve four terms on the Council, remaining there until 1998. During his tenure on the Council, Smith supported legislation creating subsidies for housing down payments, a lottery system for disposing of condemned and surplus housing and establishing tax incentives for new business development.
In 1998, Smith became chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the organization which worked to establish the African American Civil War Memorial and an accompanying museum (AACWM). It is the only national memorial to the colored troops who fought in the Civil War and one of the most unique memorials in Washington, DC.
Smith has
received numerous awards for his civic, community and political leadership.