Officers and Directors
of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia

(2022-2023)
Effective July 1, 2022


John Anderson, Director

John Anderson's love for the history of the Civil War was kindled in 1957 with the purchase of a children's book on the life of Robert E. Lee.  At the age of 10, his father took the family to Gettysburg, which continued to fuel his lifelong interest in the period.  

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, Treasurer & Director

Mick Bedard retired from a busy Connecticut allergy practice in 2016 and moved to Alexandria, Virginia, to be closer to the Civil War action. He was recruited to the Round Table of the District of Columbia by cousins in law John and Carol Bessette. His love of American history developed during the American Civil War centennial. Hooked then, he has been an avid reader and a re-enactor since 1987 with initially the 5th NH Volunteers and now the Kearsarge Afterguard portraying a naval surgeon.


A Brown grad, Mick received his MD from University of Cincinnati and further specialty training at Burlington, Vermont, and Madison, Wisconsin. He is a past member of the CWRTs in Madison and Hartford. Still a proud member of the Hartford Medical Society, Mick was a long-standing director and twice past president. He has given numerous talks on CW medicine across New England and to three Australian Civil War Round Tables.


William P. Binzel, Vice-President & Director
Bill Binzel is a native of southwestern Ohio who has resided in the Washington, DC area for the past forty years.  A retired attorney, he spent twelve years on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, eleven years in corporate affairs in the financial services sector, and ten years with a nonprofit foundation.  His undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin is in U.S. History.  A life-long student of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the Lincoln assassination, Mr. Binzel is also vice president of the Surratt Society (an organization dedicated to the study of Lincoln’s assassination), a docent at the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, MD, and a narrator of the Surratt Society’s twelve-hour bus tours of the twelve-day escape route of John Wilkes Booth from Ford’s Theatre to the Garrett’s farm in Caroline County, VA.


John Ciccone, Director
John's interest in the Civil War began more than half a century ago when he first read Bruce Catton, one of the founding members of the Round Table. Since then, the Civil War has always been a regular part of his studies into various aspects of U.S. history.

Beginning with his retirement in 2016, John volunteered with the U.S. Capitol Historical Society to take donors and their guests on private tours of the Capitol.  John explains that work has now ended, sadly, due to the closing of the Capitol because of the pandemic and related changes in the activities of the Society.
   
John also has had an ongoing interest in photography and video production and editing, which brought him into the fold of the Round Table where he has been editing/post producing its Zoom meetings, which have been posted on YouTube, located by clicking HERE or by visiting youtube.com/channel/UCA6lRYb3u2qCsCwEe3xukHg

While Zoom meetings were thrust upon us by the pandemic, John notes that it has afforded us a unique opportunity to greatly extend our programs to audiences that are truly national in scope. With this comes the opportunity to broaden our membership AND make us more attractive to high level speakers, authors, and publishers eager to reach large audiences.  John adds that this is an opportunity that is both exciting and challenging . . . something he is more than eager to pursue.  


Marion Cohen, Director

Marion R. Cohen has spent years in the field of Education, Management, Research, Analysis, and Public History/ Speaking. She currently holds the position of Campus Executive Director for the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, in Manassas Virginia, where she oversees 200 students and 35 instructors and staff members. Her work in history spans over several decades and  includes assignments for Congressman Gerald Connolly’s Civil Rights Archive, Monticello Historical site, Mount Vernon and other historical venues. 

In 2009, Marion was admitted to the University of Virginia and received her undergraduate degree in humanities, graduating with Highest Distinction. She also holds a Master of Arts from George Mason University in African American Studies, and she was enrolled in its PhD program.   

Marion’s field of interest is exploring the era of Reconstruction, where free persons purchased land, created schools and places of worship in an effort to obtain financial stability, education, and religious freedom.  She also provides insight into 18th and 19th century Virginia and presents African American historical narratives to schools, universities, civic organizations, private societies, conferences, and museums. She is a regular interpreter at Monticello and venues in and around Prince William County, Manassas Battlefield and Fairfax County. 

Marion is currently working on a manuscript of her memoirs on the hardships of a mixed woman of color living in a segregated, Northern Virginia.  She is also working on a book on Reconstruction community building for Freedmen in Northern Virginia, through landownership, education, and churches. 

For more information about Marion Cohen and her missions, visit https://marionhistorian.com/ 


Kurt E. DeSoto, President & Director
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.

William Dickinson, Director
William "Bill" C. Dickinson II became interested in the history of the Civil War when he researched his great grandfather, who was brevetted Major for his leadership in the decisive 1865 battle of Fort Stedman at Petersburg.

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, 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 A. Mazzuca, Secretary & Director
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.
Paul has been a member of our Round Table for many years, and became a first-time Director this year.

Martha Vázquez, Director
Martha is serving her first one-year term as Secretary of the Round Table.  She has had a life-long personal and academic interest in history.  Martha earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Latin American History.  She continued to pursue her passion at the University of London, which awarded her a master’s degree in Modern Military History.  Martha’s thesis at the University of London was on military death and remembrance, which focused on the creation of the military cemeteries in France following World War I and the evolution of the military monument.

Martha is an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP where her practice focuses primarily on employment litigation.  She received her law degree from Washington and Lee School of Law.

Martha has a personal connection to the Civil War both from her time living in Lexington, Virginia, and through her great, great grandfather, George Waddell, who served honorably with the 105th (“Wildcat”) Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Jon F. Willen, Immediate Past President & Director
Jon Willen, M.D. is a retired infectious disease specialist who many know as the guy in the bloody apron at Civil War reenactments. Dr. Willen has put his medical expertise into researching the medical treatment Abraham Lincoln received during his time as President, most notably the actions of Dr. Charles Leale and other doctors who rushed to Lincoln’s aid at the assassination. 

Dr. Willen served last year as Vice-President of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia and currently serves as the Vice President of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia (http://www.lincolngroup.org/).  He is also a docent at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in DC and at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

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