Dan Cunningham receives Joshua L. Chamberlain Civil War Round Table Warren Randall Award
Dan joined our round table in October 1994 after a trip, sponsored by the Pejepscot Historical Society, that followed the Civil War career of Joshua Chamberlain. Dan recalled that it was an exciting and vibrant time for the CWRT. There were over 250 members and the founder of the round table, Warren Randall, was still a very active board member. He had many contacts and brought in nationally known speakers such as Ed Bearss, James M. McPherson, and James (Bud) Robertson, as well as local speakers like John Pullen.
In 2002 Dan first served on the Board of Trustees and began helping with the book raffle with his very good friend, Dick Thompson. After serving two terms as vice-president, Dan became president of the JLC CWRT in 2010. He served for two years and then stayed on the Board of Trustees.
In 2016 several board positions became vacant, so Dan agreed to become president again if we could fill the open board positions. He served two more years as president, after which he remained in contact with the board, always offering to help in any way he could. In 2021 Dan again stepped up and agreed to serve as treasurer for the following year.
When asked to comment on receiving the Chamberlain Round Table’s award Dan was his usual friendly, unassuming self: “Serving on the Board of Trustees over the last 20 years has been a wonderful experience where I have learned more than I could ever have imagined and met numerous people, many of which I count as good friends. To be a recipient of the Warren Randall Award is a tremendous honor and I would like to thank the Board of Trustees and the members for all the support and help you’ve given me over the years. Without all of you there is no way that we could have continued to have the Joshua L. Chamberlain CWRT.”
Many, many thanks to Dan Cunningham for his many years of service to our round table. The award certainly is well deserved. We look forward to seeing again Dan and Lucy as we embark on the 2022 – 2023 program season.
Note: For many years Dan was a Civil War reenactor (3rd Maine Infantry) and Civil War service is in Dan’s blood. The soldier seen in the picture is Dan’s great grandfather, Andrew Rollins Brackett. Brackett’s granddaughter, Dan’s mother, is also seen. Dan’s great-great-uncle, Alesto Brackett, was a Civil War navy veteran.
08/28/2022