Civil War Lecture to Explore Industrial Innovators and Wartime Entrepreneurs

The Pasadena Civil War Round Table will present a fascinating exploration of industrial innovation during the Civil War, featuring a lecture by Dr. Dave Schrader on the entrepreneurs who reshaped Northern production during one of America’s most challenging periods.

Dr. Schrader will highlight the “good” and “bad” industrial barons who dramatically transformed transportation, arms manufacturing, medicine, and food production under wartime pressures. The lecture will showcase both well-known and lesser-known entrepreneurs who played critical roles in supporting the Northern war effort.

“We’ll survey various fields like transportation, arms manufacturing, medicine and food production to understand how factory owners adapted to the massive requirements the war presented,” Dr. Schrader said.

The free lecture will feature stories about notable industrialists, including household names like Borden, Armour, and Squibb, as well as Civil War-era entrepreneurs such as Parrott, Cooke, Burden, and Eads. The presentation will also explore the financial innovations Washington used to support these industrial efforts.

Attendees can hear these insights at the historic Blinn House, a National Register landmark located at 160 N. Oakland Ave. in Pasadena. The free event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the lecture beginning at 7:15 p.m.