DOWAGIAC — The Dowagiac Area History Museum has announced its 2020 Spring Lecture Series, kicking off on Wednesday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. with John Urschel presenting “Dowagiac in the Civil War.”

The lecture series will run through June, said Museum Director Steve Arseneau.

Urschel’s program will explore the three regiments that had the most enlistments for soldiers from the Dowagiac area throughout the war, including the 19th Michigan Infantry that trained in Dowagiac.

He will also discuss Cass County men who had the misfortune of being incarcerated in Andersonville prison, Georgia and what became of them after the war.

“More than 1,600 Cass County men served in the Union forces during the Civil War, which was over half of the eligible men,” Arseneau said. “John Urshcel has done amazing research on our local Civil War soldiers, and we are happy to have him share his knowledge.”

Urshcel worked as an archivist for the cities of South Bend and Kalamazoo for decades. He has authored a series of eight books on Michigan soldiers in the Civil War detailing their war records.

Urschel’s latest project is researching what became of the 1,300 Michigan prisoners of war at Andersonville after they were released. He has presented throughout the Midwest and will be venturing south of the Mason-Dixon Line for the first time this summer when he speaks to the Knoxville, Tennessee Civil War Roundtable.

The lecture series continues April 1 with “Continuing Finds in Lake Michigan: The Search for the Chicora and Other Wrecks” by Taras Lyssenko of A & T Recovery.

The May 6 program will feature Dowagiac native Dick Paxson presenting “Operation Deep Freeze: Serving on the 1955-56 Mission to Antarctica.”

Erika Kelsey Hartley of the Niles History Center will close out the series on June 3 with “Digging for Fort St. Joseph in Niles.”

The program is free to museum members and $5 for non-members. Children under 18 are admitted free. Membership will be available at the museum. The museum is at the corner of Division and W. Railroad streets. For more information, readers call the museum at (269) 783-2560 or visit dowagiacmuseum.info.