Dr. Terrence Lindell will focus on a Civil War blockade during Wartburg College’s first James W. Lynes Jr. Memorial Lecture in History Sunday, Feb. 10.

Lindell, a Wartburg history professor, will examine the letters of an anonymous sailor aboard the USS Minnesota, the flagship of the Union fleet blockading a portion of the Atlantic Coast, during his 3 p.m. talk in Classroom Technologies Center 200.

The lecture, “On Blockade Duty: Letters from the USS Minnesota, 1861-1864,” relies on letters published in the Cedar Falls Gazette that provide insights into shipboard life, the naval war against the Confederacy, and the progress of the war in the East. 

The lecture is sponsored by the Alpha Xi Chi chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society. It celebrates the memory of James William Lynes Jr., a 1988 Wartburg graduate, history and English major and class valedictorian. A Waverly native, Lynes earned his master’s degree in history from the University of Iowa and worked in higher education in Iowa. He died last August.  

Lynes’ daughter, Jenny, a current Wartburg history major, is a charter member of the college’s history honor society, serving as treasurer and social chair.

The lecture series, which is open to the public, is supported by generous donations from the Lynes family and friends. A short reception will follow. 

The Wartburg Phi Alpha Theta chapter was installed last March.  Full membership requires four courses in history with a GPA of 3.1 and an overall GPA of 3.0. The Alpha Xi Chi chapter offers associate membership for students who do not meet initiation requirements. Non-history majors also can join.