Speaker Series

The 2026/2027 Speaker Series (pdf)


 

Monthly Speaker Series 2026-27

Third Tuesday of the month   **   Free & open to the public!
RecPlex West Theater (Rec West)
965 Miamisburg Centerville  Rd.

 Reception 6:30 p.m.        Program 7:00 p.m.

Enjoy refreshments and historical education. 

Donations welcome and appreciated.

**NOTE -- Enter through the Joyce Young Center entrance and you will be directed to the theater.

 


September 15, 2026
Andrew Hershner
Memories of the Homefront: Dayton During World War Two

Take a step back in time as we explore the stories, images, and atmosphere of Dayton from 1941 to 1945. Discover how the “City of a Thousand Factories” mobilized to support the war effort that led to victory in World War Two.

Andrew Hershner is a local historian who co-admins the "History of the Daytonians” Facebook page. He is an active member of the Dayton Women's Club where he gives tours of the Second Empire style home. He is also a member of Preservation Dayton Inc.

October 20, 2026
Tim Gaffney
Brewing the Burg 

Miamisburg’s early brewers made more than beer; they helped shape the growth of the Miami Valley region from a tiny settlement on America's western frontier to a modern manufacturing town. Their lives reflected the great trends and events that swept the United States, Ohio, and Miamisburg throughout the nineteenth century—the digging of the Miami and Erie Canal, the American Civil War, the temperance movement, and more. These brewers were never famous. Their names are long forgotten. In some cases, their stories were nearly lost to history. Timothy R. Gaffney, author of Brewing the Burg, Dayton Beer, and other books, brings the Miamisburg brewers back from obscurity and reveals Miamisburg as they saw it in their time.

Tim Gaffney was born in Dayton and has lived most of his life in the Miami Valley, more than half of it in Miamisburg. He attended Dayton public schools and studied journalism at The Ohio State University. He worked at the Piqua Daily Call and the Kettering Oakwood Times before settling at the Dayton Daily News, where he mainly covered military affairs, aviation, and space. 
November 17, 2026
Angi Hoschouer Berghuis
Sports Legends of Dayton

 

January 19, 2027
Andrew Hershner
The Golden Age of Downtown Shopping

 

February 16, 2027
Mark Conrad, MSgt USAF (Ret)
The National Home for Disabled Veteran Soldiers

 

March 16, 2027
Ryan Dimisa
History of Old Chillicothe – Shawnee Indians

 

April 20, 2027
Steve Grismer
Dayton Law Enforcement From 1797 to 2000

________________________ CWH YouTube Channel has previous programs available

September 16, 2025 
McCook Field: Dayton’s WWI Flying Field  by Kevin Rusnak

October 21, 2025
Dayton Triangles: The Football Team  by Andrew Walsh 

 

February 17, 2026
Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away by Ann Hagedorn

March 17, 2026 
Roots: Cars Born in Dayton  by Tom Gaudion

 

April 21, 2026
History of Fairborn after the 1913 Dayton Flood by Ryan Riffle

May 19, 2026

Hidden in Plain Sight: The WAVES Who Helped Win the War (and Why Dayton Matters)  by Lucinda Davies

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September 17, 2024 
 Patterson, Kettering, Cox and Wright Brothers: The drive & passions of Dayton's most eccentric men by Angie Hoschouer Berghuis

October 15, 2024 
Dayton Ghosts & Legends by Sara Kaushal 

November 19, 2024 
What’s the Story: Soldiers War Memories!  by Ken Serey

 
 January 21, 2025
Joe Desch – WWII Codebreaker – Oakwood’s Unsung Hero  by Andrew Lloyd

February 18, 2025 
The Rise & Fall of George Remus, America’s First Millionaire Bootlegger  by Mike Williams
March 18, 2025 
1913 Dayton Flood  by Jim Charters

May 20, 2025

Ohio's Awesome Women by Hylda Strange

Previous Presentations available on YouTube:

 Enjoy videos of our 2020/2021 speakers on YouTube