Fred Hawthorne
Prominent American Civil War Historian
Fred has close ties to the American Civil War having ancestors fighting on both sides of the conflict. He served four years as an intelligence analyst with the United States Air Force during the latter stages of the Vietnam War. Leaving active service to pursue his long time love of history Fred earned degrees in American History and another in Secondary Education. He went on to acquire advanced degrees in Colonial American History, Historical Archaeology and Educational Technology. His graduate research and dissertation was in the field of the French and Indian War and specifically the involvement of the Native American tribe - the Lenni Lenape - in that war. After graduation Fred spent sixteen years teaching history and economics on both the university and secondary school level before transitioning into assisting in the installation and integration of a 300-station educational computer network. In Fred's "spare time" he pursued his interest in his family genealogy and his family's role in the Civil War. Living in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the very field of one of the climactic battles of that war led Fred to sit for the battlefield guide qualifying examination administered by the National Park Service. He earned his federal license in 1981 to serve as a Licensed Battlefield Guide. Over the past four decades as a professional battlefield guide Fred has conducted more than 10,000 tours encompassing every major battle site of the American Civil War. In that time more than 100,000 people have participated in a Hawthorne-led battlefield tour experience.