A native of Cohoes, NY Chris Hogan-Kilburn briefly taught elementary school in Glens Falls before deciding to change careers. From the late 70s on, she worked in the field of Communications, heading the Marketing and Public Relations departments of a broad range of upstate New York businesses and organizations from St. Peter’s Hospital and The College of Saint Rose to SEFCU and The Hyde Collection.

Now, though mostly retired, Chris continues her work as a marketing consultant and her volunteer work at the Parks-Bentley Place, the home of the Historical Society of Moreau and South Glens Falls. In 2021, she embarked on developing a book containing a collection of Civil War letters donated to the Historical Society by the Smith family of South Glens Falls. The thirty letters were penned by a Wisconsin soldier to his dear friend John A. Bentley, whose family members resided in the Parks-Bentley house from the mid 1800’s through the early 1900’s.

Her presentation is about the book titled, “Dear Friend: Letters from Union SoldierGustavuus Wintermeyer to John A. Bentley”. She will take you through her journey of discovering the letters, the creation of the book, and several of the things she learned about the Civil War from the very personal insights provided by this young infantryman.