Events
Do you belong to an organization that needs speakers ? (Historical society? Service league? Book club? AAUW chapter? Knitting circle? Revolutionary cell?) contact me at pdtoler@sbcglobal.net. I have delivered more than 200 programs in person and virtually for groups, including conventions, libraries, museums, historical societies, literary festivals, colleges and universities, veterans associations, women's groups, and book clubs. Whether I'm talking to a small intimate group or an auditorium packed with hundreds of history buffs, I deliver an engaging combination of vivid storytelling and solid historical chops.
Popular topics include:
That Dragon from Chicago-The gripping story of American journalist Sigrid Schultz, whose career as the Chicago Tribune's Berlin bureau chief from 1925 to January 1941, provides an up-close look at the rise of the Nazis and a vital lesson on how we can reclaim truth in an era marked by the spread of disinformation and claims of "fake news."
Women in War: A Historical View of Why They Mattered (A Lot)-Women have always gone to war, and they've gone for the same reasons as their male counterparts. Toler tells the stories of queens and commoners, those who commanded from the rear and those who fought in the front lines, those who fought because they wanted to, because they had to, or because they could. She looks at ordinary women who did extraordinary things as well as the truly exceptional. And she kicks a few historical shins in the process.
From Unwanted to Indispensable: The Real Nurses of the Civil War-The story of how thousands of women with little or no experience with nursing volunteered to serve their country during the Civil War, taught themselves how to do the job under adverse circumstance (including hostility from the surgeons with whom they worked), and created a profession that did not exist before the war.
In Disguise -The stories of women who disguised themselves as men to enlist in the American Civil War and how they fit into the long lineage of cross-dressing women soldiers.
Where I'll be: 2026
January 13
Sheela Naa Gig Podcast: available for streaming
January 21
The Garlands
Barrington, Illinois
March 8, 2 pm
Kirkland Historical Society
Kirkland, Illinois
March 24, 7 pm
The Dr. Harold C Deutsch World War II History Roundtable
St Paul, Minnesota
March 31, 6 pm
Edgewater Branch Library, Chicago, Illinois
April 8
WW2TV, available for streaming
April 20, 6 pm
Marietta History Center, Marietta, Georgia
April 23
Clara Cumming Book Club
Waukegon, Illinois
May 1
Say It With History podcast available for streaming
June 13, 3 pm
Chicago Women’s History Center
August 18
Ketura Hadassah, Skokie, Illinois
August 26, 6:30 pm
Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Texas
Houston, Texas
November 8
Barrington Writer's Workshop
Barrington, Illinois
November 12
Belmont Village, Oak Park, Illinois
November 20
Sibley Historic Site, Mendota, Minnesota (details to follow)
November 21
Le Duc Historical Estate, Hastings, Minnesota (details to follow)
Where I've been
January 8
Chicago Hyde Park Village
March 6
Plainfield Library—virtual
March 16
Holocaust Museum LA
March 19
University of Chicago Service League,
In conversation with Richard Miller
March 22
Let Them Speak! Women’s History Month Conference, St. Louis County Parks and Recreation
March 27
The Mather, Evanston
April 12, 2 pm
Monona Public Library, Monona Wisconsion
April 26 A TWO EVENT DAY IN LOS ANGELES!
"Crusader, Dreamer, Trailblazer: Biographies of Fierce 20th Century Women" 12-1 pm
Los Angeles Festival of Books
Meet and Greet, Independent Bookstores Day celebration 3-5 pm
Flintridge Bookstore
May 8
Lake Forest Literary Guild
July 3
Mensa Annual Meeting,
July 22
Vad Yahsem webinar
August 21, 6 pm
Cantigny Museum
September 2
North Shore Authors Showcase
September 25
The National World War II Museum, New Orleans, Available to Stream
November 22, Noon
Miami Book Fair
March 20
University of Chicago Service League
July 25
History Camp Author Discussions (Available for streaming)
August 5
Unsung History podcast (available for streaming)
August 8
Herstory on the Rocks (available for streaming)
August 10
History Camp Boston 2024 (Available for streaming)
August18
History Happy Hour (Available for streaming)
August 19
Highland Park Library
September 3
Lost Ladies of Lit podcast (Available for streaming )
September 16
Inland Empire Civil War Round Table
September 20
Seminary Coop Bookstore
(Available for streaming via CSPAN )
October 5
What's Her Name podcast (Available for Streaming)
October 14
The Remedial Herstory Project (Available for streaming)
October 15
Q & A with Peter Slen, on C-SPAN (Available for streaming)
October 30
Auburn University
November 12 10:00 am Central
Godey Questers
November 19, 11:30 Central
Fannie Mae, Veterans ERG
December 6
Biographer’s International podcast (Available for streaming )
December 31
Book Cougars podcast (Available for streaming)
1/26 In conversation with author Dawn Raffel. Seminary Coop Book Store
8/21 Augusta Civil War Roundtable. Augusta Georgia
2/27 In conversation with Shelley Puhak, Author of Dark Queens, Politics and Prose bookstore.
3/23 Taylorsville Library, Taylorsville Utah.
4/2 Northern Illinois Civil War Round Table..
4/27 Baltimore Civil War Round Table.
7/8 & 7/10 Keynote and book signing. Beachfront Author Fest, Lake Geneva Public Library, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
8/2 Rock Valley Civil War Round Table
9/13 In conversation about women warriors with Nancy Marie Brown, author of The Real Valkyrie. Hudson Library
10/12 AFC, University of Wisconsion-Madison
10/21 One Day University
11/6 Rock Valley College
12/29 Writing workshop. Gal's Guide to the Galaxy
1/9 Milwaukee Civil War Roundtable.
1/10 Chicago Civil War Roundtable. .
3/11 & 3/12 Global Conversations, Global Minnesota.
6/5 St. Louis Science Center. First Friday
10/21 Norwich University, Lunch and Learn.
2/28 Author's Voice, Stranger Than Fiction, Abe Lincoln Bookstore. Chicago. (Available for streaming)
3/7 A Room of One's Own Bookstore, Madison, Wisconsin
3/13 American Association of University Women in conjunction with the Elmhurst Public Library. Elmhurst Illinois
3/25 Seminary Coop Bookstore, Chicago
3/29 Beloit College. Beloit Wisconsin
4/3 Pritzker Military Museum and Library. Chicago. (Available for streaming)
4/13 Barnes & Noble, Springfield, Missouri
5/19 Books in Bloom Literary Festival, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
6/13 Benzonia Academy Lecture, Mills Community House, Benzonia Michigan
6/21 Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable
7/15 Hyde Park Book Club, at the Hyde Park Historical Society, 5529 So. Lake Park, Chicago, Illinois
8/3 Keep on Blogging. On-Line Seminar. The Village Writing School (Available for purchase)
11/7 11:30 85th Division Association meeting, Des Plaines Illinois
2/17 Civil War Museum, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
4/11 A Q & A on Research Techniques for the Non-Historian. Historical Fiction On-Line Summit. The Village Writing School.
4/26 Keynote Speaker, Civil War Symposium, Randall University, Moore, Oklahoma.
5/11 Benzonia Academy Lecture series,
5/16 University of Chicago Service League: The perfect audience for speaking about Women Warriors for the first time!
8/21 Lincoln-Davis Civil War Round Table. Alsip, Illinois
2/1 Pritzker Military Museum and Library. Chicago.
5/2 Author's Voice. A House Divided. Abe Lincoln Bookstore.
5/11 Benzonia Academy Lecture, Mills Community House, Benzonia Michigan.
6/10 Authors Voice Booth, Printer's Row Literary Festival
9/10 Kerrytown Bookfest, Ann Arbor Michigan.
2/2 The Lyceum, Alexandria's History Museum. Alexandria, Virginia.
3/10 Writer's Night Out, Village Writing School, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
4/18 Hyde Park Book Club
7/2 National Park Service Centennial Sacred Trust Talks and Book Signing Event, co-sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation and Gettysburg National Military Park. Gettysburg National Military Park Museum.
7/30 Barnes & Noble. Springfield Missouri.