“The Luncheon Ladies” of First Manassas (Battle of Bull Run)

Posted on by Katherine Gotthardt

In doing some research related to First Manassas and my poem “The Luncheon Ladies,” I ran into a wonderful PowerPoint presentation here:

First Battle of Manassas: An End to Innocence

The presentation provides an overview of what happened on the fateful day the war started and confirms that folks really did come out to ‘watch the war.’

“The Luncheon Ladies” asks what the women spectators might have thought when they finally realized the war was indeed going to be a war and not just a skirmish.

The poster advertising the ‘event’ and the photo were particularly striking.

Thanks to the folks at Journey Through Hallowed Ground, I will have the opportunity to discuss this phenomenon and the poem at my next event (posted on the “Readings and Events” page).

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Published by Katherine Gotthardt

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, M.Ed., writing concentration, hails from the Northern Virginia/D.C. metro area. Born in Billerica, Massachusetts, she considers herself a writer by nature and by trade, having begun writing as soon as her mother helped teach her to read. Her first published poem, "Remembering Thoreau," appeared in ELF: Eclectic Literary Forum in in the early 1990s. Since then, her work has been published in publications such as Yankee, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Frogpond and dozens of other journals, anthologies, books and online media. Her poetry has been taught in secondary and post-secondary classrooms and workshops. Awards and Recognition Katherine has been a Prince William County Poet Laureate nominee and was the winner of Inside Nova’s 2019 and 2020 Best of Prince William award in the category of author. Her poetry and prose book Get Happy, Dammit: Staying Inspired and Motivated in an Often-Unhappy World received a Silver Award from the Nonfiction Authors Association. Katherine's children’s book, A Crane Named Steve, hit number one in its category on Amazon in 2019. Katherine then took first place in the free verse category of Loudoun County Library Foundation’s 2020 Rhyme On poetry contest for her piece "Discussion Topic." The Prince William Arts Council and Poet Laureate Circle awarded her the 2020 Outstanding Poetry Project Award for her leadership in Write by the Rails' Poems Around Town poetry installation. In 2021 Katherine earned second place for "Aftermath" in a Poetry Society of Virginia national contest and the regional Seefeldt Award for Arts Excellence in the category of Individual Artist. She won first place in the Virginia Writers Club statewide Golden Nib contest in the poetry category for her poem "Kayak." Katherine was recognized as a PW Perspective 2021 DMV Best Business award winner in the category of author. In April 2023, Katherine’s poem “Now Entering Manassas” was the winner of Manassas, Virginia's adult “time capsule” poetry contest. Katherine read her poem at the 150th anniversary celebration, the translated version by Jorge de Villasante was read in Spanish by Bianca Menendez, her poem was published in Neighbors of Historic Manassas magazine, and it was included in the city’s time capsule. Learn more at www.KatherineGotthardt.com or find her on LinkedIn.