As 2017 comes to a close, I’m looking back at the year and celebrating all the wonderful moments at Gazette665. Thank you for being part of the voyage this year!

What’s your favorite thing on the list?Posts Published in 2017

162 articles written, edited, and posted this year (including this post)!

Three blog series ran all year…

Mondays – 1862: In Their Words

Wednesdays – 19th Century American Maritime

Fridays – Historical Theme of the Month (changed every month)

Top 5 Posts Published in 2017

1. 5 Things You Should Know About Lexington & Concord
2. Little Rose Greenhow: The Famous Spy’s Daughter
3.  Chamberlain’s Charlemagne
4. Captains & Crews On Whaling Ships
5. Dolley Madison: Creating The Role Of First Lady

Top 5 Posts Published Of All Time

1. What Happened To General Cornwallis?
2. 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Juan Cabrillo
3. An Amusement Park At Gettysburg?
4. 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Confederate Gray
5. Betsy Ross, An American Seamstress: Separating Fact From Fiction

2nd Annual Civil War History Conference

On Saturday, June 3, 2017, Gazette665 hosted its Second Annual Civil War History Conference – 1862: Searching For Victory. Historians and researchers Michael K. Shaffer, David Dixon, Meg Groeling, Bruce Smith, Michael L. Oddenino, Mark Schoenberger, and Sarah Kay Bierle shared about topics related to the second year of the conflict. It is exciting to watch this event continue to grow to meet the needs of the Southern California community.

Adding Twitter and Instagram to our “social media family”

Always looking for innovative ways to reach out and share historical information and inspiration…

Gazette665 was active on Facebook and this year Twitter and Instagram became the new channels for sharing and interaction. Are you following @Gazette665?

Living History Events

I attended eleven Living History events this year, including Civil War, Spanish-American War, and Costume College! Each event is different, but all of them offered opportunities to serve others or help with historical education. I wrote about one of the most startling education moments of the year in this blog post on Emerging Civil War.

Speaking Engagements

If I counted correctly (?!), I gave nine formal historical presentations/lectures this year. It’s always a delight to share history and make the people, facts, dates, and events interesting for audiences of all ages.

There are are some new presentation topics added to my list this year:

Searching For The McGuires

Then Christmas Came: The Justification & Condemnation of War in 1862 

And I’m adding several more presentations early in 2018 – stay tuned! If you’re interested in a historical presentation for your history group, leave a comment or send a message; my 2018 calendar is filling quickly.

Lighthouse Loyalty published

So far it’s been one book published every year at Gazette665! This year the third book found a home on our bookshelf and has been well-received by readers.

Lighthouse Loyalty by Sarah Kay Bierle

Set in 1867, this historical novel follows Susan Rose Arnold – a lighthouse keeper’s daughter – as she discovers the Civil War’s effects which cast dark shadows two years after the conflict ended. Will the war’s secrets and loyalties tear her family apart…or draw them closer together?

Emerging Civil War

Gazette665 is my “home” online, but Emerging Civil War is my “home away from home.” It’s a privilege to work with this amazing group of historians, and my responsibilities at ECW have increased this year. I was offered a position as Co-Managing Editor of the Emerging Civil War Blog and accepted the “job.”

I continue to write regularly for the site as well as keeping up with my editing duties. This year I wrote and published forty articles and coordinated three official series on the site.

Attended a Tech and Marketing Conference

This October I had the opportunity to attend a marketing/technology/business conference in Santa Barbara. I came back to my desk with many new ideas to consider or try for Gazette665.

Routinely published a newsletter!

This is a first for Gazette665. Sure, I’ve messed around with newsletters before, but 2017 was the first year that the company consistently prepared and sent e-newsletters every month, sharing historical articles, photos, fun facts, and a few book sales.

Made lots of new friends!

Thank you for following Gazette665 and reaching out with comments, replies, and ideas. I appreciate it very much! Perhaps there are moments that study history is a little lonely, but I’m grateful to have a wonderful (and growing) network of fans, friends, and colleagues joining me on this journey to share historical information and inspiration.

Your Historian,

Miss Sarah

P.S. What was your favorite thing in Gazette665’s 2017? A favorite blog post or series?

What changes would you like to see? Innovation begins with an idea!