Georgia Southwestern State University and Andersonville National Historic Site will host the 13th annual Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Convocation on Wednesday, September 19 at 11 a.m. in GSW’s Convocation Hall. Author and researcher David Keller will serve as the keynote speaker. This event is free and open to the public.
 
The convocation is held in conjunction with the POW/MIA Recognition Day events, which honor service members who were prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action. This year, Recognition Day will be observed on Friday, September 21.
 
This year’s convocation speaker is an experienced researcher and author. Keller founded the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development, delivery and preservation of educational and historic information regarding the Upper Midwest, especially Illinois and Chicago during the Civil War. Retired from an executive banking career since 2002, Keller currently serves as the foundation’s managing director.
 
Keller was awarded Prisoner of War Research Grants in 2017 and 2018 by the Friends of Andersonville. His research has focused on factors affecting conditions at Union and Confederate Prisoner of War Camps during the Civil War. He has written two books: The Story of Camp Douglas, Chicago’s Forgotten Civil War Prison and Robert Anderson Bagby, Civil War Diary (Annotated) 1863-1865.
 
Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe, GA and 10 miles northeast of Americus, GA on Georgia Highway 49. The national park features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. Andersonville National Historic Site is the only national park within the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.