Category Artwork
In His Words: The Exceptional Life of Union Engineer Gilbert Thompson
This 2021 article gives some love to the Engineer Corps. “Gilbert Thompson was an exceptional young man. Raised in the experimental, reformist community of Hopedale, Mass., he received a thorough education that included at least some artistic instruction. It was likely his skill at drawing that prompted him to join a planned company of topographical […]
Buying and Selling the Civil War
Here’s a panel discussion from this past summer’s Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College symposium. It consists of Professor James Marten, Professor Caroline Janney, and Professor Amanda Bellows, moderated by Professor Brian Luskey. It is about how advertisers sold items using Civil War images in the years after the Civil War and how those items […]
Slave Labor in 19th Century Virginia
Dr. Maurie McInnis, President of Stony Brook University, teaches this class as part of a course called “The Arts as History.” This is a really good lecture on slavery and the slave trade in Virginia. The video’s description reads, “Stony Brook University president Maurie McInnis taught a class about the slave trade in Richmond, Virginia, and enslaved […]
The Civil War and American Art
In this two-part discussion, Eleanor Jones Harvey, Senior Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, leads us on a tour of Civil War art and artists. The description for Part One reads, “Smithsonian Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey revealed how the Civil War can be seen in seemingly unrelated works such as landscape paintings, and also examines the work […]
Robert Gould Shaw Memorial
Here are two videos discussing the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in the National Gallery of Art. To me it should be the 54th Massachusetts Memorial. Anyway, the video’s description reads, “The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial at the National Gallery of Art was profiled. The memorial honors Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, […]
Sheridan’s Ride in Art, Literature & Memory
Here’s Professor Jonathan Noyalas lecturing on how Philip Sheridan’s ride from Winchester, VA to the Battle of Cedar Creek has been remembered and the factors leading to that memory. The video’s description reads, “On October 19, 1864, General Philip Sheridan’s timely arrival at the Cedar Creek battlefield helped turn a Union retreat into a resounding […]
Commemorating Soldiers in the Press
Here’s a pretty good panel presentation on how the press in the Civil War depicted and commemorated soldiers through artwork, photography, stories, and obituaries. The video’s description reads, “Scholars discussed how the Civil War press commemorated soldiers in newspaper illustrations, obituaries, prisoner of war accounts and solicitations to fund monuments. This session was part of an annual […]
Interpreting the American Revolution and Civil War
This is art historian Judy Scott Feldman talking about artistic interpretations of people and events of the American Revolution and the American Civil War. The video’s description reads, “Art historian Judy Scott Feldman analyzed artistic portrayals of the American Revolution and Civil War. She talked about the influence of paintings, sculptures and memorials on how history is remembered. […]
Student of the American Civil War 
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