Category Women
Letters Between Home and the Front
Here are Smithsonian Museum curators Lynn Heidelbaugh and Thomas Paone talking about and reading from some unpublished letters between a Civil War soldier and his family at home. The video’s description reads, “Smithsonian curators Lynn Heidelbaugh & Thomas Paone discussed previously unpublished letters sent between Union Army Private David Walters and his family during the […]
REGULATING VENUS
This article from Civil War Times tells us about an aspect of the Civil War that most people haven’t heard about. “Even before the war, Nashville had a flourishing skin trade. The 1860 census counted 207 Nashville women admitting to prostitution as their livelihood—198 white and nine mulatto. The city fathers recognized they had a […]
The Color of Abolition
This is author Linda Hirshman discussing her book, The Color of Abolition. I frankly was not impressed by this interview. She didn’t show me she knew the context within which her subjects acted well enough. Additionally, I wonder what historians think of her methodology, which she described as reading the secondary literature and then following […]
Sacred Trust Talks 2022 | Jeffrey J. Harding
Here’s the first Sacred Trust lecture of 2022, by Jeffrey Harding, about his book regarding the relationship of Major General John F. Reynolds and Kate Hewitt. He obviously did a great deal of research, but his presentation isn’t quite ready for prime time. He basically gave a Licensed Battlefield Guide Tour of his book instead […]
History With David Rubenstein: Erica Armstrong Dunbar
This is a really good discussion between host David Rubenstein and his guest, Professor Erica Armstrong Dunbar, about Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who successfully escaped from George Washington. The episode’s description reads, “Historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar reveals the story of 22-year-old Ona Judge, who in May of 1796 escaped enslavement from the household of […]
The Mythology of the Lost Cause
Here is an outstanding presentation on the lost cause lie by Professor Caroline Janney. The Q&A period is also great. The video’s description reads, “How did the Confederate myth of the Lost Cause develop? Why was it important for ex-Confederates to establish their ‘history’ of the war? And why has this version of the past […]
Civil War Writing
This book edited by Professor Gary Gallagher and Professor Stephen Cushman is a collection of essays considering famous books and writings about the Civil War. They begin their Introduction with a quote from Abraham Lincoln’s February 11, 1859 speech in Jacksonville, Illinois, titled “Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions.” Lincoln said, “Writing–the art of communication thoughts […]
A Black Woman’s Civil War Memoirs
This short book is the memoirs of Susie King Taylor. You can download and read it for free here or here. Born Susie Baker to an enslaved woman on Isle of Wight, one of the sea islands off the coast of Georgia, she writes, “I was born under the slave law in Georgia, in 1848, […]
Sweet Taste of Liberty
This is an excellent discussion with Professor Caleb McDaniel on his book, Sweet Taste of Liberty. He discusses the book with Professor Stephanie McCurry and Jordan Brewington. The video’s description reads, “Pulitzer Prize-winning author Caleb McDaniel told the story of Henrietta Wood, an enslaved woman who survived slavery twice and successfully sued her former owner for damages […]
Student of the American Civil War 
Recent Comments