In the Swan's Shadow

Article: The Effect of the Civil War on Southern Marriage Patterns

2012-01-13T15:43:00.003-05:00

Introduction: In 1864, the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger received a letter from H. R., who identified herself as an eighteen-year-old, unmarried woman from Buckingham County, Virginia. Hattie, as the editor called the anonymous letter writer, admitted suffering from a "chill feeling of despair" brought on by the "execrable war." She wrote that the reflection has been brought to my mind with great force that after this war is dosed, how vast a difference there will be in the numbers of males and females. Having made up my tnind not to be an old maid, and having only a moderate fortune and less beauty. Í fear I shall find it rather difficult to accomplish my wishes."

She asked the editor, "[D]o you think that I will be overlooked 'amidst this wreck of matter and crush of men and horses'[?]'"

[Note: The article shows up as very light for some reason, which is a cause for annoyance at least for me. Hopefully it behaves better for you. ]

J. DAVID HACKER, LIBRA HILDE, and JAMES HOLLAND JONES. The Journal of Southern History.

Period Receipts: Molasses Gingerbread 1798

2011-12-16T14:19:00.001-05:00

From American Cookery, or the art of dressing viands, fish, poultry, and vegetables, and the best modes of making pastes, puffs, pies, tarts, puddings, custards, and preserves, and all kinds of cakes, from the imperial plum to plain cake: Adapted to this country, and all grades of life.
By Amelia Simmons
Hartford: Printed for Simeon Butler, Northampton, (1798)

One table spoon of cinnamon, some coriander or allspice, put to four tea spoons pearl ash, dissolved in half pint of water, four pound flour, one quart molasses, four ounces butter (if in summer rub the butter, if in winter warm the butter and molasses and pour to the spiced flour), knead well till stiff, the more the better, the lighter and whiter it will be; bake brisk fifteen minutes; don't scorch; before it is put in wash it with egg whites and sugar beat together.

The effects of the American Civil War on northern fashion of the era as reflected in Peterson’s Magazine

2011-12-10T12:32:00.001-05:00

Abstract:

The Civil War had far-reaching effects on American society, the political system, and the economy. Some historians argue that the war had little direct influence on the continuity of Western fashion. However, detailed examination of Peterson’s Magazine before and during the war provides a clearer picture of how the war affected American fashions. Written content, patterns and illustrations were analyzed during the years 1859, 1861, 1863 and 1864 to determine quantity and quality of references of numerous categories including apparel, accessory, color, trim and fabric types. Analysis revealed that quantities of almost every category decreased beginning in 1861 to lesser levels than those of 1859. However, the year 1863 revealed significant unexpected increased in all categories. To conclude, the war resulted in lesser availability of and access to various types of both foreign and domestic fabrics, trims and fashions, as well as an increase in frugality and economy of dress. Further research will provide a clearer understanding of the effects of the Civil War on the American economy, culture, and textile and apparel production during the mid-nineteenth century, as well as the changing roles of women in American society.

Nicole Johnston-Blatz, University of Missouri

Period Portraits: Christmas Time, the Blodgett Family, 1864

2011-12-05T15:45:00.001-05:00

Repository: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artist: Eastman Johnson

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Come 1864, some of the Christmas traditions that we would recognize today were beginning to take root in some American homes. You see in the far right corner a large decorated Christmas tree, and there is also a wreath on the wall. In this portrait we also see the shift in view towards this holiday, with the parents looking on as the children play with their new toys. It wasn't until the mid-19th century that children began to become a focus for Christmas, echoing the relatively new view that childhood was a time of life that should be enjoyed and protected.

Period Portraits: Mrs. John Jay II, 1860

2011-11-28T19:18:00.000-05:00

Repository: Frick Art Collection, New York

Artist: Daniel Huntington (1816-1906)

From the object listing: Eleanor Kingsland Field was the daughter of Hickson Field, of New York. She married John Jay II in 1837. The miniature she wears on the bracelet on her left arm is said to be that of her son, William Jay (1841-1915).

(Yes, this is a photograph of the original painting. I'm attempting to find a color picture.)

From Harvest Field to Battlefield: Rural Pennsylvania Women and the U.S. Civil War

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Abstract:

Facing a dire financial situation, Campman joined a chorus of wives of United States soldiers who addressed state officials requesting money to help support themselves and their families. Though the Campman’s had anticipated that Esther’s husband’s U.S. army wages would sustain the family, in his absence, she had “not received a sent yet to ceep mi family on and he never has had eney pay yet”. With Frederick Campman drafted and his labour abruptly withdrawn from the family’s rural home, Esther worked to make up the difference. In the winter of 1865, after Frederick had been absent for eight months, Esther became ill and was forced to ask for help, “I truly hope you will Do something four me”, she asked Governor Curtin. Having no friends or family to turn to, Campman applied to the county for relief money offered to the families of soldiers.

Judith Ann Giseberg, Pennsylvania History, Volume 72, Number 2

“Separate and apart”: Women’s public lives in a rural southern county, 1837-1873

2011-11-01T02:44:00.001-04:00

Abstract:

Nineteenth-century American ideologies and cultural prescriptions dictated that women leave the public sphere responsibilities of business, law, and politics to men. However, statutes throughout the United States allowed and even required women at times to enter the public sphere. This dissertation examines women’s actions in the public sphere in one rural southern county in Texas from its frontier era through Reconstruction. A thorough examination of District and County Court, marriage, probate, bond, deed, brand, and Confederate Widows’ Pension records, as well as a few extant Justice of the Peace record books, scattered issues of local newspapers, and letters and diaries, sheds light on the breadth of women’s activity in public and private life. Cotton-producing Colorado County, Texas, on the frontier of southern society offers a portrait of the effect that cultural prescriptions, laws, and circumstances had on southern women’s decisions to enter and their activities within the public sphere. This study concentrates on four major areas where women often participated in public life: work, married women’s property protection, widowhood, and divorce. Frontier conditions both forced and allowed women to take a greater role in financial and legal transactions due to the breakdown of traditional role expectations and the lack of extended male kin to take on the roles when husbands died or deserted. As the county settled into a more typically antebellum and stable society, women withdrew from entering the public sphere, choosing to allow other men to transact their business. During the Civil War as role expectations again broke down, women increasingly performed the male duties on the farms and in the legal sphere. At the close of the war, women withdrew once again from active participation in public activities allowing men to resume their roles as much as the upheaval of Reconstruction would allow. While frontier and war conditions played the greatest role in determining women’s activity in the public sphere, race, class, and ethnicity also affected women’s willingness to assert their rights in legal and public matters.

Angela Boswell, Rice University

Vindicating the Confederacy: Confederate Female Spies and Their Memoirs: 1863-1876

2011-10-30T02:11:00.000-04:00


Belle Boyd

Abstract:

Belle Boyd, Rose O‟Neal Greenhow and Loreta Velazquez were all Confederate female spies that risked their lives to support the Confederacy. Their memoirs completed either during or after the Civil War are pieces of Confederate propaganda because they supported Confederate nationalism and vindicated Confederate men. While these women did fulfill the traditional female roles in society during peacetime, they became spies during the war and wanted to be remembered as Southern ladies that helped the Confederate war effort in unique ways. They explained their wartime adventures within their memoirs as well as their own personal upbringing and their constant reliance on Confederate men. In addition to their personal stories, they also juxtaposed the Confederate soldier image with the Union soldier image in order to show that Confederate men as well as their new nation were superior. They wanted to portray Union men as the villains in an epic struggle over states rights. An examination of their memoirs contributes to the study of Civil War memory because they believed their work supported the Confederate war effort and thus the Lost Cause after the war. The Lost Cause movement began during the Civil war and continued for many years afterward. Its main goal was to vindicate Southern men and try to reestablish the antebellum social order. Southern white women participated in Ladies Memorial Associations and eventually the United Daughters of the Confederacy in order to vindicate Southern men. These three women were part of the early efforts to vindicate the roles men had in society. They wrote their memoirs in the hope that they could contribute to the glorification of the Southern way of life.

Melissa Matthew, North Carolina State University

The Victorian Child, c. 1837-1901

2011-10-04T15:05:00.001-04:00

Though this article focuses on England, very similar shifts in thought were occurring in the United States. Along with this change in thinking came other things, such as changes in how people began to view holidays and how they are celebrated.

In 1799, children’s author and educator Hannah More reacted against the revolutions that had recently taken place in America and France in terms that tell us a great deal about the child’s place in British society at that time. Denouncing Thomas Paine’s radical insistence that all men are created equal, More argued that recognizing the “rights of man” was an absurd idea. Next, she scoffed, reformers would begin to discuss the rights of women, and then (even more ridiculously) “our enlighteners […] will

illuminate the world with grave descants on the rights of youth, the rights of children, the rights of babies” (Walvin 45). The idea that children have rights that the state should protect may have seemed silly at dawn of the nineteenth century, but by the time Queen Victoria died in 1901, it had gained significant support. Beginning in the 1830s, the Victorians passed a variety of laws aimed at protecting the wellbeing of children at work, at school, or in the home.This activism was motivated in part by a growing acceptance of the Romantic idea that children are innocent creatures who should be shielded from the adult world and allowed to enjoy their childhood.

Marah Gubar, University of Pittsburgh

Period Resources: The Letters of Charles Tenney with Adelaide Case, 1861-1863

2011-09-08T15:25:00.002-04:00

Such a wonderful collection this is. Charles Tenney joined the 7th Ohio Vol. Infantry in 1861, and corresponded with his friend Adelaide Case. At first Adelaide tells him that she's writing with him because she felt bad that his sister's wouldn't write to him, but as the letters go along her tone begins to change. After a while she denies that she has feelings for him and holds him at arm's length, but in the end she admits that she's fallen in love with him and the relationship blossoms in their letters. Lots of information in here on all sorts of topics, including Adelaide's stint as a school teacher.

Through University of Virginia's Digital Collections

Stepping Out of Her Place: A New Look At Women’s Roles During Selected Wars In U.S. History

2011-09-02T19:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'll freely admit that as I read this paper I became less and less enthusiastic about the theme. This paper isn't so much about women in various points in history as much as it becomes a rant about the present educational system. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it does provide a little food for thought.

Abstract:

Women are not included in high school history text books in a meaningful way, thus students are only learning about half of the experiences that shaped our nation. The ways in which history is represented as part of the social studies curriculum in secondary schools must be reconsidered. A history text that does not represent the experiences of women in a meaningful way does not provide a means for young women to “locate themselves in time,” or meet many of the other standards of the National Council for the Social Studies. If young women and men are going to develop an understanding of who they are and how they are connected to the past, it is imperative that they first gain an understanding of women’s experiences historically, so that they may then begin to understand the lives they live today. Young women, as well as young men, respond to the world from a very personal perspective, and if they are to be able to see how they are connected to the past, where their historical roots lie, and how they fit into the larger human story across time, then it is necessary that the various experiences of women throughout time be made available to them in the history classrooms.

In this paper, I explore women’s roles during the American Revolution, the Civil War, and World War I as case studies to illustrate that 1) in each of these three major events in history, women are traditionally not seen as playing roles worthy of mention in major texts on the subject, 2) that women did in fact have varied and important roles during these events, 3) that there is historical evidence of women’s roles through biographies, memoirs, diaries, and other surviving material, and 4) that having an understanding about the roles that women played impacts the ways in which the events are viewed. Women have been a force in shaping the history of the United States in countless ways, and their experiences both complicate and enrich one’s understanding of American history.

Nicole Lynn Bowen, Louisiana State University

Period Portraits: Queen Isabella II of Spain, 1865

2011-08-29T00:27:00.000-04:00

This is another portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Isabella was Queen of Spain during the American Civil War. Born in 1830, she acceded to the throne as a baby. The second queen regnant of Spain (ruling in her own right), the other being Isabella of Castile, of Christopher Columbus fame, Isabella had a bone to pick with America, and had since the beginning of her reign.

If you've watched the movie Amistad, then you already know where I'm going with this. Those who want more detail than I'm going to give here, can read more in depth here or here. But very long story short, the Amistad was a ship that was illegally transporting slaves from Africa. In 1839 the slaves upon the Amistad mutinied (if you want to call it that) and took over the ship, and were then picked up near Long Island by an American ship. Isabella claimed the (human) cargo as her own, the naval officers claimed them as salvage property, and if it could be proven that they were born in Africa and not in Cuba as had been put forth by the ship's owner, then they were free.

The case went to the Supreme Court, and it was decided that the slaves were indeed free, and they went home in 1842. Isabella took sharp exception to this decision (keep in mind that she was 11 when this verdict happened), and by the time the American Civil War rolled around she was still demanding compensation from the American government for the loss of this cargo. She was never paid.

Isabella's reign, and really her whole life, was not a happy one. A political pawn since the day she was born, her reign was rife with conflict, corruption and scandal, and she held very little actual power, the bulk of it being in the hands of various regents and officials. When she did attempt to exert control, it was ferociously resented. Deeply unpopular both with her officials and the populace at large, she became the object of scorn and ridicule.

Isabella married at sixteen to her cousin-twice-over, the very effeminate (and the rumors were flying about who he took to his bed...do the math, you'll get it) Francisco of Bourbon, who was a French prince. She protested the marriage mightily, letting few people not know that she couldn't stand the guy. Their marriage was, predictably enough, miserable. Of their twelve children, five reached adulthood, and even in motherhood she couldn't get away from the rumors, this time speculating on who gave her those children, since many insisted it couldn't have been Francisco. If we're being frank here, there was grist for that particular mill. She didn't make a lot of effort to hide her liaisons with various courtiers and political players sympathetic to her regime. But in the end, it did nothing for her image, and she did feel the consequences of it.

She even became the butt of fat jokes, which voluminous clothing didn't hide. When compared side by side to her relatively diminutive husband, it was even worse.

But in 1868, rebellion came calling in the form of Juan Prim and Francisco Serrano, who cut her off from the military that had been the only thing standing between her and chaos. She was forced off the throne, and two years later formally abdicated in favor of her son Alfonso. Gathering up what dignity she had left, she left Spain in what amounted to exile, spending the rest of her days in Paris.

Period Portraits: Julia Louise Bosville, Lady Middleton, 1863.

2011-08-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

Just like the title indicates, this is a portrait of Julia Louise Bosville, Lady Middleton. For a quick overview of her, please reference her page on thepeerage.com. Portrait painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, a German portraitist active all over Europe and Britain.

Why post portraits of British and other countries' notables? Because these people, just like today, were the inspiration for fashions all over the world, and that almost goes double for the ladies of the United States. While most did not have the means (or a tolerant enough seamstress) to copy these elaborate gowns exactly, features of these dresses were used as elements in other ladies' creations.

“Swear this flag to live, for this flag to die”: Flag Imagery in Constructing the Narrative of the Civil War and the Transformation of American Nationalism

2011-08-25T14:45:00.001-04:00

The Civil War transformed nationalism in American society and created a notion of national identity closely tied to flag iconography. Flag symbolism developed as the prominent visualization of nationalism in American culture during and after the Civil War. The flags of the Civil War - namely the American flag, the Confederate national flag, and the Confederate Battle Cross - grew into iconic images within American communities. Their status as symbols of nationalism, patriotism, and an American historical past often advocated by newspapers, individual citizens, and the soldiers of the war themselves, initiated an American tradition of flag iconography for the purpose of nationalism unforeseen in American culture before the war. After the war, the issues of reconciliation and of what context the war would be placed in American history also became influenced by flag imagery. With the potential for post-war bitterness and lengthened disunity, the American flag offered a symbol that allowed Americans to remember the war as the deeds of patriotic citizens and as part of a continuous American national narrative. In doing so, the American flag became the iconic symbol of American nationalism.

Eric Thomas Vanover, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The Emergence of a Pioneer: The Manipulation of Hagar in Nineteenth-century American Women's Novels

2011-08-13T13:56:00.001-04:00

Abstract:

In nineteenth-century America, the Biblical figure of Hagar appears frequently, in both art and literature. In literature, Hagar serves as the main character in many sentimental or domestic novels written by and/or about women of the South during the mid-nineteenth-century, where the racial climate from the

1830s through the 1850s became extremely tense over the institution of slavery, as evidenced in many sentimental novels from the 1850s to the latter part of the century. This study will focus on the depiction of Hagar in E.D.E.N. Southworth’s The Deserted Wife (1855) and H. Marion Stephens’s Hagar, the Martyr (1855), and the Hagarian figure in Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig (1859) and Frances E. W.
Harper’s Iola Leroy (1892). I assert that biblical Hagar is ultimately transformed from Hagar proper, as found in the sentimental novels of Southworth and Stephens, into an African American Hagarian figure in the works of Wilson and Harper.

More specifically, in The Deserted Wife, I focus my analysis on the postcolonial term, the Other, and on the discourse of darkness within the text. In Stephen’s Hagar, the Martyr I concentrate on what Julia Kristeva calls the abject, as well as elements of minstrelsy, found in the novel. In Wilson’s Our Nig, which
represents a racial manipulation of the Biblical Hagar by an African American female novelist, I examine the context of Wilson’s life as a pioneering peddler of hair tonic and her ability, as novelist, to manipulate Biblical Hagar’s story into one of the survival of African American women during the mid-nineteenth century.

Finally, in Harper’s novel, Iola Leroy, I examine how the author seals Hagar’s destiny as an African American woman with an African American-centered consciousness, thereby transforming her into the pioneering Hagar found in the the Islamic tradition. Ultimately, this study reveals a nineteenth century
manipulated Hagar who, by the turn of the twentieth century, serves as a foundational character who challenges the normative images of the tragic mulatta as a way to combat racial stagnancy.

Lynne T. Jefferson, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Period Portraits: A Portrait of Two Children, ca. 1860

2011-08-12T17:01:00.000-04:00

Repository: Westmoreland Museum of American Art

Artist: Anonymous/Unknown

Object link here.

Period Receipts: Fruit Pies, pt. 1

2011-07-07T15:33:00.000-04:00

Summer is now in full swing, and it's time to start taking in the fruits of the orchard, Field and garden. What could be better on a summer afternoon than a freshly baked fruit pie? A fruit pie baked with a period recipe, that's what! Get out the pie pans, it's time to start baking...

From The American Matron: Practical and Scientific Cookery by a Housekeeper. Boston, 1851.

[Just as a note, blueberries can be substituted for huckleberries without any problems. According to this book, fruit pies such as these need to be baked (assume a coal or woodburning stove) for 90 minutes. Conventional ovens of course are going to be quicker. If you're unsure, look up a comparable recipe in a modern cookbook for guidance, but my standard is about 45 minutes.]

Huckleberry Or Blackberry Pies. Put a good puff paste on to the pie plate with a rim as directed in making other pies. Fill the plate not quite even full. Heap the berries a little in the centre. And to each pie of common size add four large spoonfuls of sugar, if made of huckleberry; five, if made of blackberry or blueberry. Put a few small, thin slices of butter, and dredge over a very little flour before putting on the upper crust.

Rhubarb, Gooseberry, Currant, Cherry, Plum, Quince, fresh Cranberry, are made in the same way. You can season them with cinnamon or nutmeg, or chopped lemon peel.

Peach Pies. If the peaches are dried, stew them first in a little water; if fresh, pare them, cut them in halves, or slice them. Break the stones, adding the kernels to the pie. A little sugar, a very little cream, according to the size of the pie, may be put in at the same time.

Video: Prostitution and the Civil War

2011-06-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

Professor Sharita Thompson of Gettysburg College is a historian of the black experience during the Civil War and Reconstruction. She teaches a course on sex and the Civil War, and in this week's class she focused on prostitution in the North and South. Video available here.

Civil War Trust Gathers in Gettysburg to Announce National Sesquicentennial Preservation Initiative

2011-06-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

For Immediate Release

June 21, 2011

For more information, contact:
Jim Campi, (202) 367-1861 x7205
Mary Koik, (202) 367-1861 x7231

MEDIA ADVISORY:
CIVIL WAR TRUST GATHERS IN GETTYSBURG TO ANNOUNCE NATIONAL SESQUICENTENNIAL PRESERVATION INITIATIVE

(Gettysburg, Pa.) – On Thursday, June 30, the eve of the anniversary of the Civil War’s bloodiest battle, officials from the Civil War Trust will gather in Gettysburg to announce the start of an ambitious national fundraising initiative that, if successful, will permanently protect an unprecedented amount of hallowed ground during the Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration.

Called “Campaign 150: Our Time, Our Legacy,” the initiative will seek to permanently preserve 20,000 acres of battlefield land before the conclusion of the Civil War’s 150th anniversary commemoration. Doing so will allow the Trust to eclipse the 50,000-acre mark for total battlefield land set aside for future generations to learn from and enjoy.

Joining Civil War Trust president James Lighthizer at the news conference will be two tireless advocates for battlefield preservation: country music superstar Trace Adkins and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson.

The announcement of the national fundraising campaign will be made at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 30 in Schmuker Grove on the grounds of the historic Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. The seminary is an important landmark on the first day’s battlefield.

WHO: Civil War Trust President James Lighthizer, country superstar Trace Adkins, and historian James McPherson

WHAT: Announcement of “Campaign 150,” the Civil War Trust’s national sesquicentennial preservation initiative.

WHEN: June 30, 2011 at 10 a.m. ET

WHERE: Schmucker Grove at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa.

The Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its goal is to preserve our nation’s endangered Civil War sites and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds through education and heritage tourism. To date, the Trust has preserved more than 30,000 acres of battlefield land in 20 states. Please visit the Trust’s website at www.civilwar.org, the home of the Civil War sesquicentennial.

Period Objects: Silk Gauze Dress, ca. 1860

2011-06-21T03:06:00.001-04:00

Repository: Kent State University Museum

Gorgeous, isn't it?

White silk gauze woven with black and red stripes. Bodice: square neck, pagoda sleeves, red, black silk ribbon trim. Skirt: full with deep ruffle hem.

For the full description and more photos, click here.

Period Portraits: Maggie Edwards, early 1860s

2011-06-20T02:12:00.000-04:00

What this image amounts to, instead of being a true portrait, is a photographic print that was then rather (ok, very) messily colored in. Someone practicing maybe? At any rate, notice that she is wearing two different bracelets on each wrist, and she seems to be wearing a bertha. For those who aren't familiar, a bertha is a yoke-like article of clothing that is put over the bodice of a dress in order to "dress it up". In the image here it is made the same color of the dress, but it may have been a different color, or even a different type of fabric. She is also wearing a lace collar, but keep in mind that this woman is sitting for a picture, and this is her "best" clothing, in all likelihood. Not necessarily something you would wear every day. Notice also, that the brooch at the collar is very small.

And yes, I can hear the Princess Leia comments about her hair from here. Be nice!

Repository: Carnegie Museum of Art

Media: Hand-colored albumen print

Period Portraits: Mrs. Robert Shaw Sturgis, abt. 1862

2011-06-17T17:26:00.000-04:00

Repository: Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Oil on Canvas, William Morris Hunt.

The subject of this painting is Mrs. Robert Shaw Sturgis, as the title indicates. Her name was Susan Brimmer Inches, and she married Robert in 1858. Obviously she is a quite wealthy woman, as indicated in the intricacies of her tasseled bodice and the layered lace of her undersleeves.

Gettysburg Battlefield Walk Schedule 2011!

2011-06-15T17:57:00.000-04:00

It's coming up! Pennsylvania history geeks everywhere are looking forward once more to July 04th weekend not just for the cookouts and fireworks, but for PCN's annual airing of the new year's Gettysburg battlefield walks!

Once again PCN marks the anniversary of America's largest domestic battle with a special programming block of Gettysburg Battlewalks. It all begins on Thursday, July 2 at midnight.

Due to the possibly of an extended legislative session, the schedule of Gettysburg programming which follows is tentative and subject to change. Check PCN's website for updated information.

Friday, July 3

12:00 a.m. –Robertson's Brigade (Day 2)
Saturday, July 4

12:00 a.m. – McAllister's Ridge at Pre-Dawn (Day 3)

2:00 pm - The 157th New York Infantry (Day 1)

4:00 pm - Law's Brigade (Day 2)

6:00 pm – Benning's Brigade(Day 2)

8:00 pm – Early's Division (Day 2)

10:00 pm – The 15th Alabama Infantry (Day 2)
Sunday, July 5

12:00 am – Pickett's Charge: Kemper's Brigade (Day 3)

2:00 am – Pickett's Charge: The Union Response (Day 3)

3:00 p.m. – Cemetery Ridge: A Visual History (Day 3)

Period Receipts: To Preserve Strawberries, part two

2011-06-14T21:10:00.000-04:00

From Domestic Cookery and Useful Receipts, by Elizabeth Ellicott Lea, 1846.

To Preserve Strawberries, another way:

To each pound of the fruit take a pound of crushed sugar; put them in the preserving kettle, a layer of sugar and a layer of fruit; let them stand a little while to make syrup before putting them over the fire; they should boil fast for twenty minutes; watch them all the time, taking off the scum as it rises; stir them gently without mashing the berries; put them in jars, put brandy papers over them and paste or tie them close. Preserves should never be put in jars that have had pickles in them.

Period Receipts: To Preserve Strawberries, part one

2011-06-09T02:35:00.000-04:00

From Domestic Cookery and Useful Receipts, by Elizabeth Ellicott Lea, 1846.

To Preserve Strawberries:

Gather the strawberries in the mid-day, pick out the largest and best, stem them, and to each pound of strawberries put a pound of loaf-sugar and a glass of white wine; let them stand four or five hours; take off the syrup so as not to mash the fruit, and clarify it; then put in the strawberries, and to each pound put as much fine alum as will lay on the blade of a pen-knife; let them boil up several times, and shake them round in the kettle, but do not stir them with a spoon, as that will mash them; a few minutes boiling is sufficient; after you take out the fruit, let the syrup boil up, and when it is nearly cold pour it over them in the jar; put a piece of white paper over the top, and pour a spoonful of brandy on it; paste several thicknesses of paper over the jar.

If you like your preserved strawberries, cherries, or peaches, to have a fine pale color, allow them to boil half the time recommended in the receipt, then spread the fruit thin on dishes, and set them daily in the sun; if the weather be clear and the sun hot, four days will be sufficient. Preserves done in this manner do not ferment. You should spread a piece of gauze or netting over them to keep out insects or dust.

Smithsonian Folkways Radio: Civil War Songs and Sounds

2011-06-02T13:58:00.000-04:00

Smithsonian Folkways Radio: Civil War Songs and Sounds

This is a quite entertaining bit to listen to. Is it perfectly period? No, not exactly. Some of the arrangements are obviously modern (fadeouts are a dead giveaway), there are some mini-stories accompanying a couple of the tracks that sound like they were written post-war, but all in all a good sampling of music of the period. Make sure you have popups enabled; this has its own player.

Quickie: Kiss Me and You Kiss the 'Lasses 1856

2011-06-01T20:58:00.000-04:00

I bring this painting up for a few reasons, not the least of which being the example of hair and dress for what is obviously a high-middle class woman. The artist, Lilly Martin Spencer, enjoyed some time as a pop artist for a little while painting "kitchen" scenes such as this. The commentary on Brooklyn Museum's collection page brings up a few other very good tidbits to think about.

Is this painting a good example of a kitchen for a higher class family? No. The carpet on the floor, the artfully arranged fruits draped and arranged everywhere, the tablecloth about to hit the floor and the molasses in a cut glass bowl all scream "not meant to be a casual picture". While many paintings and portraits depict domestic places such as a kitchen in a fairly accurate light, this is not one of them.

Period Books: Common objections to the Baptist denomination considered and replied to by Miss Mary Jane Welsh.

2011-05-25T15:10:00.000-04:00

Published in 1860, this essay published to book form was a prize winner for the Southern Baptist Sabbath-School Union. Mary Welsh was from Selma, Mississippi, and her writing style is fairly typical to that of the period. It is not known how old she was at the writing of this. In this book, instead of merely listing the negative stereotypes that are the topics of discussion, she instead interjects herself as a narrator for a fictitious family gathering. The family puzzles these charges out by discussing amongst themselves modern examples used to paraphrase passages in the Bible that are used as evidence to build their case. Of course, from time to time she takes advantages of "pauses" in the story to convey her own personal messages to the reader.

What's also interesting to observe in this story is how the "typical" fictitious family of this time interact with one another and what their roles are to the forwarding of the theme (yes, I took literature AND history AND sociology). For example, the young girl's role (deferential, less educated) is very different from that of the grandmother, who takes a matriarchal position in the family, but both are still absolutely subject to the head of the household. Just keep an eye on the characters and how they interact - it tells you a lot about how this author felt "normal", "typical" people were to behave.

Common objections to the Baptist denomination considered and replied to by Miss Mary Jane Welsh.

Period Resources: Boston Public Library Anti-Slavery Collection

2011-05-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

Overview:

Anti-Slavery collection (approximately 40,000 pieces). In the late 1890's, the family of William Lloyd Garrison, along with others closely involved in the anti-slavery movement, presented the library with a major gathering of correspondence, documents, and other original material relating to the abolitionist cause from 1832 until after the Civil War. The major holdings consist of the papers of William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Weston Chapman and Deborah Weston, Lydia Maria Child, Amos Augustus Phelps, John Bishop Estlin, and Samuel May, Jr. A full run William Lloyd Garrison's, The Liberator as well as the account books for the newspaper; records of the American, Massachusetts, and New England Anti-Slavery Societies; the libraries of William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore Parker, and Wendell Phillips, all of which contain relevant pamphlets and broadsides; and the files of Ziba B. Oakes, a slave broker of Charleston, South Carolina are among the other relevant material included in the collection. Along with the account books for The Liberator, included on the Internet Archive site is the approximately 12 hundred letters dating from 1835- 1868 of the five Weston sisters: Maria Weston Chapman, and Anne, Caroline, Deborah, Lucia and Mary Weston. Known for their tireless efforts to end slavery, the Weston sisters corresponded with the major figures of the movement both in the United States and Great Britain, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Samuel May, Jr., Richard and Hannah Webb, Harriet Martineau and Edmund Quincy. William Lloyd Garrison's letters are the next group to be digitized in the library's continuing effort to digitize the entire anti-slavery collection.

These documents are available in most formats and are available for download. Main page found here.

"The Extremest Necessity:" Lincoln's Policies on Civil Liberties and Citizen Responses, 1861-1865

2011-05-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

Abstract:

Abraham Lincoln has been viewed alternately as a hero of the Union or a tyrant who abused
his power. This debate stems in part from Lincoln’s actions regarding civil liberties. Lincoln
authorized the suspension of habeas corpus and the military arrest of civilians in his efforts
to preserve the Union and prosecute the Civil War. These actions specifically impacted the
residents in the Border States of Maryland and Missouri. Not only are Lincoln’s actions a
reflection of his personal constitutional philosophy, the subsequent reaction by citizens
reveals the popular constitutionalism of the people impacted by the policies. Citizens reacted
to Lincoln’s policies along regional lines and the issues raised by citizens of the North, South
and Border States provide insight into the political and legal debate surrounding the issue of
civil liberties during the Civil War. An analysis of the citizen reactions to Lincoln’s civil
liberty policies further explores the relationship of dissent and loyalty during wartime.

Elizabeth Mae-Carr Martin, NC State University

Quickie: Our Women and the War

2011-05-18T21:28:00.000-04:00

Appearing in the September 06, 1862 Harper's Weekly newspaper, this visual montage showcased all of the many ways that women could (and were) participating in the war effort. Keep in mind, this was also a not-so-subtle way of conveying what was considered *acceptable* for a woman to do as well. It's also worth pointing out that the portrayal of the nuns in the lower left hand corner was somewhat unusual given the mainstream attitude towards Catholics at the time.

Faith, Frauen, and the Formation of an Ethnic Identity: German Lutheran Women in South and Central Texas, 1831-1890

2011-05-11T20:48:00.000-04:00

Chapter One
Introduction

The typical image of a German woman in the nineteenth century is centered around
kinder, kirche, und küche (children, church, and kitchen) as scholars and genealogists
traditionally defined immigrant women’s lives in the United States through these three lenses.
For example, the 1937 Lutheran church history of Kyle, Texas asserts “the Kaiser and Hitler
have it right—kinder, kurche, und kirche.” Though idiosyncratic to the politics of its time, the
church history represents popular opinion regarding German women in the United States; few
scholarly studies have challenged these gender roles. As a result, the lives of these women
remain unclear and their part in the transplanting of their families is obscured. Moreover, the
many German women’s memoirs do little to challenge the traditional historiography, at least
from a casual reading, as they relate numerous anecdotes and details of domestic life.

Using letters, church records, and oral histories, this study illustrates the activities and
beliefs of German Lutheran women immigrants in Central and South Texas between 1831 and
1890. It argues that the frauen’s (women’s) Lutheran faith motivated them to establish their
families as well their conservative traditions and their institutions in frontier Texas where they
had more social freedom than those in more populated areas of the United States. I look at
Lutheran women immigrants who came to Texas between 1831 and 1890 to illustrate how
religion helped this specific group of German immigrants adapt to and deal with the immigration
process.

Mary Knarr, Texas Christian University

Quickie: Godey's Ladies Book Fashion Plate, December 1862

2011-05-10T19:28:00.002-04:00

Evidently December was a wedding month so far as Godey's was concerned. While these gowns are nothing short of stunning, keep in mind that like Cosmo and Vogue today, Godey's depicted fashions worn by the upper crust of society - not Jane Doe. Many ordinary women simply wore their "best" dress to be married, or had a dress made that would serve as her "best". Having said that, there was always the possibility of having this sent out to be dyed later on, but I have only ever seen that mentioned once or twice.

Then again there were Pennsylvania German sects who reserved their wedding dress for their funerals, but we digress.

Video: Yale University, pt. 27. Legacies of the Civil War

2011-05-09T16:10:00.000-04:00

Civil War Road Show Kickoff Weekend

2011-05-09T15:43:00.000-04:00

Saturday my sister and I got to attend the Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show kickoff. The Heinz History Center knows how to put on a good show as it is, but for obvious reasons this one was especially exciting for us. This was right in our back yard! Pictured above is the Wildcat Regiment Band. If you have never heard them before, you *need* to go hear them soon. They are excellent.

The main portion of the road show is this 53' trailer that converts into a walk-through exhibit.

Within is a brief, but rich, synopsis of Pennsylvania's involvement and contributions to the war. It was a little crowded when my sister and I got a chance to finally go through, but it is wonderful. Remember, it's a trailer and this thing is on wheels!

For those wondering, some of these photographs are from the Brady Studio. Period photographs that can be blown up to life size...that's just mind-blowing when you look at some of the resolutions on cameras today.

Want to see more pictures? Check out my Facebook page! I may even tell you about the second half of our adventure, where we learn 1) my sister's GPS lies like a bloody rug and 2) at least four different ways to get to Downtown when you accidentally go over the wrong bridge.

Video: Yale University, pt. 26. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory

2011-05-08T09:00:00.002-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 25. The "End" of Reconstruction: Disputed Election of 1876, and the "Compromise of 1877"

2011-05-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 24. Retreat from Reconstruction: The Grant Era and Paths to "Southern Redemption"

2011-05-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 23. Black Reconstruction in the South: The Freedpeople and the Economics of Land and Labor

2011-05-05T17:29:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 22. Constitutional Crisis and Impeachment of a President

2011-05-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 21. Andrew Johnson and the Radicals: A Contest over the Meaning of Reconstruction

2011-05-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 20. Wartime Reconstruction: Imagining the Aftermath and a Second American Republic

2011-05-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 19. To Appomattox and Beyond: The End of the War and a Search for Meanings

2011-04-29T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 18. "War So Terrible": Why the Union Won and the Confederacy Lost at Home and Abroad

2011-04-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 17. Homefronts and Battlefronts: "Hard War" and the Social Impact of the Civil War

2011-04-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 16. Days of Jubilee: The Meanings of Emancipation and Total War

2011-04-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 15. Lincoln, Leadership, and Race: Emancipation as Policy

2011-04-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

Article: Abraham Lincoln: Leadership and Democratic Statesmanship in Wartime

2011-04-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

While I don't normally delve much into the nuts and bolts of the politics surrounding the Civil War, I do feel it's important, as students of the period, to be at least conversant in them. It's amazing how many times a visitor or attendant of a presentation asks a question that requires a trip into the political diaspora of the period, even when the topic at first glance has little to do with it. Fortunately Lincoln was anything but a boring statesman.

Mackubin Thomas Owens, FPRI

Video: Yale University, pt 14. Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863

2011-04-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 13: 13. Terrible Swift Sword: The Period of Confederate Ascendency, 1861-1862

2011-04-24T15:34:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 12 "And the War Came," 1861: The Sumter Crisis, Comparative Strategies

2011-04-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

Books: The Lady Nurse of Ward E (Amanda Akin Stearns)

2011-04-22T14:09:00.000-04:00

This book, published in 1909, is available in its entirety on Google Books. Amanda Akin was a civilian nurse working in Washington D.C. at the Armory Square Hospital, near what is now the Smithsonian Museum complex. The Smithsonian Museum of American History is currently displaying an exhibit entitled "So Much Need of Service", based upon her diary and discusses the role of nurses like Amanda. Be sure to also check out their page covering Washington during the Civil War, it has a lot of interesting information that incidentally, would be research gold for those of you putting together a persona based in the city.

Video: Yale University, pt 11 Slavery and State Rights, Economies and Ways of Life: What Caused the Civil War?

2011-04-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Leaving Her Story: The Path to the Second Marriage in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Middlemarch

2011-04-21T18:01:00.000-04:00

Abstract:

During the Victorian period marriage proved to be a dominant theme in fiction. Female writers especially focused on the topic of marriage and wrote stories of women whose first marriages were imperfect. Anne Brontë and George Eliot dedicated themselves to portraying in their stories realistic heroines who deal with their own flaws as well as those of the men they marry. Their heroines distance themselves from their expected roles, moving beyond their first failed marriages to wiser second marriages.

Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall follows Helen Huntingdon as she attempts to fulfill the self-appointed role of Savior to her husband. Her rash first marriage opens her eyes to her frank inability to redeem and reform her reprobate husband. Along the same lines George Eliot warns readers in her prelude to Middlemarch that Dorothea Brooke will never fulfill all her saintly capabilities because of the unaccommodating social structure of her time. She marries an elderly scholar in the hopes of being enlightened intellectually and spiritually by the alliance. Instead she finds herself stymied in a claustrophobic marriage. Both women are liberated, in a sense, by the deaths of their husbands and regain their free will at that point.

This thesis explores the psychological pathway from first to second marriage. Marriage serves as the prime educator for Helen and Dorothea. Both women move from blind adoration to despair and hatred at the failure of their first marriages. Both eventually seek a second marriage and wed men who are in turn wiser for their association with these women and who love and respect them. The treatment of marriage in the two novels hinges on the realistic portrayal of life and reflects the era the authors lived in as well as serving as a vehicle for the heroines’ character development and growth. Brontë and Eliot create remarkably similar stories beginning with marriage and focusing on heroines who survive the refiner’s fire and in the end attain a sense of self as well as a measure of peace.

Angela M. Thompson, Brigham Young University

Video: Yale University, pt 10 The Election of 1860 and the Secession Crisis

2011-04-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 9 John Brown's Holy War: Terrorist or Heroic Revolutionary?

2011-04-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt 8 Dred Scott, Bleeding Kansas, and the Impending Crisis of the Union, 1855-58

2011-04-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Newspapers: Charleston Mercury July 07, 1860

2011-04-18T22:59:00.002-04:00

What I'd really like to know is...exactly how is sewing with a machine "healthful"?

CHARLESTON MERCURY, July 7, 1860, p. 4, c. 1

From the Journal of Commerce.

Sewing Machines.--Women are not yet wholly superseded, being useful in their appropriate place--in fact absolutely indispensable. Yet the improvement attempted in the Sewing Machine has exerted an important influence upon her social state. Besides, this machine, though of but five years' existence, has effected great mechanical results. As an invention, it has arrived at a rare degree of success. Not a few, either from want of tact or energy, or on account of the worthlessness of their inventions, have entirely disappeared from the arena of trade, "leaving no trace behind" save the wreck of fortune.

The Sewing Machine is being introduced into general use, with a rapidity of which few have any conception. Hardship may result in some instances from the substitution of this instrument for hand labor, but is, no doubt, destined to confer a lasting benefit; its advantages are circumscribed to no particular class, and are unlimited in their application. With occasional slight modifications, with a view to more complete adaptation, the machine works its way among different classes of tradesmen. It promises permanent relief to the wearisome bondage of the sewing woman. Its celerity is incredible. Each one of Wheeler & Wilson's is calculated to do the work of ten ordinary sewers. Women's powers, whatever their cultivation, are unable to compete, either in rapidity, precision, or finish; from one to two thousand stitches per minute is not unusual. On shirt bosoms, the number per minute is about fifteen hundred; in cording and binding umbrellas, two thousand. Thousands of machines are sold for family sewing, several families often uniting in the purchase of a machine, and passing it around as needed; and among them are those of affluence and the highest respectability.

Sometimes a woman buys a machine for gaiter-work, for instance; hires female fitters in sufficient number to keep her constantly employed, and pays them $4 or $5 per week, often leaving a handsome profit. A woman has been known to make as high as $60 per week, with two fitters. Sewing Machines are getting to be extensively employed in making mantillas, hat and cap making, etc. Machinery has already done much to emancipate men from exhausting toil--has developed the industrial arts, and quickened the wheels of commerce--so that, instead of depriving the laborer of his means of support, he is only enabled to apply his powers to the greatest advantage.

Another subject worthy of notice is the great improvement which has taken place in the quality of sewing silk, twist, thread, &c., made necessary by the rapid and accurate movement of the Sewing Machine. We now produce thread in this country, which far exceeds any of foreign importation, in strength and evenness of texture. If the foreign and domestic are looped together and jerked asunder, the former, even of the best descriptions has been found to yield in the greatest number of instances.

The Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine has prepared tables, showing by actual experiment of four different workers, the time required to stitch each part of a garment by hand and with their Sewing Machine. The superiority of the work done by the Machine, and the healthfulness of the employment, are advantages quite as great as the saving of time. Subjoined is a summary of the several of the tables:

                                                       By Machine                                      By Hand.
                                            Hours                     Min.                        Hours.                    Min.
Gentlemen's Shirts                    1                          16                            14                          26
Frock Coats                             2                          33                            16                          35
Satin Vests                               1                          14                              7                          19
Linen Vests                               0                          48                             5                          14
Cloth Pants                               0                          51                             5                          10
Summer Pants                           0                          33                             2                          50
Silk dress                                  1                          18                           10                          22
Merino Dress                            1                            4                             8                          27
Calico Dress                             0                          57                             6                          37
Chemise                                    1                            1                           10                         34
Moreen Skirt                            0                           35                             7                         28
Muslin Skirt                              0                           30                             6                           1
Drawers                                   0                            28                            4                           1
Night Dress                              1                              7                          10                           2
Silk Apron                                0                          15                             4                         16
Plain Apron                              0                              9                             1                         26

Seams of considerable length are ordinarily sewed at the rate of a yard a minute.

The Lock Stitch made by this machine is the only stitch that cannot be raveled, and that presents the same appearance upon each side of the seam. It is made with two threads, one upon each side of the fabric, and interlocked in the centre of it.

Video: Yale University, pt 7 "A Hell of a Storm": The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Birth of the Republican Party, 1854-55

2011-04-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt6 Expansion and Slavery: Legacies of the Mexican War and the Compromise of 1850

2011-04-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

Newspapers: Charleston Mercury July 02, 1860

2011-04-16T20:23:00.001-04:00

Obviously these are not the entire newspaper, but rather are text transcriptions of portions thereof. Note that because of the southern region's climate, two or sometimes three crops could be managed in one growing season, hence the arrival of seeds in mid-summer. Those who raise heirloom strains of vegetables may be particularly interested in the names specified for vegetables here. Note the prices of items just prior to the opening of the war of not just fodder and basic provisions, but also other things such as clothing.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, July 2, 1860, p. 3, c. 3

Fresh Arrival of European Seeds.

We are in receipt (per steamer Hammonia) of our European Turnip Seeds, etc., viz: Yellow, Red, and Purple Top Rutabaga Turnip, White Hanover Turnip, Large White Norfolk, Large White Globe, Large Red Top, and Dale's Hybrid Field Turnips. Yellow Aberdeen, Yellow Maltese, Early White Flat and Red Top Flat Turnips. Asiatic and Walcherene Cauliflower, Early White and Purple Broccoli, Kohl Rabbi or Turnip-rooted Cabbage. Green and Brown Curled Kale, Green Curled and Drumhead Savoy Cabbages, Brussel [sic] Sprouts. Large Late Drumhead, Large Late Flat Dutch and Green Glaze Cabbages, etc.

also,

A superior assortment of Agricultural and Horticultural Implements, Housekeeping Articles, etc., at John Thomson & Co.'s No. 262 King-street.

Eastern Hay.

350 Bales Superior Eastern Hay.

North River Hay.

400 bales selected North River Hay.

Mixed Corn.

4000 bushels Mixed Western Corn, 56 lbs., bags included.

White Provision Corn.

5000 bushels prime White Provision Corn.

Peas.

200 bushels Shinney Seed Peas.

Rice Flour.

250 bushels Fresh Rice Flour.

Bran.

4000 bushels Fresh Wheat Bran.

All in store and for sale low by Thomas E. Ryan, no. 81 East Bay.

Eastern Hay Afloat.

150 Bales Superior Eastern Hay, per Schr. Gilliland, at Boyce's Wharf. For sale at a reduced price from the vessel, by Robert A. Young, No. 161 East Bay.

In Store:

300 Bales North River Hay
5000 bushels prime White Provision Corn
4000 bushels Sound Yellow Feeding Corn
6000 bushels Heavy Feeding Oats
3000 bushels Fresh Wheat Bran
200 bags Georgia Shorts
Cracked Corn, Cow Peas, &c.

Cheap! Cheap!! Cheap!!!

Selling off at reduced prices, to close to-day Summer Stock of Millinery, Ladies' and Misses' Bonnets, cheap Caps, from 37 1/2 cents and upwards. Also A variety of Dress Trimmings, at low prices. Ladies will not forget that Dress-Making is done as usual at Mrs. S. Brooks', No. 147 King Street.

China, Glass, and Earthenware.

                The Subscribers have in store, and are receiving a full and complete assortment of the latest and most approved patterns of the above Goods, Direct from the European manufactories, consisting, in part, of Plain, White, Colored and Decorated Dinner, Tea and Toilet Sets, together with a great variety of Glassware, &c.
                We would invite an examination of our Stock by all who may desire to purchase, as we are satisfied that we offer the best qualities, at the lowest prices they can be sold for.
                Families of our country, as well as of our city friends, are advised that they can procure of us anything in our line they may require, either in complete sets, or to match broken sets.
                Webb & Sage, 145 Meeting-Street, Opposite the Charleston Hotel.

Video: Yale University, pt.5 Telling a Free Story: Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in Myth and Reality

2011-04-16T09:00:00.003-04:00

Internal Dissent: East Tennessee’s Civil War, 1849-1865

2011-04-15T15:20:00.000-04:00

Abstract:

East Tennessee, though historically regarded as a Unionist monolith, was politically and
ideologically divided during the Civil War. The entrance of the East Tennessee and
Virginia and East Tennessee and Georgia railroads connected the economically isolated
region to Virginia and the deep South. This trade network created a southern subculture
within East Tennessee. These divisions had deepened and resulted by the Civil War in
guerilla warfare throughout the region. East Tennessee’s response to the sectional crisis
and the Civil War was varied within the region itself. Analyzing railroad records,
manuscript collections, census data, and period newspapers demonstrates that three
subdivisions existed within East Tennessee – Northeast Tennessee, Knox County, and
Southeast Tennessee. These subregions help explain East Tennessee’s varied responses
to sectional and internal strife. East Tennessee, much like the nation as a whole, was
internally divided throughout the Civil War era.

Meredith Anne Grant, East Tennessee State University

Video: Yale University, pt.4 A Northern World View: Yankee Society, Antislavery Ideology and the Abolition Movement

2011-04-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt.3 A Southern World View: The Old South and Proslavery Ideology

2011-04-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 2: Slavery, King Cotton, and Antebellum America's "Peculiar" Region

2011-04-13T09:00:00.001-04:00

Video: Yale University, pt. 1 Introductions: Why Does the Civil War Era Have a Hold on America

2011-04-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

This is the first video in a 27 part series. It is a course in its entirety, from Yale University. It's listed as their Civil War and Reconstruction 119 course, so it's fairly simple and straightforward. Each lecture lasts anywhere from 45-50 minutes. The sound quality isn't fantastic, so headphones may be in order here. But as a bonus, large portions of this are closed-captioned.

Yes, I am posting each one for the series' entirety. No worries, I'll be posting other things as well for those who aren't going to be following the videos. It's more to put them all in one place before YouTube decides to rearrange the furniture. Enjoy!

Nervous Night - The Eve of the Sesquicentennial

2011-04-11T22:57:00.000-04:00

So here we are, the eve of the sesquicentennial of the war that damned near tore us apart. There has been much written about this, and more still will come in the next five years. I'm heartened, after a rather lukewarm start, that there is the level of activity planned for all to enjoy across the country. Each region, each town, just as each person, has a different story to tell of this remarkable period of history.

We have all passed a nervous night sometime in our lives. Whether sitting with a sick child, or waiting for news from a loved one, or anticipating the events of the next day, we have all sat up, sleepless with worry and anxiety. The people of the United States and the Confederacy, particularly those of Charleston, South Carolina, must have spent one this night 150 years ago.

We have the benefit of knowing what happens after this. They did not. Now, just for one moment, put yourself in their shoes. I'm going to be addressing the ladies from here on out, but the boys that are reading can play too:

You are a wife. A mother. A daughter. A sister. A sweetheart. A cousin, an aunt, or a friend. You could be a neighbor, a parishioner, even a customer. If the country goes to war, it will be your friends and relatives fighting it. It will be you living through it. How are you feeling this night? Anxious? Resigned? Elated? Where are your thoughts and prayers going?

Tonight of all nights, it bears some thinking about.

"Growing up Quaker" in the Civil War Era

2011-04-10T16:24:00.000-04:00

Abstract:

What does it mean to grow up in a Quaker community- at home, at school, and in the weekly meeting- and what happens when external events challenge the values and the identities learned in these institutions? Through the lens of the development of two young men raised in Quaker families, with a long-standing tradition in the Society of Friends, this essay explores the context of family life and a college founded by and for Quakers, Haverford College, as the conflict between the southern slave states and the northern non-slave states erupted in Civil War, spurring a “crisis” within the Society of Friends. There were three main contexts that formed the world of young people going to Haverford during this time, the boys themselves and their familial background, the “guarded and liberal education” of Haverford College, and the wider Quaker community in which they were raised. A look at the lives of two bright young Haverford students from Quaker families, one of whom went on to fight in the war while the other did not, encourages us to look at influences beyond their common background, that shaped their attitudes about the war and other external events. This leads us to question to what extent growing up in a Quaker community influenced the view of the outside world by these two men and their peers at Haverford.

By John Powers, Haverford College

On the Edge of Freedom: The Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1820-1870

2011-04-08T16:09:00.000-04:00

Abstract:

The development of abolitionism in south entral Pennsylvania, a border region of a border state, was different than in the upper North. Early attempts at antislavery activity met with fierce resistance, and so the area’s abolitionists adopted a less confrontational approach, to which the fugitive slave issue was well suited. South central Pennsylvania (Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland counties) had hundreds of fugitives traveling through during the antebellum decades, aided by an organized underground railroad. The issue appealed to humanitarianism, and the individual fugitive was less threatening than the potential results of mass emancipation. Area abolitionists helped lead an unusually effective petition campaign that changed state law, and they crafted a legal strategy prosecuting kidnappers who seized innocent African Americans as fugitives. Their success brought about a response from the south, and several prominent figures were tried for aiding fugitive slaves. Through Thaddeus Stevens, the border perspective on the issue even surfaced in Congress during the debates on the 1850 Compromise. In the border state of Pennsylvania, however, the fugitive slave issue alone could not drive a revolution in politics; the Christiana riot helped unseat an antislavery governor and by the end of the decade of the 1850s, it was the opponents of helping fugitives that were agitating this issue more than the proponents.

The drawbacks to emphasizing this issue over militant, immediate abolitionism with an emphasis on equal rights became apparent during the Civil War and its aftermath. The fugitive slave issue was writ large during the war, as hundreds of “contrabands” from Maryland and Virginia swarmed into the area, and scores were recaptured by the Confederate army during its invasions. After the war, a variety of social and demographic changes worked against African Americans achieving lasting improvements in status or opportunities. Although many works of popular memory remembered this area as a vanguard of the Underground Railroad, by the 1920s, south central Pennsylvania had become in many ways as segregated as most parts of the Jim Crow South. Ironically, the fugitive slave issue, by reinforcing images of dependency, may have actually worked against achievement of lasting social change.

David Grant Smith, Penn State University

Period Resources: Virginia Tech's American Civil War Newspaper Repository

2011-04-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

This may be where I'll be found for the next several weeks. Virginia Tech, through its Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, has unveiled its brand new database, containing a variety of Civil War newspapers from all over the country. They admit themselves that the search features are not perfect and require some more work, but it's not that difficult to at least get in the right general direction...or it least it wasn't for me. Your mileage, of course, might vary.

I'll save the squealing happy geek dance for when you're not looking.

Southern Women, Southern Voices: Civil War Songs by Southern Women. (2007)

2011-04-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

Ok, the title of the paper is a little redundant. But the theme is a rather interesting one.

Abstract:

This document considers the lives and works of thirty women living in the
Confederate States during the American Civil War. The works they produced are songs
published as sheet music in the South during and shortly after that conflict. Some wrote
lyrics, some music, some both, and one arranged the lyrics and music of her husband for
the piano. These works reflect the women’s feelings regarding the conflict, their
perceptions of women’s roles in relation to it, their definitions of the South as their
country, and their identities as Southerners.

The material is organized in six chapters and arranged topically and in more or
less chronological order. After the introductory Foreword of Chapter One, Chapter Two
deals with the initial burst of patriotism expressed in the songs produced early in the war.
These songs define the South as a country and invoke the blessings of Deity. The songs
discussed in Chapter Three, also produced early in the war, extol the new flag and early
victories. The songs in Chapter Four reflect the onset of war’s harsh realities that plagued
Southerners by the middle of the war: separation anxiety, loneliness, death, and
deprivations. The songs of Chapter Five are calls for peace and post-war tributes to the
dead. An Afterword concludes the document in Chapter Six.

One concludes from the study of these women’s lives and works that they
harbored strong feelings about the war and that the writing and publishing of poetry and
music was seen as an acceptable means of expressing those feelings. The literacy and/or
musical training demonstrated in these songs reflect a level of education typical of middle
and upper-class Southern women of the period. Additional biographical study reveals the
perseverance with which these women faced not only the war and its outcome, but also
the professional limitations and the social restrictions with which they had to contend.

Mary Lee Cooke, University of North Carolina

Blogs: 901 Stories from Gettysburg

2011-04-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

Oh, my. If anyone has the wherewithal to tell stories of Gettysburg that (probably) haven't been told before or too often, it would be The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. This blog is also just now getting off the ground, but the couple of posts that are on there so far look good.

To quote their blog header:

901 Gettysburg Stories explores the battlefield through rarely seen artifacts, documents, and images. Each entry is researched and written by a Gettysburg College student while serving as a Civil War Institute Fellow. Their work interrogates important original sources, much of it housed in the Special Collections at the Musselman Library. The historical inquiries that follow - each embedded as a site specific post on a modern map - reveal the contested and contradictory meanings of America's most famous Civil War battle.

901 Stories from Gettysburg

Writing, Religion, and Women's Identity in Civil War Alabama

2011-04-03T01:16:00.001-04:00

Abstract:

This dissertation deals with middle and upper class, literate, Protestant, white Alabama women during the Civil War and their construction of personal identity through their religious beliefs. How did women cope with the course of the war? How did they deal with the massive death toll and the separation from their loved ones? How important to the demise of the Confederacy was disillusionment on the home front? These and many other issues are questions that this dissertation seeks to answer. The outbreak of the war catapulted traditional gender norms and values into turmoil. Women, with few other outlets available, turned to writing to express their feelings. Those writings left a wealth of insight into how women dealt with the war. Women used writing itself as a means of self-identification and self-realization. In writing about their daily lives and in trying to live up to the ideals both they and society set for themselves they revealed their deep struggles. Women constantly turned to their religious beliefs as a source of comfort, yet at the same time, the religious ideal created a sense of inferiority and failure among some. It also remained a constant in women’s lives even as everything around them changed. Indeed, religion provided women with a source of strength in their trials and allowed them to cope with the devastation caused by the war. While religion provided one source of strength, the concept of the Confederate identity provided them with another throughout the war. Indeed, while some historians such as George Rable and Drew Gilpin Faust argue for a steady processes of disillusionment throughout the course of the war, the women examined in this study, while discouraged, did not transpose that discouragement into undermining the Confederate war effort. In fact, while women did become discouraged, their link to the Confederate cause--particularly for those who had lost loved ones in the conflict--created a stronger sense of cohesion and loyalty to the cause for which the Confederacy stood and helped many maintain faith in the Confederacy even in the face of discouragement. Had women turned their back on the ideas for which the Confederacy stood they would in essence be rejecting not only their personal sacrifices, but also the sacrifices of their loved ones throughout the war. As women attempted to reconcile their personal feelings and fears with the ideal they and society set for themselves as self-sacrificing women they turned to their religious beliefs and Confederate identity to sustain them. Thus, the Alabama women in this study became some of the most ardent proponents of the Confederacy even as the Confederate state collapsed around them.

Jennifer Newman, Auburn University

Video: De(a)dication: Lincoln at Gettysburg

2011-04-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

February 9, 2009 - Michael Zuckert, professor and chair of political science at the University of Notre Dame, gave a talk at the Hauenstein Center's Lincoln Bicentennial Lecture Series. The Center's series was part of the annual conference of the Michigan Council for the Social Studies.

"De(a)dication: Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg"
Long before a speechwriting staff was established in the White House, President Abraham Lincoln penned some of the most memorable and consequential words in our nation’s history. Zuckert will unpack the meaning of the Gettysburg Address, providing insight into Lincoln as a political thinker and actor.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

On Facebook?

2011-04-01T19:34:00.000-04:00

While I'm still working the kinks out of getting a feed directly to the page, I now have a Facebook page for this blog. I'll be posting links to other items of interest there, plus other tidbits that I find along the way.

Sound like your cup of tea? Join me here!

“FIGHTING MIT SIGEL” OR “RUNNING MIT HOWARD”: ATTITUDES TOWARDS GERMAN-AMERICANS IN THE CIVIL WAR

2011-03-31T09:00:00.002-04:00

Abstract:

There is a disagreement over the role of the American Civil War in the acculturation and Americanization of German immigrants. Some have argued that the Civil War helped Americanize German immigrants. Others have claimed that the war only exacerbated ethnic tensions. Using newspapers, journals, diaries, letters, and memoirs, this thesis explores northern Americans’ attitudes towards German-Americans as they developed through the course of the war. It argues that two conflicting and coexisting stereotypes of Germans emerged during the Civil War: the German as a looter and a coward and the German as a fiercely loyal patriot. Eventually, the loyalty much of the German-American population showed to the Union overshadowed allegations of cowardice in the mindset of the American people, demonstrating that loyalty trumped courage in nineteenth-century American opinions of what qualities made one “worthy” of American citizenship.

By Adam Richard Ruschau, Miami University

Blogs: Disunion

2011-03-30T18:42:00.000-04:00

In the same general theme as The Long Recall, the New York Times has a blog for the sesquicentennial. To a certain extent some of these articles go into a bit more detail than The Long Recall, but the latter's blog is still out in front, in my eyes, because of the period sources included on the page.

Still, it's the New York Times.

You can also find them on Facebook here.

The Southern war poetry of the civil war (1918)

2011-03-30T13:50:00.000-04:00

This is an old book, from the National Archives. To date it is not in copyright.

By Esther Parker Ellinger

Thesis: “A Terrible Fascination:” Civil War Photography and the Advent of Photographic Realism

2011-03-29T09:00:00.001-04:00

Abstract: This thesis deals with the social, aesthetic, and historical significance of Civil War era photography, with special emphasis on Alexander Gardner’s photographs from the Battle of Antietam. My thesis argues that Antietam was a watershed moment in photography, for Gardner’s Antietam images represented the medium’s first step towards establishing its own unique photographic aesthetic. This new photographic aesthetic was firmly grounded in a literal realism that did not exist in other forms of representation, such as painting or engraving. This realism dispelled American ideological notions of God-sanctioned, pastoral innocence, and forced Americans to confront the savagery in their own midst. Apart from their aesthetic legacy, the Antietam images also gave birth to the separate medium of war photography, and represented the birth of photojournalism.Chapter one addresses the origins of photography, with particular emphasis on its connection to the nineteenth century aesthetic movement and its close relationship to portrait painting. Chapter two examines in-depth the most important photographs from the Battle of Antietam. By analyzing how the American public reacted to these images, this chapter reveals how Alexander Gardner’s photographs invalidated the aesthetic ideology of nineteenth century America. Chapter three examines some of Alexander Gardner’s most important photographs from the Gettysburg and Virginia campaigns of 1864 and 1865. It emphasizes Gardner’s drift from compositions depicting masses of battlefield casualties in favor of close-range, highly personalized images of individual corpses. The thesis concludes with the legacy of Gardner’s Civil War photographs by exploring their value as pieces of commemorative art that invoke the true memory of the Civil War.Jarret Ruminski, Youngstown State University

Thesis: The Kimberlins Go To War: A Union Family in Copperhead Country

2011-03-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

It's always a wonderful discovery when a cache of letters is found. It is doubly so when they tell a story as gripping as the one detailed in this thesis. The term "brother's war" has been thrown about for decades regarding the American Civil War, but with use the actual meaning of the phrase can be lost or marginalized. This thesis brings the meaning of the phrase home and reminds us that not only did the war divide regions and states, but even from house to house in a small community.

Abstract:

This is the story of the Kimberlin Family that sent 33 fathers and sons, brothers and cousins to fight for the Union cause during the Civil War. Ten family members were killed, wounded, or died of battlefield disease, a 30 percent casualty rate that is unmatched in recorded Scott County history. Of the 134 known deaths of Scott County soldiers, ten were members of the Kimberlin clan. While we know that the Kimberlins suffered disproportionately, our only clues to their feelings about the war come from 40 letters to and from the battlefield that have survived to this day. Were they fighting to save the Union or to free the slaves? How did they express grief over the loss of a brother? Did they keep up with their business and the women at home? And what did they think about “secesh” neighbors in southern Indiana who tried to undermine the Union cause? The answers to these questions will help determine if the Kimberlins were unusual in their patriotism or simply acting as any Union family would in an area of the nation known as Copperhead Country

By Michael B. Murphy, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

The Battle Cry of Peace: the Leadership of the Disciples of Christ Movement During the American Civil War, 1861-1865

2011-03-27T13:19:00.000-04:00

Abstract:

As the United States descended into war in 1861, the religious leaders of the nation were among the foremost advocates and recruiters for both the Confederate and Union forces. They exercised enormous influence over the laity, and used their sermons and periodicals to justify, promote, and condone the brutal fratricide. Although many historians have focused on the promoters of war, they have almost completely ignored the Disciples of Christ, a loosely organized religious movement based on anti-sectarianism and primitive Christianity, who used their pulpits and periodicals as a platform for peace. This study attempts to merge the remarkable story of the Disciples peace message into a narrative of the Civil War. Their plea for nonviolence was not an isolated event, but a component of a committed, biblically-based response to the outbreak of war from many of the most prominent leaders of the movement. Immersed in the patriotic calls for war, their stance was extremely unpopular and even viewed as traitorous in their communities and congregations. This study adds to the current Disciples historiography, which states that the issue of slavery and the Civil War divided the movement North and South, by arguing that the peace message professed by its major leaders divided the movement also within the sections. In fact, by the outbreak of war, the visceral debates that occurred among the Disciples leadership did not center on the issue of slavery, constitutionality of secession, or even which belligerent was in the right. The chief point of contention was whether a Christian, based on New Testament precepts, could participate in war. The nonviolent leaders thought that their peace message derived from the New Testament would be the one thing that would preserve unity in the brethren. In reality, it became the primary source of division.

By Darin A. Tuck, Kansas State University

Thesis: The Sisters of Charity in Nineteenth-Century America: Civil War Nurses and Philanthropic Pioneers

2011-03-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

On a recent trip to Senator John Heinz History Center, I came upon an exhibit about the various orders of nuns involved in the healthcare field in the Western Pennsylvania area. The subject has fascinated me for years, in no small part because of their involvement at Gettysburg, and their presence in the Pittsburgh area.

Abstract:

This thesis seeks to answer the following question: What was the legacy of the Sisters of Charity in the history of philanthropy, women’s history, medicine and nursing? The Sisters of Charity was a Catholic religious order that provided volunteer nurses, and became highly visible, during the American Civil War. Several hundred Catholic sister nurses served; they supported both the Union and Confederacy by caring for soldiers from both armies. The sisters’ story is important because of the religious and gender biases they overcame. As nurses, the Sisters of Charity interacted with different people: they cared for soldiers, worked at the direction of surgeons and alongside lay relief workers. The war propelled them into public view, and the sisters acted as agents of change. Their philanthropy eroded some of the antebellum cultural proscriptions that previously confined Catholics, women and nurses. This thesis argues the Sisters of Charity created and implemented an antebellum philanthropic model, key aspects of which the majority, non-Catholic culture emulated after the war. The Sisters of Charity were agents of social change: they broke down religious, social and gender barriers, and developed a prototype for a healthcare model that the secular world emulated. Many women responded to the unprecedented suffering and cataclysmic conditions of the Civil War in a multitude of ways, and philanthropy was forever changed as a result. Wartime benevolence provided templates for large-scale voluntary organizations, illuminated the issue of payment for charity workers, moved the practice of philanthropy from individual to institutional, and led to the development of nursing as a profession. Female voluntarism shifted into the front and center of the public sphere. Charitable work moved along the continuum from individual to institutional, from volunteer to professional. Questions regarding the respective roles of payment to charitable workers developed. Nursing gained recognition as a profession, and formal training began. The Sisters of Charity were leaders in all these areas, and their orders served as models for the future of philanthropy. Yet they are often absent from analyses of the trajectory of nineteenth-century philanthropy, and this thesis delivers them to the discussion.

Katherine E. Coon, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Thesis: Marching through Pennsylvania: The Story of Soldiers and Civilians During the Gettysburg Campaign

2011-03-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

This doctoral thesis does not have an abstract, so instead of just posting that I'll give a quick rundown:

Jason Mann Frawley writes a lengthy (244pp) paper centering on the interactions between the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia and the civilians of Gettysburg and surrounding areas. This is one of my pet areas of study, so I'll save my thoughts for later. Read it and tell me your thoughts!

The paper can be found here.

Blogs: The Long Recall

2011-03-25T18:51:00.000-04:00

The sesquicentennial is showing a lot of promise, particularly when blogs like this come out. The Long Recall recounts the Civil War day by day, as it happened 150 years ago. Keep up with the progression of the war, including outside sources such as newspaper articles and political cartoons. I haven't had time to read it too much, but what I've seen I've liked very much.

Yes, I'm working on my own blog posts...just as soon as my son stops trying to put himself in the hospital (again) and I'm sleeping more than three hours at a clip, I'll be back to writing.

Period Sources: The School-Master's (Electronic) Bookshelf

2011-03-14T15:19:00.000-04:00

This isn't a direct link to a repository of sources. Rather, the blog in question, the Country School Association of America, has gathered several period texts and put them together in a post so that you may go to Google Books and search by title. I didn't go through all of them, but the first several can be found in full text form, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the rest should be too.

So having said that, the link for their blog post is here, and the rest of the site is more than useful for those of us researching 19th century civilian life. In these sources can be found a treasure trove of information regarding teaching and children's education, and even what the parent's role and expectations were to round out their children's learning.

Enjoy! And may your kindle never be empty.

Article: Why Women Fell: Representing the Sexual Lapse in Mid-Victorian Art (1850-65) Jessica Webb (Cardiff University)

2011-03-03T16:25:00.001-05:00

Why Women Fell: Representing the Sexual Lapse
in Mid-Victorian Art (1850-65)
Jessica Webb (Cardiff University)

The fallen woman relentlessly troubled the Victorian world. In a period obsessed with the idealisation of female virginity, the consequences of sexual experience outside wedlock often resulted in ruin.1 While Victorian society advocated the idea of the angel in the home, its art is overrun with images of the sexualised woman. Pre-Raphaelite paintings such as The Woodman’s Daughter by John Everett Millais and Abraham Solomon’s Drowned! Drowned! persistently attempt to explain the fall and, in doing so, controversially position the female as victim. In emphasising her blamelessness, the fallen woman is apparently separated from the dangerously independent figure of the prostitute. Masculine anxieties surrounding disease and illicit sex seem to be negated as, unlike a prostitute, the vulnerable female does not pose a threat to society. But it is not so clear cut; the boundaries between the fallen woman and prostitute blur, presenting them as equally vulnerable. Indeed, the issue of dishonour is never straightforward; the male artist reclaims an element of power by reducing sexualised women to objects of pity.

Read the rest of the article here, from the University of Glasgow

Playing catch-up, or "so where did you disappear this time?"

2011-02-22T22:10:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. I have a tendency to drop off the face of the earth without a whole lot of warning. Truth be told, the last two years have been a real change for me, and for quite a long time there just weren't enough hours in the day to get done what I wanted to accomplish.

Working for a museum, for instance. For the first year I was a volunteer at West Overton Museums, which by now if you've been reading this blog at all you're thoroughly acquainted. With what amounts to four (sometimes three) of us on staff with a campus that covers 40 acres and change with 18 buildings, it's a real challenge to be, essentially, everywhere at once.

Come January of 2010, they decided to make an honest woman out of me, and I came on staff as the museum's archivist. By default that also put me in charge of things such as the artifact collections, the displays, any and all research projects, and that's just the official stuff. By the time tourist season hits we're all over the place, but it's quite a lot of fun.

Last year I also took over the living history programming for the museum, which means among other things, I and my friends (who are insane enough to go along with me) put on two events, one being the Civil War event and the other being the World War II event, otherwise known as Operation Market-Garden. I am happy to report that last year both events went off very well, and this year looks to be even better than the one before!

The down-side to this is that because I have had to take on other projects, my pet ones have had to take a bit of a break. I only got to cook in the summer kitchen twice last year, and research was a catch as catch can kind of a situation. With any luck at all that will be changing this year, and I'll have more opportunities to demonstrate and teach.

On a more personal note, the last year also had a lot of big changes for me. I lost my father to stomach cancer in late July of last summer, which to be honest, still hasn't finished processing for me. Dad was the reason why I got into cooking in the first place, and while he wasn't a historical cooking geek like me, he really did have a genuine interest in what I was doing. I miss bouncing ideas and horror stories off him.

But soon after I found out that I was pregnant again! And my son Rowan was born not quite a month ago, at the end of January. He came early, and we've had a rough start, but he is home now and doing very well. He's napping at the moment next to me, here's hoping I can get this post done before it's time to eat again. He's a beautiful little boy, and I see Dad in him already...I was supposed to be due on his birthday, as luck would have it. Dad kept telling me he wanted another grandchild...

But it's time that I got back to what I have always loved doing, even if I don't have as much time to devote to it right now. And I hope you're still along for the ride as well! I've missed blogging, even when years ago I swore that I would never be the blogging type. Once again, life has a way of proving you wrong - happily, this one was a pleasant surprise.

Giving my sister love: The Allegheny Arsenal Project

2011-02-21T12:28:00.001-05:00

Some of you likely remember my sister Raina's thesis on women in arsenals during the Civil War in general and Allegheny Arsenal in specific. If you need your memory jogged, the posts are here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 with bibliography

Raina is currently in the research stages of expanding on this topic with a view to producing a book. Her blog lets you come along for the ride (and show the living history life in our neck of the woods)...so go on over, show her some love too, and enjoy her project as it comes together.

Women in Civil War Arsenals Project

blowing off the dust

2011-02-19T15:43:00.000-05:00

Been a while, eh? Let's just say the last year or so has been...eventful...

I'll play catch-up in a bit, right now I've got my work cut out for me clearing cobwebs.

And Now for Something Completely Different...

2010-04-01T19:17:00.000-04:00

So they moved the bathroom that was at Devil's Den in Gettysburg, right? Well, the saga seems to be more involved than previously supposed...

From Godey's, 1861

2010-03-30T19:48:00.001-04:00

Ladies, if anyone ever recreates this dress, you HAVE to send me pictures. I don't think I've ever seen one like this before. Image is from Godey's Lady's Book, 1861. Month not listed. Image found in NYPL's Digital Gallery.

"Nothing to Fear from the Influence of Foreigners:" The Patriotism of Richmond's German-Americans during the Civil War

2010-03-19T00:29:00.000-04:00

"Nothing to Fear from the Influence of Foreigners:" The Patriotism of Richmond's German-Americans during the Civil War

Bright, Eric W.

Masters: 1999, April 15

Before and during the Civil War, Richmond's German-Americans were divided by their diverse politics, economic interests, cultures, and religions. Some exhibited Confederate sentiments and others Unionist. At the start of the war, scores of Richmond's German-born men volunteered for Confederate military service while others fled to the North. Those who remained found that they were not fully accepted as members of the Confederate citizenry.

Political allegiances within the German-American community were not static. They changed during the course of the war, largely under the influence of nativism. Nativists put into practice a self-fulfilling prophecy that, by accusing the German-born of disloyalty, alienated them and discouraged their sympathies towards the Confederacy. In doing so, by constructing an image of a German antihero, the Confederacy built up its spirit of nationalism.

Although German immigrants moved to cities, in the South and in the North, primarily in order to seek economic opportunities, the immigrants who came to Richmond were different from their ethnic counterparts of the North. As they assimilated and acculturated to the South, their values, behaviors, and loyalties became diverse. By the time of the Civil War, the German-American community of Richmond was quite divided. A common ethnicity failed to hold even those hundreds of German-Americans living in Richmond to one political ideology. Their story illustrates that ethnic divisions often do not coincide with political ones.

Richmond's German-American community received, during the Civil War, a reputation for universal disloyalty. This myth continues today, though a complex analysis of the German-born does not support it.

To read the PDF, click here.

I didn't die. It just looks like I did.

2010-03-19T00:21:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know. It's been months since I've posted anything, and I will freely admit to being a lazy sot in that department. But it's been an eventful few months!

Which I will fill you in on at another time, when I've got all the synapses firing.

But I'll leave you with something to read, fair enough?

Food in the Middle Ages by C. M. Woolgar

2010-02-26T09:12:00.000-05:00

Food and the Middle Ages
By C.M. Woolgar
Journal of Medieval History, Vol. 36:1 (March 2010)
Abstract: The study of food in the middle ages attracted much interest among antiquarians from the eighteenth century on. New perspectives came with the growth of social and economic history. Over the last two decades, re-evaluations of historical sources, along with contributions from other disciplines, especially archaeology, the archaeological sciences, anthropology and sociology, have changed the possibilities for this area of research. The study of cooking, of cuisine and its cultural context, as much as food production and the material conditions of life, is now central to developing our understanding of consumption. This paper explores new possibilities for the study of taste and demotic cuisine, food and virtue, the association of women with food, and the role of food in society and in cultural change.
Introduction: It is hardly surprising that food is ubiquitous in our sources for the middle ages; what is less expected is that interest in food in the past has not been more in the mainstream of study in history or in related disciplines. There are now ample signs that this is changing and historians expect to consider a wide range of topics intimately connected to food: the place of fasting and feasting; the relationship with virtue and religion; taboos; physical arrangements for cooking, along with the development and training of cooks; the role of gastronomy, the development of taste and specialized food products; food grammar — the structure and timing of meals; food preservation and marketing; technological change and new foods; famine and glut; group diets, regional and wider food cultures; seasonality, wild foods and hunting; and connections to nutrition and to demography. It is a list easily susceptible to expansion. With it have come important developments in the availability and use of evidence, and an interest in the interpretative models of cognate disciplines.
If it has not been in the mainstream, there is nonetheless a long pedigree to the study of food in the past. In England, the work of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century antiquaries, like Samuel Pegge, Richard Warner, T. H. Turner, F. J. Furnivall and T. Austin, encompassed collections of recipes, domestic manners and culture, courtesy books and household antiquities generally. This interest in dining experience and the establishments of the great was mirrored elsewhere, but it was long considered marginal to historical study. Social and economic history from its inception used food to underpin debates about standards of living, of which it remains an important part. How food contributed to material conditions of life was an important theme in the work of the Annales school and the great regional studies which appeared in the decades after World War II.
The trajectory of this research, however, was antipathetic to an appreciation of culinary experience, either at an elite level or, indeed, at any other one, focusing instead on a quantitative approach to diet: this was the study of alimentation, of commodities, their cultivation, production, marketing and of nourishment, rather than cuisine, an appreciation of the cultural connotations of food preparation, cooking and consumption. More recently, this latter dimension has been recognised as a subject worthy of study at all social levels, from the role of classes of foodstuffs, such as fats and oils, in cooking practices to the ensembles of foodways that constitute cuisines. Other studies have embraced a wider range of evidence, for example, looking at representations of the cooking process in art.

Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)

(This is cheerfully and unabashedly ganked from Medievalists.net)

Pompion Pye - ca. 1720

2009-11-09T18:48:00.000-05:00

Pay attention, kids - this isn't your Granny's pumpkin pie. This has a tentative date of 1720, but this sounds a bit older to me. At any rate you're looking at post-Columbian exchange era. Comments in brackets are my own.

"Take about halfe a pound of Pompion and slice it, an handful of Tyme [thyme], a little Rosemary, Parsely and Sweet Marjoram slipped off the stalkes, and chop them smal, then take Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Pepper and six Cloves and beat them, take ten Eggs and beat them, then mix them and beat them altogether, and put in as much Sugar as you think fit, then fry them like a froiz [no idea, though it must be fries of some ilk], after it is fryed, let it stand til it be cold, then fill your Pye, take sliced Apples thinne rounde-wayes, and lay a row of the Froiz and layer of Apples with Currans [currants] betwixt the layer while your Pye is fitted, and put in a good deal of sweet butter before you close it, when the pye is baked take six yelks [yolks] of Eggs, some White-wine or Vergis [verjuice?] and make a Caudle of this, but not too thicke, cut up the Lid and put it in, stir them wel together whilst the eggs and Pompions be no perceived and so serve it up."

Syllabub - 1686

2009-11-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

Syllabub is a drink that is seen very little on modern tables. Generally speaking, syllabub is a cross between a drink and a dessert, though in centuries past it was more on the "drink" end of the spectrum than today's renditions of it, which usually turn out to be more like a pudding or custard. Most pre-1900 recipes involve alcohol of one form or another. There is some finesse involved in making the older form, as you need to let the ingredients settle into layers on its own. Many recipes call for the mixture to sit for several hours or even overnight for this to occur. In either case and in either incarnation, it is a graceful addition to a holiday table.

Sillabub

"Fill your Sillabub Pot with Syder [cider] (for that is best for a Sillabub) and good store of Sugar and a little Nutmeg, stir it well together, put in as much thick Cream by two or three spoonfuls at a time, as hard as you can as though you milke [milk] it in, then stir it together exceedingly softly once about and let it stand two hours at least."

-attributed to a 1686 New England receipt

For more information on historic drinks, try this article from Colonial Williamsburg.

Pompion Sause - 1671

2009-11-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

The food in question here is pumpkins, the archaic spelling being pompions. I remember having this dish while staying with my host family in France (which no, was NOT that long ago!).

"The Housewives' manner is to slice them when ripe and cut them into Dice, and so fill a pot with them of two or three Gallons and stew them upon a gentle fire the whole day. And as they sink they will fill again with fresh Pompions not putting any liquor to them and when it is stir'd enough it will look like bak'd Apples, this Dish putting butter to it and a little Vinegar with some Spice as Ginger which makes it tart like an Apple, and so serve it up to be eaten with fish or flesh."

- attributed to Josselyn, 1671 in "New England Rarities"

2009-10-22T12:54:00.001-04:00

Further information can be found on the West Overton Museums website. The place looks fabulous, hope to see you there!

Period Chocolate!

2009-10-12T22:52:00.000-04:00

Here is a video showing a foodways interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg making chocolate. I haven't quite gotten insane enough to want to try confectionery arts, but he does make it look easy!

Course where I'd find a chocolate stone is beyond me, but...