Thanks to those members who renewed their memberships! Welcome to
all new members!
Thanks to those members who renewed their memberships! Welcome to
all new members!
SWCW Announces Details of the
9th Conference on Women and the Civil War
The 9th Conference on Women and the Civil War will
take place at the Inn at Chester Springs the July 27-29, 2007. In addition to offering an exciting lineup of
speakers, fascinating talks, and a return of
the “Midnight Madness” speed shopping event from 2006, the conference
will also feature a field trip to a 19th century spa and resort site
that was used as Soldiers’ Orphans Home after the Civil War. The Society is please that they have been
able to hold prices to the conference to the same levels as in past years, with
full conference (including workshops, lectures, meals and the field trip)
priced as low as $195 for Society members who register by May 1st.
Mark Your Calendar and Plan to Come
Conference attendees are encouraged to stay in affordable
luxury at the Inn at Chester Springs.
Our conference rate of $99 is valid for two days before and just after
the conference to accommodate registrants who decided to vacation in the area.
The hotel features indoor and outdoor
pools, newly renovated lobby, conference area and rooms, an award winning
restaurant, and a convenient setting just 35 miles from center-city
Philadelphia. The guestrooms have data
ports on all telephones, wireless Internet access and well-illuminated work
spaces.
Make Your Reservations Today!
Phone:
610-363-1100; 888-253-6119
Email: hotel_info@innatchestersprings.com
Call soon– and certainly by 6/27 – to ensure you get into our block
of rooms.
Location: Inn at
Chester Springs
815 N. Pottstown Pike
Exton, PA 19341
By Car - The Inn
at Chester Springs is located at the intersection of Routes 100 and 113, just
off the Downingtown, Exit 312 (old Exit 23) of the PA Turnpike. See www.innatchestersprings.com for map and more
detailed directions.
By Train – Call ahead of time and
arrange with the hotel to be picked up by their shuttle at the Exton, PA AMTRAK
station, just 5 miles from the hotel.
For a lower cost housing alternative … The
Philadelphia/ West Chester KOA has Kamping Kabins at even more affordable
rates. http://koa.com/facilit ies/kabin/
1-2:00 Concurrent Workshops
Research Workshop: “Speed Dating” – Modeled on the popular match-making
technique, in this workshop, attendees will experience brief, sequential
encounters with other researchers, sharing issues, suggestions, solutions to
research dilemmas.
Collections Workshop: “My Find” – Attendees
to this workshop can bring a favorite find – military or civilian – that dates
to the mid-19th century. This workshop will consist of discussions
of the identity, analysis and care of items.
2:30-4 Concurrent Workshops
Research Workshop: “Military Records” – Military
Historian Les Jensen will outline how and why military records are created, and
how and where researchers can find the information in them.
Collections Workshop: “Tabletop Displays” –
Individuals and teams will compare and critique table-top displays showing
artifacts or research related to the conference. The workshop will focus on
techniques for producing displays that are both attractive and educational.
5-5:30 Annual Meeting
Join us for a brief update and meeting on organizational
matters of the Society for Women and the Civil War.
5:30-7 Welcome Reception
Enjoy pizza and (new addition this year!) a cash bar, and view
Tabletop Displays, visit our vendors.
7-8 Presentation:
“Women of Philadelphia” – Robin
Stokes, a life-long resident of the greater Philadelphia area, will provide
an overview of the many and varied roles of Philadelphia women in the Civil
War.
8-10 Authors’ Book Signing Session
Bringing back a conference tradition, attendees who have
authored or edited books re invited to bring them to sell and sign.
8-10 Midnight Madness
Donate, sell, bid or buy items associated (however loosely)
with the Civil War. In this speed-shopping event, attendees will have only two
hours to place bids and make purchases.
Registered attendees may choose to:
Be a Seller … Bring Civil War or Civil War –related
items, pay $5 to setup and sell.
Be a Donor … Bring Civil War or Civil War-related
items for SWCW to sell or offer at the Silent Auction.
Be a Buyer … Show up at “Midnight Madness” for
shopping and Silent Auction bidding.
Saturday
Continental Breakfast
9-1:30 Presentations
“Nellie Chase Leath: Civil War Nurse with Attitude” – Dr.
Carolyn P. Schriber will describe a nurse who might be described as
“Dorothea Dix’s worst nightmare.” She was young, beautiful, practical,
headstrong. Patients adored her; a chaplain did not.
“Depot Women: Unknown Backbone of the Confederacy” – Les
Jensen will describe the lives and labors of tens of thousands of women who
worked for uniform depots, and organizations that employed them, comparing
Richmond and Philadelphia depots.
Break
“Martha J. Coston: An Illuminating History” – Denise
E. Pilato will report on Martha J. Coston, who invented and patented the
Coston Signal Fuse, which was adopted and used by the U.S. Navy and other
services during and after the Civil War.
“Copperhead Women” – Ph.D. candidate Jonathan W. White will
break away from our usual discussions of women who supported the war to discuss
northern women who opposed what they saw as coercion of the South and Lincoln’s
“war to free the slaves.”
2-5:30 Field Trip – “An Afternoon at the Spa”
The Saturday afternoon field trip will consist of a short bus trip to Yellow Springs Historic Site. Docents will provide guided tours of this site that was alternately used as a tavern, a hospital for Revolutionary War Soldiers, a 19th century spa and resort, and a Soldiers’ Orphans Home.
Yellow Springs Historic Site
Jenny Lind performed here.
The children of hundreds of
Civil War soldiers lived and attended school here.
And, yes, George Washington
DID sleep here.
Attendees will have about three hours to
tour the site and visit ‘stations’ where they can, if they wish, participate in
some of the leisure activities enjoyed by visitors to 19th century
resorts and health spas.
Evaluations of past
conferences indicate that some of our attendees would like an opportunity to
dress in period attire during the conference.
Bus times will be staggered to provide extra time for those who choose
to change into period attire for this field trip.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/1pa/education/orphan1904/calisthenic.jpg
Photo courtesy Juanita Leisch Jensen
“An Afternoon at the Spa” will exercise your mind and body.
7-9 Banquet – Inn at Chester Springs. The chef at the Inn has designed a buffet
that will delight everyone.
Sunday
9-1:30 Presentations
“Becoming Useful: Confederate Women Composers” –
Dr. Candace Bailey will describe the efforts and accomplishments of women
who made themselves useful to Confederate war efforts by composing and
publishing patriotic sheet music.
“Cherokee Women”– Dr. Clarissa Confer will
explore ways that Cherokee women experienced the war, focusing on individuals
who left records of their experiences, including Mrs. General Stand Watie, wife
of the highest ranking Indian in the Civil War.
Break
“The Role of Chester County Women in the Great Central Fair” –
Florence K. Williams will describe the organization and participation of
women from Chester County, PA [where our conference is being held] in the 1864
Philadelphia Sanitary Fair.
“The Woman Major General John Fulton Reynolds Left Behind”– Marian
Latimer will reveal the ‘rest of the story’ about Catharine Mary Hewitt,
revealing what happened to the fiancée of General Reynolds … new data for
anyone who thought her life was an “unsolved mystery.”
1:30 Adjourn
Optional Trip
Take
advantage of attending a conference only 35 miles from center-city
Philadelphia!
One of the conference handouts will be directions for taking a
Self-Guided Driving Tour of sites in Philadelphia related to women’s roles in
the Civil War. The Guide will also provide directions for those who want to travel
to Philadelphia by public transportation.
Summary
of Registration Options
The
Society is pleased to offer a variety of registration options to fit this event
in even the tightest calendar.
Register
at swcw.org and pay by PayPal, or print and complete this form, sending
it with a check or money order to:
SWCW
Box
#9066 at 8345 NW 66th Street, Miami, FL 33166.
Name(s): ___________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________
City/ST/Zip _________________________________________
Phone: ___________________________________________
Email: ___________________________________________
(_) Save me a space to sell/sign my books.
Prices based on Postmark or date of PayPal payment.
by by by After
5/1 6/1 7/1 7/1 Qty Total
Member-only prices (see swcw.org for
membership form)
Full conf $195 $210 $225 $250 ___ $___
Fri. only $55 $60 $65 $75 ___ $___
Sat. only $125 $130 $135 $145 ___ $___
Sun. only $55 $60 $65 $75 ___ $___
General prices (for non-members)
Full conf $230 $245 $255 $265 ___ $___
Fri. only $60 $65 $70 $80 ___ $___
Sat. only $130 $135 $140 $150 ___ $___
Sun. only $60 $65 $70 $80 ___ $___
Recruit
(meals, field trips, social events, one lecture)
$115 $125 $135 $145 ___ $___
Banquet only $45 $45 $45 $50 ___ $___
Total payment: _________
Notebooks
will be provided on a supplies-available basis for those who register after
7/1/7. The “after 7/1/7” rate will apply for all who register at the door.
Cancellations must be made prior to 6/15/7, and are subject to a 20%
administrative fee.
Clarissa Confer
received her Ph.D. in 1997 from Pennsylvania State University. She is currently
teaching American History at California University of Pennsylvania and serving
as teaching consultant to the Library of Congress’ primary document project Adventures
of the American Mind. Her
research has focused on the Five Southeastern Nations and her book The
Cherokee Nation in the Civil War has just been published by University of
Oklahoma Press. She has presented papers and published articles on both
indigenous peoples, focusing on their self-identity and interaction with
Anglo-Europeans, and various aspects of the American Civil War.
Dr. Florence K. Williams is a
living history interpreter. She
demonstrates carding, spinning and dying of wool, hearth cooking and other 18th
and 19th century domestic skills.
While the majority of her reenacting has been the American Civil War
Period, she also interprets the Federal Period, the Lewis and Clark Expedition
and the War of 1812. Her focus has been
the food ways and domestic skills of the eras as well women organizations
during and following the American Civil War.
The Refreshment Saloons of Philadelphia is a current research
topic. She has a small collection of
Women Relief Corps and related auxiliary badges of the post-Civil War
period. As Civilian Coordinator of the
97th PVI, Co. B, a modern civil war reenacting unit, she is recording the
burial sites of the original members of the unit and has assisted the Sons of
Union Veterans of the Civil War with their grave registration. She takes great pride in the past
accomplishments of the Re-Dedication of the 97th Monument in
Marshall Square Park, West Chester PA (2002) and the 1st Modern
Reunion of Descendents of the 97th PVI (2005).
Robin Stokes is a
lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area, and has had a lifelong interest in
the Civil War. She is past president of
the George W. Taylor Civil War Round Table in Clinton, NJ. She was Assistant Guest Curator of “Essential to the Cause”, an exhibit at the
National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA, and served as Preparator of
“Spirit of Young America”, an exhibit on children at the same Museum. She served on the board of the Civil War
Artifact Forum, and helped to organize both conferences sponsored by that
organization. She attended Moore College
of Art in Philadelphia and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. She is a member of the 15th NJ
Inf., N-SSA and the 3rd NJ Volunteers.
Jonathan W. White is a
Ph.D. candidate studying U.S. History at the University of Maryland, College
Park. He has published articles on Civil
War politics in Civil War History (September 2004), American
Nineteenth Century History (Summer 2004), the Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography (April 2005), and Pennsylvania Heritage
(Winter 2006). He has also published a
short essay on conducting historical research in Perspectives (March
2006). My article in Civil War
History was awarded the 2005 John T. Hubbell Prize for the best article in
the journal for the preceding year.
Jonathan is currently finishing his dissertation, “To Aid Their Rebel
Friends,” is a study of treason, loyalty and nationalism in the North during
the American Civil War.
Les Jensen is a
professional museum curator specializing in military history who has worked in
the museum field since 1971. He served
for eight years as Curator of Collections at the Museum of the Confederacy,
Richmond, Virginia. Within the Army
Museum System, he has been Museum Curator at the U.S. Army Transportation
Museum,. Ft. Eustis, Virginia, and Director
of two U.S. Army Museums, the 2d Armored Division Museum, Ft. Hood, Texas and
The Old Guard Museum, Ft. Myer, Virginia.
He was a Museum Curator in the U.S. Army Center of Military History in
Washington, DC for ten years, serving variously as a planner for the National
Museum of the Army project, and as Chief of the Collection Branch. He is currently Curator of Arms and Armor at
the West Point Museum, West Point, New York.
Marion Latimer is a graduate of the University of
Michigan with a degree in history, (although not the Civil War) English, and
social studies. She had intended to
teach at the secondary level but became a state employee working in the social
service field. The Civil War has become
a great interest of hers. She is the
author of "Is She Kate? The Woman
Major General John Fulton Reynolds Left Behind."
Candace Bailey is
associate professor of music at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Bailey has written articles on such
diverse topics as the antebellum piano girl and seventeenth-century music
theory. Her publications include a book on seventeenth-century manuscripts
sources and two editions, in addition to reviews and articles in various
journals. Dr. Bailey’s most recent presentations include discussions of
situating the piano girl among social customs of the antebellum South,
Confederate women composers, the education of young women in early modern
Britain, the analysis of English music c. 1615, and new ways of defining the
“Baroque” in music. She teaches courses on the history of western classical
music, piano literature, and hip hop.
Carolyn P. Schriber graduated with a Ph.D. in history from
the University of Colorado, Boulder.
She is currently Professor Emerita at Rhodes College in Memphis,
Tennessee. She has published The
Letter Collections of Arnulf of Lisieux and Scholarship in the
21st-Century University. Her most
recent work A Scratch With the Rebels: Sgt.
McCaskey and the Roundheads from Muster to Secessionville, is currently under review by an academic press.
As I sit here in upstate New York, it’s
snowing (finally), and just as I’m ready for spring, it seems winter has
arrived. With every passing day, week,
month, I know we’re drawing ever closer to our 9th annual Conference
on Women and the Civil War, and I can hardly wait!
This issue of the newsletter will provide
many details on the conference, which will be held in Chester County, PA, July
27-29, 2007. We had more papers
submitted by potential speakers than in any past year, and are please to offer
a wonderful and diverse group of presentations.
In addition, we have a number of hands-on activities planned for
registrants. Thanks to a timely suggestion from Vicki Rumble, we have time set
aside for registrants to get books signed by members who are authors. We’re also planning interactive workshops
(once again offered at no additional charge), a Midnight Madness speed shopping
event, and, as our field trip an “Afternoon at the Spa”.
During our “Afternoon at the Spa” field
trip we’ll be visiting a site that was, alternately, an 18th century
resort, the site of a hospital for Revolutionary War soldiers, a 19th
century spa, and, after the Civil War, one of Pennsylvania’s Soldiers’ Orphans
Homes. While visiting the spa, you’ll
have opportunities to experience some of the activities enjoyed by visitors to
the spa in the 19th century.
NOTE - We need volunteers who can help lead our participants in leisure
activities at the spa activities. Please
contact me at juanitaleisch@yahoo.com
if this is a role that interests you.
Some attendees at past conferences indicated on our Evaluation Forms that they would enjoy dressing in period attire during the conference, so – for the first time in our conference history -- we’re staggering the buses to allow changing time for any who chose to dress in period attire for the “Afternoon at the Spa”.
If you plan an extended vacation around
the conference weekend, you can take advantage of our special $99 conference
rate as you tour Philadelphia to the east, or Lancaster County to the west, not
to mention local sites like Winterthur, Longwood Gardens, the Hagley
Museum. And if you bring family members
along, even those who are not interested in history will have plenty to see and
do, with the Helicopter Museum, King of Prussia Mall, the and even (dare I
mention it?) the QVC Studio Tour close by. And I’m absolutely not going to talk
about the used book stores and antique shops in Chester and Bucks County,
PA. The military historian in the family
may want to take the ferry over to Fort Delaware State Park.
We have some other exciting developments
in the Society, as well:
Plans are already afoot for the 2008
Conference, which will be held at Hood College in Frederick, MD. It’s going to be our 10th
conference, so you know we’ll have to make a special effort to celebrate that
milestone.
The Society is growing and changing, and I
welcome your comments and suggestions on ways we could promote our mission, of
honoring the lives and roles of women in the American Civil War.
Juanita
Leisch Jensen
President
Society for Women and the Civil War
Members will be
glad to know that the three new members of the Board of Directors have begun
their tenure with great enthusiasm. We have asked each new member to introduce
herself to you.
Patricia
Richard:
Hello fellow
history enthusiasts. I, Patricia (Tish)
Richard am very excited to be part of your organization. I am impressed with your knowledge of women
and their part in the Civil War and your professionalism in putting on your
yearly conferences. I’m most struck
with, however, your ability to mix fun with learning. I look forward to the time I’ll share with
you all in the year to come. On a more
formal note, I have been an Assistant Professor of American History at Metropolitan
State College of Denver since 2002. I
have taught courses on the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction, the U.S. and
Vietnam and U.S. history survey courses at Metro and other universities in the
United States. I received my Ph.D. from
Marquette University in 2001. My
doctoral dissertation dealt with northern women’s war work and the importance
of their work in the northern civil war effort.
I published my first book Busy Hands: Images of the Family in the Northern
Civil War Effort with Fordham University Press December
2003. I have written articles concerning
northern women’s war work for national journals and presented her research at
historical conferences around the country.
I am currently working on African American Soldiers’ Aid Societies. I hope to publish my second book in the next
year or two.
Bonnie Mangan:
Bonnie
grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois earning a BA in
History and Masters Degrees in Middle East Studies and Library Science. After a
one-year stint as a librarian for a university library in Isfahan Iran, she got
a job at Big Mama Library (Library of Congress) where she works for the
Congressional Research Service as an Information Research Specialist. Bonnie's
interest in the Civil War began shortly after she saw the most recent movie
version of Little Women. After reading numerous sources on the Alcotts,
Transcendentalists, abolition, mid-19th Century New England, and Louisa as a
nurse, she was happy to learn about the first Conference on Women and the Civil
War. She has attended every conference, and claims that each one is better than
ever. Bonnie researched and wrote a screenplay about Elizabeth Jennings, an
African American schoolteacher in New York City who won a court case against a
trolley company that barred her from riding on the trolley back in 1855.
Nancy Hill:
Nancy
has an extensive background in not-for-profit administration, development and
public affairs. Her life-long avocation has been women's history, particularly
primary sources. She has been a guest speaker and trainer on a variety of
topics.
At the 2005 Conference on Women and the
Civil War annual meeting at Virginia Tech I announced the creation of the
SWCW Regents Program. The purpose of being an SWCW Regent is
simple…to help promote the Society, increase Society membership and support our
annual Conference on Women and the Civil War.
The SWCW Regents Program
is loosely based on the Confederate Memorial Literary Society’s (CMLS)
organizational structure to run the Confederate Museum, now Museum of the
Confederacy, in the White House of the Confederacy in 1896. Each room of the White House was assigned a
former Confederate State and a Regent was elected that lived in the home state. She would contact veterans and families in
that state to secure artifact donations for the Confederate Museum and send
these donations to “her” State Room in the White House.
The SWCW Regents Program
seeks to utilize selected members to help us get information about the
organization and its annual conference out to more people. One way to achieve this goal is to contact
Civil War-related sites, historical societies and educational institutions
willing to carry SWCW materials or who may be able to support our mission.
The mission of The Society
for Women and the Civil War (SWCW) is to increase an awareness and
understanding of women’s roles related to the Civil War through education and
scholarship. Our vision is that the SWCW
will serve its members by helping them get in touch with others pursuing
similar research, reenactment, memorial, preservation, or publishing goals.
There are some responsibilities to being a Regent and we ask each person to carefully consider how they can help the SWCW efforts by becoming a Regent. We ask the Regents to submit periodic reports listing the places they distribute SWCW materials and to help us by sending addresses to sites, schools, museum and loca
