Our 2013 conference speakers were a phenomenal group of speakers with a wide range of topics!
Women of War, Women of Freedom: The Wartime Experiences of Enslaved Women in Southern Louisiana and Low Country Georgia
Speaker: Karen Cook Bell
Through a critical reading of the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau, plantation manuscripts, and published slave narratives, Ms Bell seeks to understand and delineate the wartime social experiences of African American women and the varied discourses of their experiences
Through a critical reading of the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau, plantation manuscripts, and published slave narratives, Ms Bell seeks to understand and delineate the wartime social experiences of African American women and the varied discourses of their experiences
None More Brave and Unflinching Than the Nancy Harts: LaGrange, Georgia’s Female Confederate Militia
Speaker: Katherine Brackett
Who were the Nancy Harts Militia of LaGrange, Georgia? How do we analyze this unusual female military organization that highlights how one group of Civil War militarized southern women developed on the homefront. In addition, the written account left by a Nancy Harts member reveals how Lost Cause rhetoric made such female militarization more acceptable.
Who were the Nancy Harts Militia of LaGrange, Georgia? How do we analyze this unusual female military organization that highlights how one group of Civil War militarized southern women developed on the homefront. In addition, the written account left by a Nancy Harts member reveals how Lost Cause rhetoric made such female militarization more acceptable.
Civil War Soul Sisters and their Published Works
Speaker: Lavonda Kay Broadnax.
Ms. Broadnax, introduces us to a set of 50 African American women who lived during the U.S. Civil War and were published. This presentation will explore themeans the women used to get their works published; factors that motivated the women to publish and reactions to the publications from their time period.
Ms. Broadnax, introduces us to a set of 50 African American women who lived during the U.S. Civil War and were published. This presentation will explore themeans the women used to get their works published; factors that motivated the women to publish and reactions to the publications from their time period.
A Lesson in Defiance
Speaker: Claudia Floyd
This presentation highlights Elizabeth Phoebe Key Howard and Priscilla McKaig, two Confederate women activists who defied their Union occupiers, exhibited very different temperaments and approaches to aid their sons on the battlefield and in prison. Their experiences illustrate the limitations of wealth, power, and influence in Maryland's two largest cities during the war.
This presentation highlights Elizabeth Phoebe Key Howard and Priscilla McKaig, two Confederate women activists who defied their Union occupiers, exhibited very different temperaments and approaches to aid their sons on the battlefield and in prison. Their experiences illustrate the limitations of wealth, power, and influence in Maryland's two largest cities during the war.
Strange Ladies: Catholic Nuns of the Civil War
Speaker: Michael Fitzpatrick.
Hundreds of Catholic nuns served as volunteer nurses during the Civil War. Unfortunately, the full range and quality of the services provided by the Sisters remains overlooked. The Nuns volunteered their service solely for humanitarian reasons and took no side in the war. The Sisters were scrupulously neutral in their treatment of the sick and injured yet there is no recorded instance of a Nun ever betraying the trust placed in her.
Hundreds of Catholic nuns served as volunteer nurses during the Civil War. Unfortunately, the full range and quality of the services provided by the Sisters remains overlooked. The Nuns volunteered their service solely for humanitarian reasons and took no side in the war. The Sisters were scrupulously neutral in their treatment of the sick and injured yet there is no recorded instance of a Nun ever betraying the trust placed in her.
Sophronia’s Boys: Ward D at Camp Letterman and Beyond
Speaker: Meg Galante-DeAngelis.
A recently discovered cache of Sophronia Bucklin’s papers reveal her work at Camp Letterman Hospital after the battle of Gettysburg and the relationships that developed between her and the men in her care. Sophronia and her experiences gives a lens with which to explore the complicated and deep commitment that women had to their war work and how that work changed the path of their lives.
A recently discovered cache of Sophronia Bucklin’s papers reveal her work at Camp Letterman Hospital after the battle of Gettysburg and the relationships that developed between her and the men in her care. Sophronia and her experiences gives a lens with which to explore the complicated and deep commitment that women had to their war work and how that work changed the path of their lives.
Samantha French, Telegrapher at Gettysburg
Speaker: Brenda Hornsby Heindl.
The truth behind whether Samantha French was the sole telegraph operator at the Battle of Gettysburg lies not in the individual pieces of evidence, but in the collective story and historical memory of the individuals involved in the communications surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg.
The truth behind whether Samantha French was the sole telegraph operator at the Battle of Gettysburg lies not in the individual pieces of evidence, but in the collective story and historical memory of the individuals involved in the communications surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Fight for Female Pensions
Speaker: Hannah Metheny.
For women who themselves actually served in the military--nurses, cooks, soldiers, spies, nuns, arsenal workers--the pension process was exceptionally grueling. What do the pension applications of these women reveal about women's wartime service and about their post-war lives? Which applications failed and which succeeded and why? And what does the fight to secure these pensions, culminating the Army Nurses Pension Act of 1892, reveal about changing notions of female military service?
For women who themselves actually served in the military--nurses, cooks, soldiers, spies, nuns, arsenal workers--the pension process was exceptionally grueling. What do the pension applications of these women reveal about women's wartime service and about their post-war lives? Which applications failed and which succeeded and why? And what does the fight to secure these pensions, culminating the Army Nurses Pension Act of 1892, reveal about changing notions of female military service?