Videos

How do civil wars start and could one happen again in the U.S.? Barbara Walter examined the warning signs that often precede civil wars and discussed what can be done to stop them. She was…

New York University photography Professor Deborah Willis looked at the lives of Black Civil War soldiers through a collection of portraits. This was a virtual event hosted by the Free…

University of North Carolina, Charlotte history Professor Karen Cox discussed her book, No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice. She recounted the…

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed recalled the announcement of the end of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. This was a virtual event hosted by the Free Library of…

Northwestern University Professor Kate Masur, author of Until Justice Be Done, and Cornell University Associate Professor Tamika Nunley, author of At the Threshold of Liberty, talked about…

Wellesley College Africana Studies Professor Kellie Carter Jackson provided a history of the use of violence by black abolitionists. She was joined in conversation by New York University…

Baylor University history professor Robert Elder recalled the life of John Calhoun, who served as a vice president, secretary of War, and was also a Confederate advocate. This was a virtual…

Civil War historian James Oakes examined how Abraham Lincoln thoughout his political career used the Constitution to abolish slavery. This was a virtual event hosted by the Massachusetts…

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer John Matteson looked at how the Civil War’s 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg impacted the lives of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman,…

Ty Seidule, a retired brigadier general and history professor emeritus at West Point, explored the legacy of the Confederacy and its impact today. He was joined in conversation by retired…

French journalist Delphine Minoui reported on the efforts of a group of Syrians to build a library during that country’s civil war. This was a virtual event hosted by the Boston Athenaeum…

Author Catherine Clinton talked about her book, Confederate Statues and Memorialization. C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2020 LCV Cities Tour” in San Antonio,…

Journalist Connor Towne O’Neill discussed the legacy of white supremacy through memorials in the South to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux…

Boston College history Professor Heather Cox Richardson argued that Southern social, political, and economic ideologies prevailed in the American West following the Civil War. This was a…

Historian H.W. Brands provided a dual biography of abolitionist John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. This was a virtual event hosted by the Atlanta History Center.

Historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar chronicled the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. This program was part of the 20th annual National Book Festival, a virtual event hosted by the Library…

Boston College History Professor Heather Cox Richardson discussed how Southern social, political, and economic ideologies prevailed in the American West following the Civil War. This…

University of Virginia History Professor Elizabeth Varon argued that during the Civil War the North was motivated to liberate the South instead of conquering it. This was a virtual program…

Steven Woodworth, author of This Great Struggle: America’s Civil War, talked about how the history of the Civil War can be shared so that readers find the topic more approachable and interesting.…

Historian Fergus Bordewich argued that Congress, led by the Republican Party, played a vital role in the Union’s victory in the Civil War.