Videos

Yale University professor David Blight talked about the political -- and often religious -- rhetoric that Frederick Douglass used when writing or speaking about abolition and the Civil War. This…

Author and law professor Rebecca Zietlow looked at the life and work of James Mitchell Ashley, an abolitionist and Republican congressman from Ohio during the Civil War and early…

Historian Allen Guelzo talked about his book, Reconstruction: A Concise History. He argued that despite the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Reconstruction period failed to…

The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War during the Reconstruction era. The amendment’s first clause, known as the “Citizenship Clause,” states that “All persons…

Clemson University history professor Orville Vernon Burton talked about the origins of the 14th Amendment, and why it was essential and necessary to ratify after the South’s defeat in the…

University of Florida professor Matthew Gallman talked about the life of Anna Dickinson. A Quaker woman from Pennsylvania, she gained fame as an abolitionist and Republican Party lecturer during…

Jessica Ziparo, author of This Grand Experiment, talked about the experiences of women who worked for the federal government during the Civil War. She described the types of jobs they did,…

University of Washington historian Quintard Taylor explored slavery, the abolition movement, and Reconstruction in the West, focusing on Kansas and Missouri before and after the Civil War.…

Historians responded to audience questions about notable figures during the Civil War era. Highlighted people included Confederate Gen. James Longstreet, abolitionist and Republican Party…

University of Virginia professor Elizabeth Varon talked about former Confederate General James Longstreet and his reputation after the Civil War. She described how Longstreet joined the…

Amy Murrell Taylor discussed how families coped with divided loyalties between the Union and Confederacy before, during and after the Civil War. She is the author of The Divided Family in…

Virginia Tech History Professor Emeritus James Robertson talked about the Civil War’s impact on ordinary civilians and soldiers. He is the author of Civil War Echoes: Voices from Virginia,…

Historian and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College Peter Carmichael presented a talk titled, “Will the Real Common Civil War Soldier Please Stand Up.” The Library of…

Historian and author Jane Schultz discussed women who were Civil War hospital workers. She is the author of Women at the Front: Hospital Workers in Civil War America.. The Library of…

University of Richmond professor Lauranett Lee discussed how children were affected during the Civil War Era, and compared this history to the continuing twenty-first century problem of war,…

Anna Holloway, co-author, Our Little Monitor: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War, talked about the USS Monitor warship at a day-long symposium on Abraham Lincoln’s life, career & legacy. The…

2018 marks the 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment’s addition to the U.S. Constitution. The measure addressed citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. In this program, Civil…

Paul Bretzger talks about his book, Observing Hancock at Gettysburg: The General’s Leadership Through Eyewitness Accounts. Mr. Bretzger argued that General Winfield Scott Hancock was the…

Historians John Marszalek and Craig Symonds looked at the military rivalry between Civil War Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. They compared Grant and Lee’s childhoods, their…