BLACKSBURG, April 21, 2005-- The Virginia Center for Civil War Studies (VCCWS) and the Society for Women and the Civil War are hosting a "Conference on Women and the Civil War" at Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus from Friday, June 3, through Sunday, June 5, 2005.
This conference, the seventh in a series that recognizes the efforts of women during the 1861-1865 war years, is being held at Virginia Tech for the first time, in large part because the campus is home to the VCCWS.
James I. "Bud" Robertson Jr., Virginia Tech Alumni Distinguished Professor of History and VCCWS director, and William C. "Jack" Davis, professor of history and director of programs for the VCCWS, will be among the participants.
The three-day event, to be held at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center on campus, features a variety of workshops and presentations, and will include off-site tours to Smithfield Plantation and the nearby Preston family cemetery.
Workshops on Friday, June 3:
"Using Special Collections," a workshop conducted by Joyce Nester, Special Collections librarian at Virginia Tech, that will discuss techniques for locating and using unique collections of books, manuscripts, and objects.
"Copyrights/Copywrongs," a workshop for researchers, writers, and presenters of Civil War history, conducted by copyright and trademark attorney Susan Anthony.
Topics and presenters on Saturday, June 4:
"Confederate Women and the Cult of Sacrifice," by William C. "Jack" Davis, Virginia Tech professor of history and director of programs for the VCCWS.
"Patriotism and Practicality: Civil War Era Homespun Dresses," an examination of the reliance upon old-fashioned means of textile production during the war, by Vicki Betts, a librarian at the University of Texas at Tyler and a writer/editor on Civil War topics.
"Elizabeth Phelps's Gothic Civil War: A Northern Writer Communing with the Spirits of the Dead," by Montclair State University Professor of English and Distinguished Scholar Monika Elbert, whose works on nineteenth-century American women writers are widely published.
"Mary Martha Reid and the Florida Hospital in Richmond," by Longwood University Assistant Professor of History David Coles, a widely published author and editor of books and articles on Civil War topics.
"The Union Army vs. Mary Jane Green: The Rebel Who Would Not be Tamed," by Wendy King, a Civil War re-enactor and author of Clad in Uniform: Women Soldiers of the Civil War.
"Maria Lewis, Black Female Trooper of the 8th NY Cavalry: A Methodology," by Anita Henderson, a prominent Civil War historian and slave descendant.
"Calling on the Female Prisoners: Maintaining Gender Relationships in Alton Military Prison During the Civil War," by Thomas Curran, who teaches American history at St. Louis' Cor Jesu Academy and is completing a study of Confederate women arrested and imprisoned in the St. Louis area during the war.
"Wee the People: The Patriotic Work of Children During the Civil War," by child developmentalist and social historian Meg Galante-DeAngelis, who teaches at the University of Connecticut in the School of Family Studies.
An after-dinner program on Friday evening will feature Saundra Jordan, who will perform a first-person presentation, "Mary Todd Lincoln Remembers."
Additional information about the conference, including registration, can be accessed online at www.conted.vt.edu/cwwomen/ or www.swcw.org or by calling 540/231-5182.
