Emergence of war series, called hellmira the unions most infamous pow camp of the civil war. From elmira, new york, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, derek maxfield. Thank you very much. I very please to be here and talk about my latest project. And prisoner over cams in general have been quite a surprise to me. Prisoner of war camps and general have been quite a surprise to me. I have studied the civil war since i was quite young and new the length of the tragedy during the civil war. But it was eyeopening to me the extent of the home and italian crisis that unfolded over the course of those for bloody years. The extent of the humanitarian crisis that unfolded over the course of those luddy years. Those bloody years. In total. Carcerated and, although we understand that this is a small number of casualties considering the total number of casualties during the civil war, over 750,0 when wee believe, consider that we could have done both better. That this was in our power to make li
Choices for women. Women were in essence supposed to be the pillar of the household, the center of the family. Were talking about middleclass women. So without any means of support, you had very few choices. You could be a domestic servant. You could be a laundress, or you could work in a factory. At the time of the civil war, there was a spike in widowhood, meaning that all of a sudden, middleclass women didnt really have any visible means of support. We saw this more in the south than in the north, because the war was fought mainly in the south. So these women would become prostitutes. It was not an attractive choice. It was certainly not their first choice, but between that and starvati starvation, thats what they did. Now at the time of the victorian era, prostitutes actually had their place in society. At that time, it was considered illbred, in poor taste, for middleclass men to visit their carnal lusts on their wiveser so respectful women, while they may not have liked it, under
About victorianera marriage expectations and civil war brothels. My name is cheryl williams, and im portraying today at the reenactment what it would have been like to have been a victorian prostitute. At the time of the american civil war, which was at the midsmack victorian period, there were very, very few choices for women. Women were in essence supposed possible the pillar of the household, the center of the family. Were talking about middleclass women. So, without any means of support, you had very few choices. You could be a domestic servant. You could be a laundress, or you could work in a factory. At the time of the civil war, there was a spike in widowhood, meaning that, all of a sudden, middleclass women didnt really have any visible means of support. Now, we saw this more in the south than in the north because the war was fought mainly in the south. So, these women would become prostitutes. It was not an attractive choice. It was certainly not their first choice, but betwee
Button at the bottom of your screen. Well get to questions after our conversation. To lets turn our attention some objects that help us describe the civil war. The history museum, objects do a lot of heavy lifting and standing in for a larger historical narrative be the conditions of the objects themselves. Lets talk about this book, the civil war in 50 objects. Tell us about it and how 50 objects can tell the complex story of the civil war. Its extraordinarily when we undertook this project 18 years ago, it was difficult to find just 50 objects although we think they tell the story of the war. As you tell the story of arts theobjects standing in story about race, militarization, soldier life, civilian life. Its also a story about connecting collecting and the New York Historical society as the trove of this cities lower from the revolutionary period to today. So i think its a double story. Lets start with her objects of the evening. Remarkably topic is aligned with current events. The
Virginia, having earned her, one of her m. A. s and phd at the university of virginia. At oberlin, she created the history design lab that allows students to develop scholarly projects involving methodological approaches that range from digital humanities, exhibit design, oral history, podcast, historical fiction and public history. Remember what i said earlier about our speakers and their commitment to mentorship and education. Shes the author of essays published in 2018 and 2019 in the civil war and transformation of american citizenship. As i was preparing this introduction, i read her work in the flagship journal civil war history, part of a roundtable discussion about new civil war revisionism. Her book manuscript, mentioned in your printed program at the women,ld of slavery, slavery and the boundaries of freedom in washington, d. C. Is now under contract, i am pleased to say. It explains how black women in the Nations Capital made claims to liberty during the civil war. It is fro