History on Display: An Unexpected Civil War Museum

Several months ago I received an email inviting me to speak about Civil War nurses at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha Wisconsin. Betraying the biases of someone who grew up in Missouri, with Civil War history in her back yard,* I thought it sounded a little odd. Why, I wondered, would Kenosha have a…

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From the Archives: Did Civil War Nurses Wear Uniforms?

Dear Marginalia: I’m coming close to the deadline and close to the end of the book. I’m also in Kenosha, Wisconsin, speaking at a Civil War medicine weekend at the Civil War museum here. ( Saturday, 2/17, 1 PM–stop on by if you’re in the neighborhood!) It’s a lovely way to hit the road for…

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Harriet Tubman’s Civil War

Harriet Tubman is famous for leading slaves north to freedom in the decade prior to the American Civil War: acts that required courage, daring, stealth, and organizational skills.* After the Civil War began in 1861, she used the skills she developed as conductor on the Underground Railroad on behalf of the Union Army. In the…

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