Brian Jordan ‘09, a cultural historian of the American Civil War and Ph.D. candidate at Yale University, will present a lecture on the marginalization of Union veterans after the Civil War March 20 at Gettysburg College.

The 7:30 p.m. lecture, “When Billy Came Marching Home: Union Veterans and the Trials of Homecoming,” will take place in Schmucker Hall’s Paul Recital Hall, located along North Washington Street. The talk is free and open to the public.

The lecture will also be available via livestream. 

http://www.gettysburg.edu/news_events/ustream/

The talk will explore the trials of homecoming faced by Union soldiers, and open up a dark corner of our Civil War past which is relevant to American society today, as new warriors return home from a conflict.

Jordan’s new book, “Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory, September 14, 1862,” will be available for purchase for $25, which includes tax. Jordan will be available to sign copies following the lecture.

Jordan is in his third year of work on a Ph.D. at Yale University, working with noted Civil War historian David W. Blight. He graduated as Valedictorian of the Gettysburg College Class of 2009, earning a B.A. in history and Civil War Era Studies. His current research focuses on questions of trauma and historical memory.

Jordan’s dissertation, “When Billy Came Marching Home: A Cultural History of Union Veterans,” explores the marginalization of Union veterans after the Civil War and the efforts of survivors to come to terms with their participation in the conflict. He is also the author of several scholarly articles, including “Living Moments: Union Veteran Amputees and the Embodied Memory of the Civil War,” which appeared in the June 2011 Civil War History.

The lecture is sponsored by the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute in partnership with the Sesquicentennial Planning Committee, ADA Committee, Civil War Era Studies Program, and Department of History.

This event is part of Gettysburg College’s American Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration. The College will sponsor events and programs throughout the anniversary. 2013 will mark the 150th anniversary of the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg, and President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. For more information, visit www.gettysburg.edu/civilwar2013 and www.gettysburgcivilwar150.com.

Pennsylvania College (now Gettysburg College) played a vital role in the Civil War, with over 200 alumni serving the Union or Confederacy, and the College’s Pennsylvania Hall functioning as an observation post and hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg. On November 19, 1863, College students and faculty processed to hear Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address at the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Earlier in the year, an 1851 graduate of the College, David Wills, had invited Lincoln to deliver a few appropriate remarks” at the cemetery’s dedication.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition. Alumni include Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate, and other distinguished scholars. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Nikki Rhoads, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803