What role did the Civil War play in shaping legendary frontier icons like Jesse James and George Armstrong Custer?
How did Thomas Nast’s Civil War cartoons help to pave the way for the modern political cartoon?
How many of our commonly held assumptions about Civil War battle tactics are actually myths?
These questions and more will be explored at the Civil War Institute’s (CWI) annual summer conference, taking place Friday, June 9 to Wednesday, June 14.
“Because we’re exploring the Civil War from all angles, there’s truly something for everyone, from longtime students of the war to those who are new to Civil War history,” explained CWI Associate Director Jill Ogline Titus.
The conference offers a mix of lectures, panel discussions, tours, and dine-ins to engage scholars, students, and the general public in a dialogue about the Civil War era.
“This year’s tour schedule particularly embodies the ‘something for everyone’ theme, as we’re balancing always-popular programs such as a staff ride and tours of Antietam and Gettysburg with new destinations like Mine Run, Mosby Country, and Cedar Mountain, which will take visitors to some highly significant but little known sites,” said Titus.
Back by popular demand this year are dine-ins—small group discussions meeting over meal times that are facilitated by members of the CWI faculty. Each group has a select theme or topic for discussion, as well as assigned readings shared before the conference, providing participants with in-depth, informal conversations with other conference attendees.
Among the notable presenters are historian, author, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner T.J. Stiles, whose biographies of George Armstrong Custer and Jesse James pull back the curtain on two 19th century icons whose postwar lives were deeply shaped by their experiences during the Civil War, and Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize winner Harold Holzer.
C-SPAN will be broadcasting live from the conference.
Anyone interested can follow along with the conference through the CWI’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, or follow #CWI2017.
