Freedmen's Bureau in Washington: Need Help? Move.
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The post-Civil War work of the Freedmen’s Bureau was curtailed from the start.
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The "Scribbling Women" at Pfaff's
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In this second post about Pfaff’s, a 19th century Bohemian hang-out in New York City, I look at five women who wrote.
Read MoreThe Women at Pfaff's
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For about five years, in the last 1850s and early 1860s, Pfaff’s was the place to be. Who were the women there?
Read MoreInauguration of 1861
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This past week, I’ve been thinking a lot about Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration in 1861.
Read MoreSemi-Intersecting Lives in mid-1840s New York City: Margaret Fuller, Mathew Brady, and Edgar Allen Poe
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The lives of Margaret Fuller, Mathew Brady, and Edgar Allen Poe—in a compressed bit of Manhattan and a compressed bit of time.
Read MoreRenaming Army Bases: Long Overdue, On the Cusp
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Will the 10 remaining Army bases named for Confederates finally be renamed? As of mid-December, the bill awaits the president’s signing or veto.
Read MoreHarriet Jacobs, Teacher
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Harriet Jacobs started a school in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1864. It wasn’t easy.
Read MoreBack to School--in the 1840s and 1850s
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Starting the school year—the 1844-45 school year, that is.
Read MoreFrederick Douglass and the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society
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The Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, the group that sponsored Frederick Douglass’s famous July 4 speech, raised money, held lectures, hid fugitives—and remembered to serve refreshments at their monthly meetings.
Read MoreWomen in the Civil War: Two Books and a Zoom Talk
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When I moderated a History Author talk on Zoom, I spoke with two authors with very different ways to approach the topic of women in the Civil War.
Read MoreThe Power of Diaries: Interview with Jane Perry, Author of White Snake Diary
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Author (and diary-keeper) Jane Perry shares views on diaries: from “ internal wrestling, or attempting to figure out something, to connecting with people.”
Read MoreJulia Wilbur's Diaries and Letters--Now Digitized!
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Would you like to read Julia Wilbur’s original diaries and letters? Now you can, from your own computer.
Read MoreHarriet Jacobs in Edenton, North Carolina
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Harriet Jacobs hid in an enclosure 9 feet by 7 feet in Edenton, NC, which we visited last week.
Read MoreWilliam Cooper Nell and Lydia Maria Child: Two Bostonians Who Helped Harriet Jacobs
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Connecting Bostonians William Cooper Nell and Lydia Maria Child with Harriet Jacobs.
Read MoreContraband and Freedmen's Cemetery Memorial
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A presentation by Fran Bromberg about the creation, forgetting, and rededication of the cemetery on South Washington Street
Read MoreSteamboats Across the Potomac
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Fortunately, a much calmer boat ride to Nats Park from the Alexandria waterfront last week than in October 1862.
Read MoreNew York City: Work, Play, and Inspiration
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A trip to New York to learn about biography-writing and work on my next project!
Read MoreThe Black Military Experience in the Civil War
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A fascinating talk by Leslie Rowland, director of the Freedmen & Southern Society Project, on the Black Military Experience during the Civil War—drawn from National Archives documents.
Read MoreTalking about Writing with Pamela Toler, Author of Women Warriors
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Pamela Toler, author of Women Warriors, explains how she organized research that spanned epochs, continents, and personalities.
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