Grape & Canister
A round-up of Civil War news, books, videos, and an Otis pic
News
The Virginia General Assembly is considering cancelling the tax-exempt status for the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Richmond. The UDC occupies a prominent building just off the Arthur Ashe Boulevard. In the summer of 2020 their national headquarters building was severely damaged during the demonstrations that targeted Confederate monuments. Losing this status may force the UDC to abandon its headquarters.
The Valentine museum, also in Richmond, has just opened a new exhibit on the Lost Cause that features many of their prized collection of sculptures.
The exhibition is among the first and largest attempts by a Richmond cultural institution to explore the narrative that defined the city's post-Civil War history in the wake of the 2020 social justice protests.
Here is an interview with the curators. I really need to see this.
The city of Alexandria, Virginia has decided to rename four streets named in honor of Confederate leaders.
Why did Confederates lose the battle of Gettysburg? They were shopping at Walmart.
The John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia is hosting a one-day conference on the Second Manassas Campaign on April 20. Registration is free and it looks like a super lineup of historians.
Don’t forget to check out this year’s schedule for the Civil War Institute’s annual conference, which will take place in Gettysburg in June. It is by far the most exciting gathering of Civil War historians and serious students of the war that you will find anywhere.
Videos
John Heckman and Keith Harris are co-hosting a new series called “Off the Clock With Historians.” This week they talked with historian Gary Gallagher about a whole host of issues related to the Civil War.
Historian Tamika Nunley explores the history of Black women and their struggle to resist enslavement and the limits of justice available to them in the antebellum courtroom.
Actor Ed O’Neil learns that he has an ancestral connection to the Civil War.
New Additions to the Civil War Memory Library
Edda L. Fields-Black, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2024).
Allen C. Guelzo, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment (Knopf, 2024).
Harold Holzer, Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration (Dutton, 2024).
Otis
I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for reading.
Wow, that interview about the Valentine Museum's Sculpting History is great. What a powerful exhibit that must be given the history of the space and the artist. It so echoes everything you write about, Kevin, regarding context and understanding. I notice they plan to keep it as a semi-permanent exhibit so I hope that I can see it in the next couple of years on an east coast sojourn.
I think you and your readers will be interested in a book on Journalism in the Civil War Era by two media historians. I found the book revelatory. I posted an interview with the authors. https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/journalism-in-the-civil-war-era