150 Years Later, What Is The Legacy Of The Civil War?

DANBURY — Four Western Connecticut State University historians will share their perspectives at a public forum and the Ruth A. Haas Library will display WCSU Archive materials from the period in the WCSU commemoration during April of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.

Faculty members of the WCSU department of history and non-Western cultures will present a panel discussion on “The Legacy of Our Civil War: 150 Years After Fort Sumter” at 11 am on Tuesday, April 12, at the library, located on the university’s midtown campus near the corner of Osborne Street and Fifth Avenue. Participants will include Dr Kevin Gutzman, Dr Leslie Lindenauer, Dr Marcy May, and Dr Burton Peretti.

The April 12 panel discussion will cover a wide range of themes related to the Civil War legacy from the Union and Confederate states’ perspectives. Dr Peretti will address the national impact of the war while Dr Gutzman will focus on the war’s effect on the South, surveying its constitutional, political, economic, social, and religious impacts.

Dr May’s comments will offer perspectives on the war’s impact on the people of the South and North, with special emphasis on how the war affected community life in the greater Danbury area. Dr Lindenauer will describe and compare how the Civil War is memorialized today, both within Connecticut and across the United States.

Admission is free and open to the public.

An exhibition of letters, photographs, newspapers, and period literature from the Civil War and its immediate aftermath will be on view April 1–30 at the library. Featured historical items have been selected from holdings of the University Archives and Special Collections, cosponsor with the department of history and non-Western cultures for the commemorative programs during April. The exhibit is open for public viewing during library hours: Monday through Thursday, 8 am to 11 pm; Friday, 8 am to 4 pm; Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm; and Sunday, 2 to 10 pm.

“The purpose of the panel and exhibit is to mark this important anniversary — the beginning of the Civil War,” said WCSU Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Brian Stevens. “This anniversary is particularly resonant today as we watch civil wars and revolutions erupting in the Middle East. These programs provide an opportunity to look at an historical event not as static, but rather as evolving in our collective consciousness, where meanings and perceived ‘truths’ can shift depending on the background and the period in time of the person looking at the event.”

For more information, contact Dr Stevens at stevensb@wcsu.edu or 203-837-8992.