Women on the Border: Maryland Perspectives of the Civil War

During the 2011-2012 academic year Special Collections of the University of Maryland Libraries commemorate the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a Symposium on "Women and the Civil War in Maryland" and a Maryland Room Gallery exhibition entitled "Women on the Border: Maryland Perspectives of the Civil War."

The symposium, which will take place on Friday, April 27, 2012, brings together local and national scholars. Thavolia Glymph, Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at Duke University, will present the keynote address. Please follow the symposium link in the navigation bar above for more information about the symposium and to view the symposium program.

The exhibition seeks to demonstrate the importance of viewing American Civil War history through the lens of women's and gender history; to illustrate the particularities of living within the "border state" of Maryland; and to promote a deeper understanding of how historical documents are preserved, used, and interpreted. In addition, the exhibition showcases some of the University Libraries' rare and manuscript materials related to the Civil War, almost all of which are from the University Libraries' Special Collections. This exhibition focuses on the lives and experiences of ordinary women living in the state of Maryland during the war, using letters, diaries, photographs, sheet music, rare books, and other special collections materials as sources.

A companion exhibit entitled "A College Divided: Maryland Agricultural College and the Civil War" is also on display in the Audrey Armistead Ruckert Reception Foyer of Hornbake Library. This exhibit highlights the impact the Civil War had on the Maryland Agricultural College, then the name of the university's College Park campus, by exploring the varied roles played by students, stockholders, faculty, and administrators, on both sides of the conflict.

The Civil War had a profound impact on the state of Maryland and the United States. We encourage visitors to take advantage of both of these exhibitions in Hornbake Library.

View the online version of the "Women on the Border" exhibition.