Leading Civil War Historian To Speak

March 31, 2000

University Park, Pa. --- One of the country's leading historians of the U.S. South and the Civil War Era will share insights on how soldiers of this time dealt with death in a lecture scheduled for April 10 at 7:30 p.m. in 121 Sparks on Penn State’s University Park campus.

Drew Gilpin Faust, the Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, will speak on "Peculiar Conditions and Necessities: The Civil War Soldier and the Art of Dying," as part of the Steven and Janice Brose Distinguished Lecture Series in the Civil War Era.

The talk will consider how the "peculiar conditions" of the battlefield challenged accepted notions of the good death, and generated efforts on the part of soldiers and civilians to preserve customary ways of death and dying. According to Professor Faust, persons living through this cataclysmic time tried to cling to traditional rituals surrounding death even though the conditions of war made that all but impossible.

Professor Faust has amassed an impressive array of research in the Civil War Era that has earned her acclaim as one of the nation's leading authorities on the period. She has been known for her studies of the intellectual content of Southern conservatism, pro-slavery ideology, gender, and Confederate nationalism. Her most recent book, "Mothers of Invention," explored the experiences of upper-class women in the Confederate South. It has won numerous prizes, including the Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians, the Avery Craven Prize of the Organization of American Historians, the Jefferson Davis Award of the Museum of the Confederacy, and a mention by The New York Times as Notable Book of the Year.

"We are thrilled to have a scholar of Professor Faust's stature for this event," noted Dr. William Blair, director of the Civil War Era Center in the Department of History. "She is one of those intellectuals who not only has helped shape how we look at the middle portion of the nineteenth century but also a gifted speaker who is in high demand. Whether buff or scholar, all will benefit from hearing her presentation on the culture of death and dying."

After the lecture, the free event also will feature a book signing by the author and a reception with refreshments. Sponsored by the Civil War Era Center, this is the second year for the Brose Lecture. The series was established by an endowment from Steven Brose, a graduate of Penn State in political science, and his wife, Janice, who also attended the university.

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