Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute has published its first book—one that chronicles a Union soldier’s wartime experience and his beliefs on war, politics and the homefront. “So ... Continue Reading McCormick Civil War Institute Publishes…
Artifact of the Quarter | March 2020 Carte-de-visite (cdv) of Captain William Fosgate, 14th New Hampshire Infantry
Among the artifacts recently acquired by MCWI is a carte-de-visite (cdv) of Captain William Fosgate, 14th New Hampshire Infantry. The image was taken by Kimball, a photographer in Concord, New ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Artifact of the Quarter | December 2019 Carte de visite of Sergeant Martin Luther Skillman, 123rd Ohio Infantry
There is a power in historic photographs of Civil War soldiers. While artifacts of our nation’s most tumultuous moment, they provide a visual connection to soldiers who are otherwise merely names on ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Publication of Note | December 2019 Clifton Johnson, “Battleground Adventures in the Civil War” (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915).
*Note in our March newsletter we promised that 2019 would be devoted to highlighting important works related to the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War era story published in the conflict’s immediate ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | December…
Civil War Institute Director Rendered Speechless By Donation Philadelphia woman donates collection of Civil War documents to Shenandoah University
The Johnston family recently donated wonderful artifacts from Union Army Private Robert Bradbury, who fought in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, to SU's McCormick Civil War Institute! MCWI Director, ... Continue Reading Civil War Institute Director Rendered…
Publication Of Note | June 2019
Aldace F. Walker, “The Vermont Brigade in the Shenandoah Valley, 1864” (Burlington, VT: The Free Press Association, 1869). *Note in our March newsletter we promised that 2019 would be devoted to ... Continue Reading Publication Of Note | June…
Artifact of the Quarter | June 2019
William W. Layton Collection, receipt from 1863. Throughout the course of MCWI’s 27 years, various items, including letters and other ephemera, have been donated to MCWI and housed in Shenandoah ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Go Virtual at Battle of Cool Spring Anniversary celebration highlights Civil War history through tours, augmented reality
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute is commemorating the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Cool Spring with tours, lectures and the unveiling of an augmented reality ... Continue Reading Go Virtual at Battle of…
One Artifact At A Time Shenandoah University Students Serve As Co-authors of Artifact-Driven History of Winchester
A group of Shenandoah University history majors are set to be published authors this year for their work on a book commemorating the 275th anniversary of the founding of Winchester, Virginia. The ... Continue Reading One Artifact At A Time…
Publication of Note | March 2019
John Quincy Adams, “Narrative of the Life of John Quincy Adams, When in Slavery, and Now as a Freeman” (Harrisburg, PA: Sieg, Printer and Stationer, 1872). Available free via Google Books. In the ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | March…
Artifact of the Quarter | March 2019
Built in 1840 the Frederick County Courthouse in Winchester, Virginia (now the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum operated by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation) is not only a place that ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Noyalas’ New Book Examines Race, Slavery & Emancipation Work To Be Published By University Press of Florida
The Director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., has received a contract from University Press of Florida (UPF) for his next book, “‘To Be Free Some ... Continue Reading Noyalas’ New Book Examines Race,…
Artifact of the Quarter | December 2018
One of the ways the Civil War became tangible for those who experienced it from the home front was through newspapers and illustrations that appeared in those papers. Among the items housed in the ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Publication of Note | December 2018
Angela M. Zombek, Ph.D., “Penitentiaries, Punishment, and Military Prisons: Familiar Responses to an Extraordinary Crisis during the American Civil War” (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2018). ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | December…
McCormick Civil War Institute Uncovers Little-Known History of Civil War New Journal Highlights Shenandoah Valley Stories and People
Shenandoah University's McCormick Civil War Institute illuminates some little-known history of the Shenandoah Valley with the release of volume two of its Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the ... Continue Reading McCormick Civil War Institute Uncovers…
Publication of Note | September 2018
“Reconstruction: A Concise History” (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018). $18.95 hardcover, www.oup.com. For decades Eric Foner’s “Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution” stood as the ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | September…
Artifact of the Quarter | September 2018
18th Connecticut Ribbon Among the artifacts added to the exhibition in the Lodge at Cool Spring is a ribbon for the 18th Connecticut Infantry’s reunion at Mystic Island, Connecticut, on Aug. 20, ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
154th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of Cool Spring Shenandoah University McCormick Civil War Institute Hosts Event, July 14
WINCHESTER, VA - Shenandoah University's McCormick Civil War Institute will host the 154th-anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Cool Spring on Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at ... Continue Reading 154th Anniversary Commemoration of the…
Artifact of the Quarter | June 2018
Shortly after Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute was established, William W. Layton donated a number of documents to the university’s McCormick Civil War Institute. Layton, who died ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Publication of Note | June 2018
“To Emancipate the Mind and Soul: Storer College, 1867-1955” (Harpers Ferry, WV: Harpers Ferry Park Association, 2017). $14.95 softcover, www.harpersferryhistory.org While historians have penned ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | June…
McCormick Civil War Institute Conference Hosts Annual Spring Conference, April 7 “Another Era in Our War Life: When the Home Front Became the Battle Front”
Shenandoah University McCormick Civil War Institute will host its annual spring conference, “Another Era in Our War Life: When the Home Front Became the Battle Front” on Saturday, April 7, in Hester ... Continue Reading McCormick Civil War Institute Conference…
Artifact of the Quarter | March 2018 Phoenix Shot Tower
While driving on I-83 in Baltimore, Maryland, one massive, legendary eyewitness to the Civil War rises prominently into the sky and is visible from miles away—the Phoenix Shot Tower. Standing 234 ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Publication of Note | March 2018 Richard A. Sauers, “The National Tribune Civil War Index” 3 vols.
Richard A. Sauers, comp., “The National Tribune Civil War Index” 3 vols. (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2017). $139.95 hardcover, www.savasbeatie.com. At the end of 2017, Savas Beatie, one of ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | March…
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Releases Inaugural Issue Of Its Civil War Journal Journal Of The Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era Is University’s First-Ever Academic, Peer-Reviewed Journal
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (CWI) has released its inaugural volume of the Journal Of The Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era. The journal is Shenandoah University’s ... Continue Reading Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War…
Artifact of the Quarter | December 2017 Horse’s Curb Chain at Cool Spring
Contributed by Shelby R. Shrader One of the greatest challenges for Union or Confederate forces during the Civil War was moving massive armies and all of the supplies necessary to keep those commands ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Publication of Note | December 2017 Edward L. Ayers, “The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America”
Edward L. Ayers, “The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America” (New York: Norton, 2017). $35 hardcover, www.wwnorton.com. Fourteen years ago one of our nation’s ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | December…
Publication of Note | September 2017 “The Civil War Memoirs of a Virginia Cavalryman”
Thomas P. Nanzig, ed., “The Civil War Memoirs of a Virginia Cavalryman” (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2016). $24.95 softcover, www.uapress.ua.edu First released in 2007, this paperback ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | September…
Artifact of the Quarter | September 2017 Spencer Repeating Rifle
Contributed by Shelby R. Shrader Invented by Christopher M. Spencer, the Spencer rifle was unlike any other firearm—save the Henry—used during the Civil War. With a magazine located in the rifle’s ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
University Releases Cool Spring Battlefield Guide and Receives Grant for Permanent Exhibit Grant Allows for Real Visitors’ Center Experience at the Cool Spring Lodge
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (CWI) recently released “Touring the Battle of Cool Spring.” The eight-page guide, which includes nine stops within the university’s Shenandoah ... Continue Reading University Releases Cool Spring Battlefield…
McCormick Civil War Institute And Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation Partner For Future Collaboration Provides Opportunities For A Wide Array of Projects Throughout The Shenandoah Valley National Historic District
Pictured above: Front row, from left to right: Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation CEO Keven M. Walker; Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons; Shenandoah University Vice President ... Continue Reading McCormick Civil War Institute And…
Publication of Note | March 2017 Brandon H. Beck's Winchester’s Three Battles: A Civil War Driving Tour Through Virginia’s Most War-Torn Town
Brandon H. Beck, "Winchester’s Three Battles: A Civil War Driving Tour Through Virginia’s Most War-Torn Town," Winchester, VA: Angle Valley Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0-9711950-6-6. $21.95 The site of ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | March…
CWI to Commemorate 153rd Anniversary of the Battle of Cool Spring
On Saturday, July 15, CWI will offer a series of programs at Shenandoah University’s River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield, commemorating the largest and costliest engagement fought in Clarke ... Continue Reading CWI to Commemorate 153rd Anniversary…
Artifact of the Quarter | March 2017 Can it Stop a Bullet?: Body Armor in the Civil War
While the notion of our armed forces wearing some form of body armor to protect them from bullets is a common thought today, it was a revolutionary one during the Civil War. This early form of a ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
CWI to Publish The Journal of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era
Shenandoah University has given approval to CWI to publish an annual journal: The Journal of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era. The Journal will consist of feature essays – shorter ... Continue Reading CWI to Publish The Journal…
Shenandoah Alumnus Begins Tenure As Director Of McCormick Civil War Institute Jonathan Noyalas Returns ‘Home’ To Lead Institute Dedicated To Civil War-Era History
Jonathan A. Noyalas ’01 has joined Shenandoah University as director of the university’s McCormick Civil War Institute (CWI). The institute, founded in 1994, supports teaching and research about the ... Continue Reading Shenandoah Alumnus Begins Tenure As…
Civil War Heroes & Villains
The lives and legacies of four of the Civil War’s most iconic names—Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Gen. George E. Pickett, and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant–are the focus of ... Continue Reading Civil War Heroes & Villains