Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., director of Shenandoah’s McCormick Civil War Institute, recently published his book “Slavery and Freedom in the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era.” Officially ... Continue Reading Noyalas’ New Book Details African…
App Uses Augmented Reality To Recreate History ‘Through Their Eyes’ Provides In-Depth Look at Battle of Cool Spring
A new app that recreates scenes from the 1864 Battle of Cool Spring is now available for download. Through Their Eyes is a collaboration between Shenandoah’s McCormick Civil War Institute and the ... Continue Reading App Uses Augmented Reality To…
Check out C-SPAN for Episodes on American History Shenandoah Historian Jonathan Noyalas Speaks on Civil War-Related Topics
Throughout March, C-SPAN’s American History TV has been featuring presentations in which Director of the McCormick Civil War Institute Jonathan Noyalas, ’01, M.A., talks about various Shenandoah ... Continue Reading Check out C-SPAN for Episodes…
Publication of Note | March 2021 James M. Dalzell, "Private Dalzell: His Autobiography, Poems and Comic War Papers" (Cincinnati, OH: Robert Clarke & Co., 1888).
*Throughout 2021 the “Publication of Note” portion of the newsletter will highlight some of our director’s favorite histories and reminiscences published in the immediate decades following the Civil ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | March…
SU Selected to Join in Nationwide Project About Slavery Effort Will Highlight the Legacies of Enslavement in America
On Monday, Feb. 8, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) announced Shenandoah University as one of a handful of higher education institutions in the U.S. that will help in a multiyear project on ... Continue Reading SU Selected to Join in…
Publication of Note | December 2020 William H. Runge, ed. “Four Years in the Confederate Artillery: The Diary of Private Henry Robinson Berkeley” (Richmond: Virginia Historical Society, 1991).
*Throughout 2020 the “Publication of Note” portion of the newsletter will highlight some of our director’s favorite regimental histories or collections of published primary sources. A native of ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | December…
Artifact of the Quarter | September 2020 Tintype of Private Harrison E. White
Among the artifacts recently donated to MCWI was a tintype of Private Harrison E. White. Born in Oneida County, New York, in either 1840 or 1841, White enlisted in Co. M, 2nd New York Heavy Artillery, ... Continue Reading Artifact of the Quarter |…
Publication of Note | September 2020 Mary E. Johnson, ed. “From a ‘Whirlpool of Death’… to Victory.” (Charleston, WV: West Virginia History, 2002).
*Throughout 2020 the “Publication of Note” portion of the newsletter will highlight some of our director’s favorite regimental histories or collections of published primary sources. Forty years after ... Continue Reading Publication of Note | September…
McCormick Civil War Institute Publishes Its First Book ‘So Much to Say’ Uses 29 Donated Letters to Tell Union Soldier’s Story
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 |…