“The Spirit of Freedom”: Preserving the Civil War’s Emancipationist Legacy in the Shenandoah Valley: On Tuesday, September 20th at 7:00 p.m. EST, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (MCWI) will host a presentation and panel discussion in Hester Auditorium revealing some of the initial findings of its research into Emancipation celebrations in the Shenandoah Valley in the decades after the Civil War and the ways in which African Americans contested the Lost Cause. This research is part of a three-year project started by MCWI in January 2021 as an affiliate member of the Council for Independent Colleges Legacies of Slavery Project. Panelists will include Jonathan A. Noyalas, ’22 MA (Director of the McCormick Civil War Institute), Stephen Longenecker, PhD (Professor Emeritus, Bridgewater College), Caitlyn Graulau (SU History major), Brennan Komelasky (SU History major), and Steven Stabler (SU History graduate ’22). This event will take place in-person and also be broadcast via Zoom. While there is no pre-registration if you plan to attend in-person, those wishing to attend via Zoom must email jnoyalas01@su.edu no later than September 15, 5 p.m. EST. For any additional information, contact Jonathan A. Noyalas at jnoyalas01@su.edu.