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Teaching with Primary Sources—MTSU

PRIMARY SOURCE SET WOMEN IN THE CIVIL WAR

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Women played an active role in the Civil War. A handful disguised themselves as men and served as soldiers; some went to the front as nurses, relief workers, and “daughters of the regiment”; and countless women contributed from the home front. North and South, women kept farms and families together, provided supplies to the men in the field, and conveyed information as spies.

Women and their families made great sacrifices during the grueling war. As mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives, women prayed for the safe re-turn of their loved ones. Most women (and men) were shocked by the war’s terrible death and de-struction. Mourning became commonplace.

Within the Confederacy, many women’s worlds turned upside down. Some families struggled to get enough to eat after soldiers took what they needed from farms. Enslaved women sought their freedom behind Union lines and created new lives for themselves. Many white women became refu-gees, fleeing the fighting or Union occupation.

SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

Review these sources (or a selection) with stu-dents and create a list of all the women’s roles that are portrayed. Which roles are the most prevalent among the sources? The least?

Ask students to identify the source that sur-prised them the most and explain why.

Among the famous women portrayed, whom do students know the most about? Whom would they like to know more about?

Assign students a textual source and a visual source; ask them to explain which one taught them more about Civil War women.

Home guard. [Pictorial envelope] [n.d., detail]

FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: Drawings (Documentary) (search on “Civil

War drawings women”) Civil War Sheet Music Collection (search on

“women”) Abraham Lincoln Papers (search on “women”) Civil War Treasures from the New-York His-

torical Society (search on “women”) Primary Source Investigation—Civil War—

Harriet Beecher Stowe Women in the Civil War: Ladies, Contraband

and Spies (lesson plan) Meet Amazing Americans: Harriet Tubman

ALSO SEE: Shades of Gray and Blue: Reflections on Life in

Civil War Tennessee (search on “women”) Civil War and Reconstruction: Women’s Lives

(Tn4me from the Tennessee State Museum) Help is on the Way: Civil War Women and

Relief Work (lesson plan from TPS-MTSU) Occupied Home Front; Witnesses to Battle:

Part I and Part II (lesson ideas from the Ten-nessee Civil War National Heritage Area)

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Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-

1896 [ca. 1880]

An appeal for

peace. Sent to

Lieut. Gen.

Scott. [July

4,1861]

[Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with wife and

daughters holding saxhorn] [between 1861 and 1865]

[Private Edward A.

Cary of Company

I, 44th Virginia

Infantry Regiment,

in uniform and his

sister, Emma J.

Garland née Cary]

[between 1861 and

1862]

John H. Morgan & wife, C.S.A.

[between 1860 and 1870]

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Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman and staff with their families at Robert E. Lee’s home, Arlington House, Virginia [1861]

The Woman

in Battle

[1876]

[Harriet Tubman, full-length

portrait, standing with hands on

back of a chair] [between ca.

1860 and 1875]

Greenhow, Mrs. & Daughter (imprisoned in old Capitol Prison in Wash. D.C.) Confederate spy [between 1865 and 1880]

Antonia Ford

Willard (1838

-1871), Lace

cap, ca. 1863

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Clara Barton,

Carte-de-

visite album,

Tintype, ca.

1862

The Diary of Ho-ratio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. Vol-ume 3, January 1, 1864-May 30, 1865. May 24, 1865 [description of Clara Barton]. [Transcription; see final para-graph]

TEXTS: He has gone, and I have sent him [sheet music] [1863] Helen M. Linscott to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, November 14, 1864 (Seeks office) [1864]

(transcription) J. Andrews Harris to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, January 23, 1865 (Poor treatment of women em-

ployed by military contractors) [1865] (transcription) Extracts from documents in the office of the General Superintendent of Refugees and Freedmen:

headquarters, Memphis, Tennessee, March 1865 [1865] (See pp. 11-24 by Mrs. Canfield) Women of the war; their heroism and self-sacrifice. By Frank Moore. [1866] Woman’s work in the civil war: a record of heroism, patriotism and patience. By L.P. Brockett and

Mrs. Mary C. Vaughn. With an introduction, by Henry W. Bellows. [1867] Dixie after the War [1906]

[Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and

officers of the U.S. Sanitary Com-

mission] [1864 May [20]]

[Cedar Mountain, Va. Family group

before the house in which Gen.

Charles S. Winder (C.S.A.) died].

[1862 August]

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Pray, maiden, pray! [sheet music] [1864]

[Sojourner Truth, three-quarter length

portrait, standing, wearing spectacles,

shawl, and peaked cap, right hand resting

on cane] [Detroit], [1864]

Print # 11, Making clothes for the boys in the

army [Etching] [1863, detail]

A floral and fruit festival will be held at the Roxborough Lyceum Hall by the Roxborough Ladies' Aid Society! [Poster] [Sept. 23, 1863]

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My only support.

[Pictorial enve-

lope] [n.d., detail]

[Woman at

the helm of a

boat]

[between

1860 and

1865]

East Tennessee Citizens to Abra-ham Lincoln, July 1863 (Petition regard-ing affairs in East Tennessee) [July 1863] [Transcription]

[Cumberland Landing, Va. Group of

“contrabands” at Foller’s house] [1862 May 14]

James Hopkinson’s Plantation. [Image] [ca. 1862-1863]

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Glimpses at the Freedmen – Ther Freedmen’s Union Industrial School, Richmond, Va. / from a sketch by Jas E. Taylor. [1866]

[Freedmen’s school?, possibly in South Carolina] / Sam A. Cooley, photographer, Tenth Army Corps, Beaufort, S.C. [between 1865 and 1870]

Lizzie B. Bruce to Abraham Lincoln, Sunday, January 29, 1865 (Requests pass; endorsed by Francis P. Blair Sr.) [January 29, 1865] [Transcription]

[Unidentified girl in mourning dress hold-

ing framed photograph of her father as a

cavalryman with sword and Hardee hat]

[between 1861 and 1870]

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CITATIONS: Women in the Civil War

Teachers: Providing these primary source replicas without source clues may enhance the inquiry experience for students. This list of citations is supplied for reference purposes to you and your students. We have followed the Chicago Manual of Style format, one of the formats recommended by the Library of Congress, for each entry below, minus the access date. The access date for each of these entries is 11/9/12.

“Home guard. [Pictorial envelope].” Pictorial envelope. Joseph R. Hawley. From New-York Historical Society, Graphic Arts File-Civil War Envelopes. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(aj88001))

“Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-1896.” Photograph. [Ca. 1880]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photo-graphs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004672776/

“[Private Edward A. Cary of Company I, 44th Virginia Infantry Regiment, in uniform and his sister, Emma J. Garland nee Cary].” Photograph. Charles R. Rees, [between 1861 and 1862]. From Library of Con-gress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012645976/

“An appeal for peace. Sent to Lieut. Gen. Scott.” Broadside. The Women of Maryland, July 4, 1861. From Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/scsmbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(scsm000227))

“John H. Morgan & wife, C.S.A.” Photograph. [Between 1860 and 1870]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003004433/PP/

“[Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with wife and daughters holding saxhorn].” Photograph. [Between 1861 and 1865]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lilj/item/2011661674/

Lindsley, H.B. “[Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait, standing with hands on back of a chair].” Photo-graph. Between ca. 1860 and 1875. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003674596/

“Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman and staff with their families at Robert E. Lee’s home, Arlington House, Vir-ginia.” Photograph. [1861]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96508005/

“Woman in Battle.” Broadside. 1876. From Duke University, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/eaa:@field(DOCID+@lit(eaa000033))

“Greenhow, Mrs. & Daughter (imprisoned in old Capitol Prison in Wash. D.C.) Confederate spy.” Photo-graph. [Between 1865 and 1880]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/brh2003002195/PP/

“Antoinia Ford Willard (1838-1871), Lace cap, ca. 1863.” Lace cap. Ca. 1863. From Library of Congress, American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Memory. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm160.html

“[Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission].” Photograph. James B. Gard-ner, 1864 May [20]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwar:@field(NUMBER+@band(cwp+4a39585))

“Clara Barton, Carte-de-visite album, Tintype, Ca., 1862.” Photograph. Ca. 1862. From Library of Con-gress, American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Memory. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm072.html

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“The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. Volume 3, January 1, 1864-May 30, 1865. May 25, 1865.” Diary entry. May 25, 1865. From Library of Congress, Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtaft&fileName=mtaft3/mtaftmtaft3.db&recNum=122

“[Cedar Mountain, Va. Family group before the house in which Gen. Charles S. Winder (C.S.A.) died].” Photograph. Timothy H. O’Sullivan, 1862 August. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Divi-sion. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwar:@field(NUMBER+@band(cwp+4a39506))

Rive, C., composer. He has gone, and I have sent him. Sheet music. Cincinnati: John Church, Jr., 1863. From Library of Congress, Performing Arts Encyclopedia. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200001292/default.html

Linscott, Helen M., to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, November 14, 1864 (Seeks office) (transcription). From Library of Congress, The Abraham Lincoln Papers. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mal:@field(DOCID+@lit(d3829600))

Harris, J. Andrews, to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, January 23, 1865 (Poor treatment of women em-ployed by military contractors) (transcription). From Library of Congress, The Abraham Lincoln Papers.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mal:@field(DOCID+@lit(d4017900))

Extracts from Documents in the Office of the General Superintendent of Refugees and Freedmen: Headquarters, Mem-phis, Tennessee, March, 1865. Memphis, Tenn.: Freedmen Press Print., 1865 From Library of Congress, African American Pamphlet Collection. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbaapcbib:@field(NUMBER+@band(rbaapc+31500))

Moore, Frank. Women of the War; Their Heroism and Self-sacrifice. Hartford, Conn.: S.S. Scranton & Co.; Chicago: R.C. Treat [etc., etc.], 1866. From Library of Congress, The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ncpm:@field(DOCID+@lit(ULA17059228))

Brockett, L.P., and Mrs. Mary C. Vaughan. Woman’s Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism

and Patience. Philadelphia: Zeigler, McCurdy & Co.; Boston [etc.]: R.H. Curran, 1867. From Library of

Congress, The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/

ncpm:@field(DOCID+@lit(ULA17059228))

Avary, Myrta (Lockett). Dixie After the War. Book. New York: Doubleday, Page & company, 1906. From

Library of Congress. http://lccn.loc.gov/06029042.

“Pray, maiden, pray! [sheet music].” Sheet music. A.J. Turner, 1864. From Library of Congress, Perform-

ing Arts Encyclopedia. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200002612/default.html

“Print # 11, Making clothes for the boys in the army [Etching].” Etching. Adalbert John Volck, 1863. From New-York Historical Society, Confederate War Etchings. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(ab01013))

“[Sojourner Truth, three-quarter length portrait, standing, wearing spectacles, shawl, and peaked cap, right hand resting on cane].” Photograph. [1864]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97513239/

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“A floral and fruit festival will be held at the Roxborough Lyceum Hall by the Roxborough Ladies’ Aid Society! [Poster].” Poster. King & Baird, Sept. 23, 1863. From New-York Historical Society, Civil War Posters Collection. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(ac03249))

“James Hopkinson’s Plantation. [Image].” Photograph. Henry P. Moore, ca. 1862-1863. From New-York Historical Society, War of the Rebellion, Edisto Album. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(aa02036))

“East Tennessee Citizens to Abraham Lincoln, July 1863 (Petition regarding affairs in East Tennessee).” Letter. 1863. From Library of Congress, The Abraham Lincoln Papers. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/252/2522700/malpage.db&recNum=0

“[Cumberland Landing, Va. Group of “contrabands” at Foller’s house].” Photograph. James F. Gibson, 1862 May 14. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000055/PP/

“[Woman at the helm of a boat].” Drawing. Alfred R. Waud, [between 1860 and 1865]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004660962/

“My only support. [Pictorial envelope].” Pictorial envelope. From the New-York Historical Society, Graphic Arts File-Civil War Envelopes. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(aj88005))

“Lizzie B. Bruce to Abraham Lincoln, Sunday, January 29, 1865 (Requests pass; endorsed by Francis P. Blair Sr.).” Jan. 29, 1865. From Library of Congress, The Abraham Lincoln Papers. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/403/4032900/malpage.db&recNum=0

“[Freedmen’s school?, possibly in South Carolina] / Sam A. Cooley, photographer, Tenth Army Corps, Beaufort, S.C.” Photograph. Samuel A. Cooley, [between 1865 and 1870]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/gld/item/2010647795/

“Glimpses at the Freedmen – The Freedmen’s Union Industrial School, Richmond, Va. / from a sketch by Jas E. Taylor.” Print: wood engraving. James E. Taylor, 1866. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photo-graphs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98501491/

“[Unidentified girl in mourning dress holding framed photograph of her father as a cavalryman with sward

and Hardee hat].” Photograph. [Between 1861 and 1870]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photo-

graphs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010648759/