The Bossier Parish Library Historical Center at 2206 Beckett Street in Bossier City will host a new program in the Readings in Literature and Culture (RELIC) series entitled “Making Sense of the American Civil War.”
It is a series of conversations exploring different facets of the Civil War as a national experience, informed by reading the words written or spoken by powerful voices from the past and scholarly views from the present.
The program is free and open to the public and will be held on Thursdays from 6-7:45 p.m. in the Historical Center meeting room beginning on September 12 and concluding on October 17 for a total of six sessions. The sessions will be led by Dr. Stephen Webre, Chair of the Department of History at Louisiana Tech University.
“This new reading and discussion program is distinct from the existing RELIC program entitled ‘Battleground Louisiana,’ which is a program that is entirely focused on events and experiences within our state,” James Segreto, Director of Readings in Literature and Culture, pointed out. He added, “While that program has been very popular and successful in getting Louisiana’s readers to appreciate the important role played by Louisiana in the war, ‘Making Sense of the American Civil War’ compels us to…evaluate and understand the impact of the Civil War on the United States of America as a whole. After all, the America in which we live is inconceivable without the transforming events of 1861-1865…”
Texts include: March, by Geraldine brooks, James McPherson’s Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam, and the anthology America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries, edited by Edward Ayers of the University of Richmond. The reading list includes works of historical fiction and scholarly interpretation, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biographical sketches and short stories. Readings also include an introductory essay, which provides context for the program sessions.
Those interested in attending should register in advance at the Historical Center or by calling the center at 746-7717. Spaces are limited.
“Making Sense of the American Civil War” has been made possible through funding by the Bossier Parish Library. It is sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. It is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
