Capital dames : the Civil War and the women of Washington, 1848-1868
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kirtland Community College.
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0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kirtland Community College Library | E 628 .R634 2015 | 30775305490485 | General Collection | Available | - |
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062002761
- ISBN: 0062002767
- ISBN: 9780062002778
- ISBN: 0062002775
- ISBN: 9780062199287
-
Physical Description:
print
x, 494 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm - Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2015]
- Copyright: ©2015.
Content descriptions
General Note: | Map on lining papers. |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 423-492). |
Formatted Contents Note: | Meet the women of Washington, 1848-1856 -- Jessie runs for president but Harriet takes the White House and Mary Jane reports, 1856-1858 -- Varina leads and leaves as Abby drops by, 1859-1861 -- Rose goes to jail, Jessie goes to the White House, Dorothea goes to work, 1861 -- Rose is released, Clara goes to war, Louisa May briefly nurses, 1862 -- Lizzie reports on the action, Janet goes to camp, Louisa takes charge, 1863 -- Anna speaks, Jessie campaigns (again), Sojourner visits, 1864 -- One Mary leaves, one Mary hangs, and Lois writes about it all, 1865 -- Virginia and Varina return, Sara survives, Mary is humiliated, Kate loses, 1866-1868. |
Summary, etc.: | With the outbreak of the Civil War, the small, social Southern town of Washington, D.C. found itself caught between warring sides in a four-year battle that would determine the future of the United States. After the declaration of secession, many fascinating Southern women left the city, leaving their friends -- such as Adele Cutts Douglas and Elizabeth Blair Lee -- to grapple with questions of safety and sanitation as the capital was transformed into an immense Union army camp and later a hospital. With their husbands, brothers, and fathers marching off to war, either on the battlefield or in the halls of Congress, the women of Washington joined the cause as well. And more women went to the Capital City to enlist as nurses, supply organizers, relief workers, and journalists. Many risked their lives making munitions in a highly flammable arsenal, toiled at the Treasury Department printing greenbacks to finance the war, and plied their needlework skills at The Navy Yard -- once the sole province of men -- to sew canvas gunpowder bags for the troops. Sifting through newspaper articles, government records, and private letters and diaries -- many never before published -- Roberts brings the war-torn capital into focus through the lives of its formidable women. |
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BookList Review
Capital Dames : The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868
Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Roberts, (Founding Mothers, 2004, and Ladies of Liberty, 2008) provides another splendid female-centric slice of history. This time, to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, she focuses on the period from 1848 to 1868. During these momentous 20 years, Washington, D.C., was transformed from an insular political and social center into a bustling army camp and a massive military hospital. Roberts explores in depth the ways in which this transformation affected and shaped the women of the capital and, by extension, the women of America. Formerly consigned to roles of social and political belles or servants, Washington females of all classes rolled up their sleeves, taking on both small and large jobs in journalism, nursing, munitions, government, and social services. Viewing this evolution through the lens of a remarkable group of women, who thankfully left behind a substantial written record in the form of letters, diaries, articles, and books, Roberts illuminates how the harsh realities of the war changed the course of individual lives and permanently altered the course of American women's history.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal Review
Capital Dames : The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Emmy Award-winning political commentator Roberts (Ladies of Liberty; Founding Mothers) commemorates the sesquicentennial anniversary of the end of the Civil War with an exploration of the experiences and social, cultural, and political influences of women in war-torn Washington, DC. Covering the late 1840s through the late 1860s, this group biography focuses on 14 prominent political spouses and relatives, seven authors and journalists, and six activists and reformers, with first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, and Confederate spy Rose Greenhow among those featured. Roberts uses these women's intertwined stories to chronicle the war's impact on the capital city from their viewpoints while also describing the broader story of the conflict throughout the fractured nation from their perspectives. The author's extensive research relies heavily on government records, newspaper accounts, and personal letters and diaries, which gives this fresh look at Washington, DC during the Civil War era a sense of intimacy, immediacy, and originality. Roberts concludes her well-written, readable study with a lengthy bibliography and a fascinating epilog featuring summaries of the post-Civil War activities of many of the women portrayed. VERDICT History buffs who enjoyed and learned from Roberts's two previous books on the pivotal roles of women in early America will likely find this volume just as informative and accessible.-Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.