Women's History Month was first "Women's History Week" which commenced on March 7, 1982. In 1987, Congress designated the entire month of March as "Women's History Month." Since then, the US President has proclaimed March as Women's History Month. This Women's History Month, we invite you to explore titles in Lauinger Library's collection about women's contributions during the Civil War.
Read about the two First Ladies of the Civil War, Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis, and learn about the story of Julia Dent Grant (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant). Other politically active women were Angelina Grimké Weld, abolitionist, political activist, and women's rights advocate and Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, orator, writer, and actress who rose to fame during the Civil War.
Not only prominent individuals but ordinary women fought in the Civil War in their own ways. Women also participated in the Civil War in different capacities from nurses and soldiers to spies and doctors. Well known spies were Pauline Cushman and Sarah Emma Edmonds and many others.
This is a small sampling of the resources the Library has about women and the Civil War. If you have questions or ideas, please contact American History Librarian Jieun Kang.