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Archive: February 2013 (7 Posts)

Image of Frances L. Clatin dressed as a soldier with firearm

Women Soldiers in the Civil War, Part 2: Their Service Remembered in Library of Congress Primary Sources

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

At least 400 women served as soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and explored why they joined and how they managed to pass as men. Primary sources from the Library of Congress chronicle the experiences of some of those women, and allow us to examine how they were remembered after their service.

Image from newspaper article on women soldiers with drawing of women wearing military cap

Women Soldiers in the Civil War, Part 1: Going Behind the Gender Lines

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Women filled a variety of roles in the Civil War. In addition to women who served as spies, daughters of regiments, cooks, laundresses, and nurses, approximately 400 posed as male soldiers. So, who were these hundreds of women soldiers? Why did they join? And how did they manage to do it?

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Women’s History Month: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Suffragist March of 1913 with Primary Sources

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

On March 3, 1913, thousands of demonstrators marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in a call for women’s suffrage. Primary sources from the Library of Congress can help students not only see the size and grandeur of this historic parade, but also go behind the scenes to examine the plans and promotional strategies of its organizers.

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln: The Writer and Abolitionist Remembers the President in Library of Congress Primary Sources

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

African American History Month is a perfect time to celebrate the abolitionist efforts of white and black Americans alike, and to examine the relationship between the Emancipation Proclamation’s author and one of the greatest American abolitionists.