The Lincoln Memorial Shrine will honor Women’s History Month on Saturday, March 28 at 11am with a presentation by Louisa Brandt on the contributions of women in California to the Civil War. Brandt’s program, “Improving Californian Respectability: Women’s Participation in the Civil War from the Golden State,” will take place in A.K. Smiley Public Library’s Assembly Room and on Zoom.
The presentation will detail how women played an important role in California’s involvement in the war, even though there were far fewer women than men in the state at the time. Brandt will show how women supported both Union and Confederate causes and helped bring a sense of respectability to their communities. Their efforts also helped change California’s reputation from the rough and chaotic days of the Gold Rush to a state that cared about national issues. The program is based on Brandt’s dissertation, “A Full Measure of Devotion: California’s Exceptional Commitment to the Union During the Civil War.”
This program is free and open to the public thanks to the generous contributions of donors to A.K. Smiley Public Library. Follow this link to access the program on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88443917575?pwd=VZ3AM11kMtUXJmmRKVvwOdXCshbxVP.1. Registration is not required. Program subject to change.
If you have any questions, call (909)798-7632 or email heritage@akspl.org. Please visit www.lincolnshrine.org for up-to-date information.
About the Presenter:
Louisa Brandt is a PhD Candidate in history at the University of California, Davis. Her dissertation is entitled “A Full Measure of Devotion: California’s Exceptional Commitment to the Union During the Civil War.” As a born and raised Californian, she has long been interested in local history, and her study of the Civil War is drawn out of this search for community stories shedding light on national narratives. She also has a Master of Arts from University of Oklahoma, and Bachelors of Arts in history and art history from University of California, Davis.