Women in the CW: An Encyclopedia

[vbetts]

Much to my surprise and delight, Texas Tech University actually shipped me a 2004 book on interlibrary loan that I thought wouldn't circulate at all--Harper, Judith E. _Women During the Civil War: An Encyclopedia_. New York: Routledge, 2004. 472 pp.; bibliography pp. 433-448. Here are the topics. If you were handed a short answer/identify and give the significance of test, how would you rate?

Abolitionists
African-American Women
--Free African-American Women
--Enslaved Women
Agricultural Women
Alcott, Louisa May
Anthony, Susan B.
Antietam (Sharpsburg), Battle of
Artists
Barton, Clara
Battle of the Handkerchiefs
Bickerdyke, Mary Ann
Blalock, Malinda Pritchard
Bowser, Mary Elizabeth
Boyd, Belle
Bread Rebellions
Brown, Clara
Brownell, Kady Southwell
Businesswomen
Camp Life
Carroll, Anna Ella
Cary, Mary Ann Shadd
Cashier, Albert D. J. (Jennie Hodgers)
Catholic Nuns
Chesnut, Mary Boykin
Child, Lydia Maria
Contraband Relief Association
Contraband Women
Coppin, Fanny Jackson
Courtship and Marriage
Cumming, Kate
Cushman, Pauline
Davis, Rebecca Harding
Davis, Varina Howell
Diaries
Dickey, Sarah
Dickinson, Anna
Dickinson, Emily
Dix, Dorothea
Doctors
Draft Riots
Edmonds, Sarah Emma
Edmondson, Belle
Education
Etheridge, Annie
Evans, Augusta Jane
Family Life
--Reproduction and Birth Control
--Childrearing
Fern, Fanny
Fort Sumter
Forten, Charlotte
Fremont, Jessie Benton
General Order No. 28
Gettysburg, Battle of
Gibbons, Abby Hopper
Girlhood and Adolescence
Government Girls
Greenhow, Rose O’Neal
Guerrilla War
Gunboat Societies
Hale, Sarah Josepha
Hamilton, Gail
Harper, Frances Watkins
Haviland, Laura Smith
Hawks, Esther Hill
Hopkins, Juliet Opie
Hospital Ships
Howe, Julia Ward
Immigrant Women
Industrial Women
--Sewing Women
--Ordnance Workers
Invasion and Occupation
--Occupation
Jacobs, Harriet
Keckley, Elizabeth
Kemble, Fanny
Larcom, Lucy
LeConte, Emma
Lewis, Edmonia
Lincoln, Mary Todd
Literary Women
Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice
McCord, Louisa Cheves
Mexican-American Women
Military Women
Mitchell, Maria
Morgan, Sarah
Mormon Women
Mountain Charley
Native American Women
--California’s Indian Wars
--Native American Refugees
--Sioux Uprising of 1862
--Bear River Massacre
--The “Long Walk”
--The Sand Creek Massacre
Nurses
Patriotism
Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer
Pember, Phoebe Levy
Phillips, Eugenia Levy
Pleasant, Mary Ellen
Prostitutes
Ream, Vinnie
Refugees
Religion
Remond, Sarah Parker
Roswell Women
Sanitary Fairs
Secession
Sherman’s March to the Sea
Slater, Sarah Gilbert
Slavery and Emancipation
--Emancipation
Soldiers’ Aid Societies
Spies and Espionage
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Surratt, Mary
Swisshelm, Jane Grey
Taylor, Susie Baker King
Teachers of the Freedpeople
Tompkins, Sally
Treasury Girls
Truth, Sojourner
Tubman, Harriet
Turchin, Nadine Lvova
United States Christian Commission
United States Sanitary Commission
Van Lew, Elizabeth
Velazquez, Loreta Janeta
Vicksburg
Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta
Walker, Mary Edwards
Western Women
Women’s Central Association of Relief
Woman’s National Loyal League
Women and Politics
Women’s Rights Movement
Zakrzewska, Marie

Each article has cross references and 1-4 sources. At the time of the war, nobody would recognize all of these names, but looking back it's an interesting mix of people, topics, and organizations. More reading to do!

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Women in the CW: An Encyclopedia

Much to my surprise and delight, Texas Tech University actually shipped me a 2004 book on interlibrary loan that I thought wouldn't circulate at all--Harper, Judith E. _Women During the Civil War: An Encyclopedia_. New York: Routledge, 2004. 472 pp.; bibliography pp. 433-448. Here are the topics. If you were handed a short answer/identify and give the significance of test, how would you rate?

Each article has cross references and 1-4 sources. At the time of the war, nobody would recognize all of these names, but looking back it's an interesting mix of people, topics, and organizations. More reading to do!

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

Vicki,

I also have the book and will be reviewing it for the summer issue of the SWCW newsletter. I have found the book impressive and the extensive bibliography is great.

[KarinTimour]

Re: Women in the CW: An Encyclopedia

I'm very much looking forward to this -- the list included nearly everyone I could think of -- only ones I didn't see were:

Anne Wittenmeyer and the Keokuk (Iowa) Soldier's Aid Society (instrumental in early Western women's efforts to funnel resources to Western troops, especially Iowa men up and down the Mississippi),

the Grimke sisters, though I'm sure they are included under "Abolitionists."

Lucy Holcomb Pickens? The Face on the Confderate currency?

Constance Cary? Hetty Cary Pegrem?

With the exception of Mrs. Wittenmeyer, these are all relative quibbles. The book sounds like a fantastic resource,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Camp Hats and Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[vbetts]

Re: Women in the CW: An Encyclopedia

I thought Annie Wittenmyer deserved her own article, too, but she does show up on two pages of the USCC along with the Keokuk Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society, and on one page of the USSC.

The Grimke Sisters do not appear at all, although Francis J. Grimke is mentioned as marrying Charlotte Forten.

No Lucy Holcolb Pickens.

Constance Cary Harrison appears in one quote, and in a discussion of the ANV battle flag. Hetty is also mentioned with the flag.

I would have liked a line or two on Carrie Bell Sinclair under "literary women," and possibly Mollie Moore. I just looked up Kate Stone in the index and found "As Kate Stone of Virginia explained, "We should make a stand for our rights--and a nation fighting for its own homes and liberty cannot be overwhelmed." Oops!!! Louisiana and Texas are about as far as you can get from Virginia in the Confederacy. While General Order No. 28 (New Orleans) rated its own article, General Order No. 11 (Missouri) was not even mentioned in the article on Refugees.

I may think of a few more omissions/corrections as I make my way through the book. I sure do wish my library could afford to buy it, though.

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Women in the CW: An Encyclopedia

I may think of a few more omissions/corrections as I make my way through the book. I sure do wish my library could afford to buy it, though.

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net[/QUOTE]

Vicki,

I've seen some inaccuries but I expect those came from the secondary sources she used and I wished she had included some notable women also. I realize that she could not include everyone that researchers would like her to discuss. While it isn't perfect, the book does give more coverage to mid-19th century women than most other books do, and if the reader wishes to learn more about a particular entry, the author does provide specific sources to that subject or woman.

Some entries that I wanted to learn more about made me start a list of "books to get and people and subjects to research." Ah, maybe in my next lifetime, I'll have more time to research them.

My main problem with the book was the price at $95 and that is steep for any individual, but it is not out of line for a textbook.

[Drygoods]

Re: Women in the CW: An Encyclopedia

If it's got Fanny Fern AND Mary Boykin Chestnut, it's got to be a great book! :D
Just my two cents cast in the pot.
Mfr,
Judith Peebles