Top: Dr. Mark Schantz, Birmingham-Southern College provost and professor of history, will address “Why Did So Many Men Die in the American Civil War?” in the Falany Performing Arts Center on Reinhardt’s Waleska, Ga., campus, on Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. Dr. Kenneth Wheeler (center) and Dr. David Parker (bottom) will lead “Making Sense of the American Civil War,” in Canton, Ga., on Sept. 18, Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Oct. 30, and Nov. 13, 2012 (alternating Tuesdays) at 7 p.m. in the Reinhardt Room of the G. Cecil Pruett Community Center Family YMCA, 151 Waleska St., Canton, Ga., 30114.  The series is free and open to the public.

Civil War Buffs:  Mark Your Fall Calendars for the 2012 Civil War Lecture and Book Discussions hosted by Reinhardt

Reinhardt University will host a series of book discussions this fall on the Civil War. The kickoff lecture will be “Why Did So Many Men Die in the American Civil War?” to be given by Dr. Mark Schantz, provost and professor of history from Birmingham-Southern College, in the Falany Performing Arts Center on Reinhardt’s Waleska, Ga., campus, on Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. The lecture, sponsored by the Georgia Humanities Council, is free and open to the public.

Schantz’s lecture will be based on his book, “Awaiting the Heavenly Country: The Civil War and America’s Culture of Death” (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008), which explores how a belief in the afterlife allowed Americans to better cope with the reality of 600,000 wartime deaths.  See book review >

Dr. Kenneth Wheeler, a Reinhardt University history professor, has planned the lecture and series.  “I am thrilled that a historian as distinguished as Dr. Schantz is coming to Cherokee County to help us kick off the book discussion series,” Wheeler said.  Schantz will also be included in a PBS show, Death and the Civil War, to be aired on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m.

“Making Sense of the American Civil War” – National Project

The lecture will introduce “Making Sense of the American Civil War,” a five-part reading and discussion series being held across the U.S. to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The discussions will be hosted in Canton, Ga., by Wheeler and Dr. David Parker of Kennesaw State University on Sept. 18, Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Oct. 30, and Nov. 13, 2012 (alternating Tuesdays) at 7 p.m. in the Reinhardt Room of the G. Cecil Pruett Community Center Family YMCA, 151 Waleska St., Canton, Ga., 30114.  The series is free and open to the public.

Approximately 65 public libraries nationwide have received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, NEH, and the American Library Association, ALA, in support of the series which will encourage participants to consider the legacy of the Civil War and emancipation. The grants are being administered locally by the Georgia Humanities Council.

Wheeler said he is looking forward to helping host the series.  “It’s interesting to think that people in Idaho and New Mexico or Maine are also reading these books and thinking about the meaning of the American Civil War and Emancipation… Reinhardt has been here since 1883, and this is a continuation of our longstanding connection to the community.  This is a nice opportunity for faculty members to bring their expertise into a public forum, and it’s a great opportunity for people in the community to get together and talk about books in a meaningful way.” 

Schedule and Selected Readings

The meeting schedule and assigned books and topics to be discussed are as follows:

• Sept. 18, “Imagining War” — “March” by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, 2006); and “America’s War: Talking About the  Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries,” an anthology of historical fiction, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biography, and short stories, edited by national project scholar Edward L. Ayers and co-published by the NEH and the ALA (2012), Part 1.
• October 2, “Choosing Sides” — America’s War, Part 2
• October 16, “Making Sense of Shiloh” — America’s War, Part 3
• October 30, “The Shape of War” — “Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam” by James McPherson (Oxford University Press, 2002); and America’s War, Part 4
• November 13, “War and Freedom” — America’s War, Parts 5 & 6.

The Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center on the Reinhardt University campus will have 20 copies of each assigned books listed above for check-out.

Continuing Focus on Historical Outreach and Education

These events will continue a focus on historical outreach and education which began in the Spring 2012 with a history symposium, Etowah Valley Iron-Making and the Coming of the Civil War, held by Reinhardt University on March 30 and 31, 2012.  This symposium explored the history of antebellum iron production in Georgia and was very well received by its more than 100 attendees.  With support from the Reinhardt History Program, the Georgia Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities and through appropriations from the Georgia Assembly, the event included tours of historic ironworks in nearby Bartow County; a keynote address which focused on Jacob and Moses Stroup, key Etowah Valley furnace builders and iron makers; a lecture about the Civil War coming to Etowah Valley; and a panel discussion.

Plans are being made for Reinhardt’s second annual history symposium to be held in the spring of 2013.