research grants due Feb. 21
- Research Grants: The Virginia Center for Civil War Studies and Virginia Tech’s Special Collections and University Archives invite applications for the 2025-26 Virginia Center for Civil War Studies Research Grants. Each grant recipient will visit Virginia Tech’s Special Collections and University Archives in order to conduct research on some aspect of the American Civil War era. An honorarium of $200 per business day will be provided, up to a maximum of $2,000. (Typical awards are for 2-5 days.) Graduate students, faculty members, and independent scholars are all eligible. For full details: https://civilwar.vt.edu/research-grants
- Postdoctoral Fellowship: The Virginia Center for Civil War Studies and the History Department of Virginia Tech invite applications for a two-year postdoctoral associate position in the history of the American Civil War era that will begin in August 2025. The successful applicant will benefit from professional mentoring, the opportunity to gain experience planning and participating in academic and public outreach activities, and access to the extensive Civil War era holdings of Virginia Tech’s Special Collections and University Archives.
We welcome applications from those pursuing tenure-track positions and/or alt-ac career paths. Members of groups historically underrepresented in the professoriate are especially encouraged to apply.
For full details: https://civilwar.vt.edu/postdoctoral-fellowship/
Civil War Weekend
We look forward to welcoming you to Blacksburg March 28-30, 2025 for Virginia Tech’s annual Civil War Weekend. You’ll hear from a stellar group of speakers and enjoy fellowship with other history enthusiasts—all in the comfortable surroundings of the Inn at Virginia Tech.

This year’s theme is “Civil War Duos.” The Civil War era fundamentally transformed human connections—from friendships and marriages to political alliances—bringing some Americans together into productive new relationships while driving existing partnerships apart. This year our speakers will explore an array of different partnerships that took new forms amid the challenges of slavery, sectional conflict, and war.
Keynote speaker Ilyon Woo will share the incredible story of the enslaved couple who escaped to freedom in disguise, the subject of her recent Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Master, Slave, Husband, Wife. Our distinguished speakers will also investigate the critical relationships between leaders on both sides: Lincoln and McClellan, Lee and Jackson. We’ll learn about how war transformed romantic pairings in the North and the South. One lecture will explore a more institutional duo, examining how the United States Army and Navy slowly worked their way toward a more harmonious collaboration as the war went on.
You can also join us for our annual Spring Campaign — an optional two-night field trip. From our base in Frederick, Maryland, we’ll take a custom guided tour of the storied battleground of Gettysburg, focusing on the critical military decisions that made July 1863 go down in history. We’ll also explore the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and the Monocacy Battlefield, where Jubal Early’s Confederates threatened to break through to Washington, DC, in July 1864.
See you in March!
newman library exhibit — “what a treasure I possess”
We invite history lovers to visit Newman Library on the Virginia Tech campus to see “What A Treasure I Possess” — a Valentines Day focused exhibit that highlights the love language between James C. and Gertrude M. Biddle, as well as information about Valentines during the Civil War, biographical info on the Biddles, and history of Civil War mail. The exhibit will be up until Feb. 28, and was curated by Miles Abernethy, a graduate student in the Department of History at Virginia Tech.
2023-24 Year in Review
As we wrap up the 2023-24 academic year, we want to share with you all of the exciting recent events from the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. This year we sponsored four free guest lectures including an in-person talk with NPR host Steve Inskeep, continued the annual Civil War Weekend (a tradition for more than 30 years) and visited numerous fourth-grade classrooms across the New River Valley. Click the links below for YouTube and C-SPAN videos of our recent events. And if you are in Southwest Virginia, check out our Civil War Driving Tour:
Photos from 2023-24 events:









Who are we?
Civil War history lives at Virginia Tech. From its home in Virginia Tech’s History Department, the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies promotes greater understanding of the Civil War era among academics and the public. Whether you’re a student or a professional historian, a serious history buff or someone who just likes to learn, we have something to offer you here.