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Virginia Center for Civil War Studies

Virginia Center for Civil War Studies

The Home of Civil War History at Virginia Tech

Spring Campaign 2025.
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Essential Curriculum

Free Webinar: The Fight for Equal Rights in the Civil War Era

Join us for a free  lecture and discussion with author Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr. on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. EST on the role of free people of color in promoting equality and justice as fundamental features of American life during the Civil War era. Milteer discusses how free people of color, through their military service and advocacy, used the political and social disruptions brought about by the Civil War to push for a second founding of the nation.

Book cover for "Out of This Strife Will Come Freedom"

The webinar is free and open to the public but registration is required. Click the link below to register. 

Click here to register

 

2025-26 Year in Review

During the 2025-26 academic year, we sponsored several free guest lectures from prominent Civil War historians, hosted more than 100 attendees at the annual Civil War Weekend (a tradition for more than 30 years) and presented a Civil War history program to more than 400 fourth-grade and fifth-grade students across the New River Valley. 

Dr. Stuart Marshall speaking at a podium.
Dr. Stuart Marshall presenting a free lecture on Civil War history as part of our speaker series.
Virginia Tech graduate students Sterling Bryant and Madison Smith speaking to a fourth-grade class.
Virginia Tech graduate students presenting the Traveling Trunk to a fourth-grade class.
A cannon facing the ocean at a Civil War site in South Carolina.
Spring Campaign 2026 attendees touring a Civil War site in South Carolina.

We also funded research grants for visiting Civil War scholars, funded paid summer internship programs for Virginia Tech students studying Civil War history, and led a tour of Civil War sites in South Carolina. 

A man playing a fiddle.
Geoff White played Civil War-era songs at a VCCWS event in 2026.
A group of people standing in front of the ruins of an 1800s church.
A Virginia Tech tour of Civil War ruins in South Carolina in 2026.
Man dressed as General U.S. Grant.
Dr. Curt Fields as General U.S. Grant.
Virginia Tech professor Kurt Luther speaking at a podium
Virginia Tech professor Kurt Luther
Dr. Margaret Humphreys signing a book
Dr. Margaret Humphreys signing a book for an attendee.
Large bronze sculpture sitting outside and covered in engraved names.
Memorial honoring enslaved people connected to Roanoke College, dedicated in 2025 and added to our Civil War Driving Tour this year.
Fourteen foot tall monument with a bronze sculpture of a USCT soldier.
Fourteen foot tall monument with a bronze sculpture of a USCT soldier, standing in Rocky Mount and added to our Civil War Driving Tour this year.
A historical marker on the Smithfield property
A historical marker on the Smithfield property, recently installed and added to our Civil War Driving Tour this year.

About the Center 

Click the links below to learn more about the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies programs: 

Save the date for    Civil War Weekend!

Civil War Weekend 2027 will be March 19-21, 2027, at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Click HERE to book your room today! 

CWW 2026 attendees enjoying a break.
CWW 2026 attendees enjoying a break.
CWW 2026 speaker Jonathan White speaking to a full room.
CWW 2026 speaker Jonathan White.
A women standing at a podium
Professor Margaret Humphreys speaking at CWW 2026.
People sitting at tables eating in a ballroom
CWW attendees enjoying a delicious meal at the Inn at VT in 2026.