Virginia Tech® home

Virginia Center for Civil War Studies

Virginia Center for Civil War Studies

The Home of Civil War History at Virginia Tech

Spring Campaign 2025.
About
Blog
Programs
Grants
Events
Donate

Save the date for our fall lecture series!

"Cherokee Lost Causes in Civil War Appalachia"

Portrait of Stuart Marshall
Dr. Stuart Marshall

Join us for a lecture by Postdoctoral Associate Dr. Stuart Marshall on Sept. 8, 2025 at 5 p.m. at the Inn at Virginia Tech: "Cherokee Lost Causes in Civil War Appalachia." Cherokees who remained in their homeland after the Trail of Tears regrouped to face the next crisis of disunion. By volunteering for Confederate military service, Cherokees had hoped to strengthen their right to remain, only to suffer defeat and dispersal. 

The lecture is free and open to the public.

"The Surgeon’s Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War"

Book cover for The Surgeon's Battle book
The Surgeon's Battle

Join author Lindsay Rae Smith Privette for an online discussion October 2 at 7 p.m. of the recently published "The Surgeon’s Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War."

The talk is free and open to the public. Registration is required and will be available soon. 

"The Gospel of Defiance: Jermain Loguen and the Holy War against Slavery"

Book Cover for Jermain Wesley Loguen: Defiant Fugitive
Jermain Wesley Loguen: Defiant Fugitive

Join author Angela F. Murphy for an online talk Nov. 17 at 7 pm., based on her recent book, a gripping biography of a man who escaped slavery to become an influential abolitionist, famously known as the “King of the Underground Railroad.”

The talk is free and open to the public. Registration is required and will be available soon. 

2024-25 Year in Review 

Thank you to all of our supporters for making the 2024-25 academic year a huge success!

This year, we sponsored several free guest lectures from professors and authors, including an in-person talk by Dr. Hilary Green of Davidson College and several online lectures recorded and posted on our YouTube channel. 

In addition, we printed an updated Civil War Driving Tour brochure; presented an educational program to more than 600 elementary students; led a guided trip to Gettysburg; provided grants to five Virginia Tech students to fund summer internships; awarded research grants to visiting Civil War scholars, and so much more! 

Highlights of the 2025 Civil War Weekend, attended by more than 120 guests, included a lecture by Pulitzer-prize winning author Ilyon Woo and the announcement of a major donation to Virginia Tech from speaker Sue Heth Bell - read the details here: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/04/univlib-Wharton-Collection.html

Click the links below to learn more about the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies programs, and stay tuned for details for our 2025-26 programming, coming soon!