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March 2021
Peake Series: Mary Richards and Elizabeth Van Lew
Two important Richmonders during the Civil War, how much do we really know about the mysterious formerly enslaved woman, rumored to have spied on the Davis family, and the famous southern Unionist whose family once held the other in bondage? Let’s explore what history can and can’t tell us when evidence goes missing and relationships get complex. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who dedicated their time…
Find out more »Peake Series: Suzie King Taylor’s Civil War with Kelly Hancock
Susie King Taylor was the only African-American woman to publish a memoir about her wartime experiences with the army. A former slave, educated in secret, Taylor served as a teacher, laundress, and nurse with the 33rd United States Colored Troops. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who dedicated their time and lives to education under the most difficult of circumstances. The Peake Series pairs highlights from key…
Find out more »Book Talk with Bruce Levine
Follow the path of Republican representative Thaddeus Stevens, from his Baptist upbringing in rural Vermont and his days at Dartmouth College, to his political evolution from Anti-Mason, Whig, and finally radical Republican. Discover the twisting political journey that led Stevens to become a key leader in the abolitionist movement. Bruce Levine is the bestselling author of four books on the Civil War era, including The Fall of the House of Dixie and Confederate Emancipation, which received the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship and was named one…
Find out more »History Happy Hour: Socialite, Secessionist, Spy
One of Washington D.C.’s most charming and influential socialites, Rose O’Neale Greenhow used her connections to gain information on U.S. Army troop movements before the battle of Manassas. Explore the story of this determined woman whose own family was divided by the war. With Kelly Hancock, ACWM
Find out more »Peake Series: Medicine and Hospitals
Outside of the battlefield, women played many vital roles during the Civil War. Working in hospitals and tending to the wounded and infirm was only one of the many contributions made, but it was one of the most important. The stories they told and were told of them, continue to fascinate listeners even today. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who dedicated their time and lives to…
Find out more »Peake Series: Women Soldiers with Morgan Floyd
They were wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters –and soldiers. Since the first century A.D., women have picked up weapons and gone to the battlefield. There is no surprise during this country’s deadliest war, women marched into battle beside men. Explore the stories of women soldiers who fought in the Civil War. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who dedicated their time and lives to education under the…
Find out more »Peake Series: Laborers and Bread Riots
At the Richmond Ordinance Lab across from the Tredegar Iron Works, scores of women labored away. Making munitions for the Confederate war effort, they undertook dangerous work for the pay they earned. An explosion there that killed dozens coupled with food shortages and wartime worries laid the groundwork for a stunning and, to many, shocking expression of frustration. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who dedicated their…
Find out more »Peake Series: Bread or Blood with Kelly Hancock
Learn how price controls, rising inflation, and wartime shortages led to the Richmond Bread Riot in the spring of 1863. Meet the women involved in orchestrating the riot and explore the controversy over who ended it. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who dedicated their time and lives to education under the most difficult of circumstances. The Peake Series pairs highlights from key Civil War stories in…
Find out more »Book Talk with Dwight S. Hughes
From flaming, bloody decks of sinking ships, to the dim confines of the first rotating armored turret, to the smoky depths of a Rebel gun deck—with shells screaming, clanging, booming, and splashing all around— to the office of a worried president, this dramatic story unfolds through the accounts of men who lived it. Dwight Sturtevant Hughes writes and speaks on Civil War naval history (www.CivilWarNavyHistory.com). Lieutenant Commander Hughes graduated from the Naval Academy in 1967 and served twenty years aboard…
Find out more »Peake Series: Civil War Spies and the Libby Prison Escape
Libby Prison was known for its wretched conditions and high mortality rate and the escape from it in 1864 would not have gone half as well without people like Elizabeth Van Lew and the spy ring she operated. Across the country, spies aided the war effort in various ways, from pretending to be servants to airing their enemy’s dirty laundry. This series is named in honor of Mary S. Peake (nee Kelsey), one of the many African American women who…
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