Siouxland Libraries Holds Civil War Discussion Program

This fall, Siouxland Libraries is pleased to host “Making Sense of the American Civil War,” a community reading and discussion program. Civil War buffs—and anyone looking to learn more about the historic time period that shaped our nation for years to come—won’t want to miss this series, beginning in October at the Main Library.

At each session, conversation will focus on a different facet of the Civil War experience using one or more common texts as a foundation. Presentation College associate history professor Brad Tennant and Black Hills State University professor Donovin Sprague will serve as program scholars.

The first session, on October 4, 2012, at 7 p.m., includes a discussion of an essay by Edward Ayers and selections from the book America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries. Session two, on November 1, at 7 p.m., will incorporate the books March by Geraldine Brooks and Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam by James McPherson. The final session, on December 6, at 7 p.m., will concentrate on a collection of primary source documents pertaining to the Civil War years on the Northern Plains. Scholars Tennant and Sprague will focus on events that occurred in Dakota Territory and the surrounding region during the Civil War time period.

“Back east it was the Civil War—out here on the Northern Plains it was a whole different situation,” Tennant said. “I think it’s often overlooked.”

“Making Sense of the American Civil War” is presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office and coordinated through the efforts of the South Dakota Humanities Council in collaboration with the South Dakota State Library.

Books and other reading material for the program are available at the Library. Please call 367-8720 for more information.

Courtesy of the City of Sioux Falls