LOCAL CIVIL WAR HISTORY TAKES CENTER STAGE AT RICHWOOD ACADEMY CULTURAL CENTER

LOCAL CIVIL WAR HISTORY TAKES CENTER STAGE AT RICHWOOD ACADEMY CULTURAL CENTER

Social networking during the Civil War provides the focus for local author and historian James M.  Scythes’ new book, Letters to Lizzie: The Story of Sixteen Men in the Civil War and the Woman Who Connected Them All.  The correspondence between Lizzie Brick of Hurffville and sixteen young men, mostly from Gloucester County (124 letters in all) describes the experiences of common soldiers during the Civil War.  The letters also offer insights into the connections between the soldiers and their communities and the role that women played during the Civil War in sustaining these relationships.  

On Sunday afternoon, October 1, 3 pm, Lizzie Brick and her correspondents will be the subject of a presentation at the Harrison Township Historical Society’s Richwood Academy Cultural Center.  Scythes is Assistant Professor of History at West Chester University, and president of the Gloucester County Historical Society, whose research interests focus on Antebellum America and the Civil War. Letters to Lizzie is his second book on this period.

During the American Civil War, soldiers frequently wrote letters to friends and family members as a way of maintaining their connection to loved ones at home, but most of the published collections of Civil War letters contain the correspondence between two individuals during the war. The correspondence between Lizzie and the men, who served in eleven different regiments, enabled them to stay connected to one another during the war.  They frequently asked her for updates about mutual friends who were in other regiments or passed along messages to her from other men from their community serving in the Union army.

“These letters span the entire war,” said Scythes. “Within their correspondence the soldiers shared their opinions about the people of the South, described their experiences on the battlefield, and voiced their frustrations with their commanders and the conduct of the war.”

Described as one of the finest collections of Civil War soldiers’ letters available, copies of Letters to Lizzie will be available for purchase and signing at the program.

Richwood Academy Cultural Center is located at 836 Lambs Road, Richwood, NJ. There is no admission fee; free tickets and information are available online at the Harrison Township Historical Society’s website (harrisonhistorical.com) and its public Facebook page.  Programs are also livestreamed and archived at Facebook.  Facebook membership is not required to access the program. 

The Harrison Township Historical Society’s arts and history programs are made possible in part by funding from the Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission at Rowan College of South Jersey, in partnership with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State and the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey Historical Commission/Department of State.

LECTURE

“Letters to Lizzie: Sixteen Men in the Civil War and the Woman Who Connected Them.”  Lecture and book-signing by local author and historian, James M. Scythes, West Chester University, Sunday, October 1, 3 pm, at Richwood Academy Cultural Center, 836 Lambs Road, Richwood, NJ 08074.  Information and free tickets available at the Society’s public Facebook page and HarrisonHistorical.com; 856-478-4949.

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