Arthur Candenquist, a scholar and researcher of the Civil War for more than 50 years, will speak on “Did Anyone Really Know What Time it Was?” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in Cole Hall at Bridgewater College.
Candenquist’s illustrated presentation about timekeeping during the Civil War will focus on how time was kept by the railroads and others in the 1860s before the innovation of Standard Time and time zones as we know them today.
The United States had no standard of time until Nov. 18, 1883, when approximately 80 railroad companies adopted Standard Railway Time as a way to avoid train wrecks. In March 1918, Standard Railway Time led to time zones and daylight saving time as we know them today.
Candenquist focuses his research on the more unusual and lesser-known aspects of the Civil War.
The program is free and open to the public.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to nearly 1,900 undergraduate students.