Bridgewater Civil War Institute focuses on those who fought

To continue its commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Bridgewater College will focus its fifth annual Civil War Institute on “‘They Who Fought Here:’ Armies, Soldiers and Civilians,” and will feature four renowned scholars as panelists.

The one-day institute, which is free and open to the public, will be held April 21 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Spoerlein Lecture Hall (Room 100) of the college’s McKinney Center for Science and Mathematics.

Exploring topics relating to participants in the war are:

Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, an  assistant professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of West-Pointers and the Civil War: The Old Army in War and Peace.

Timothy Orr, professor of history at Old Dominion University and author of Last to Leave the Field: The Life and Letters of First Sergeant Ambrose Henry Hayward, 28th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Sharita J. Thompson, a professor of history at Gettysburg College who teaches Reconstruction and the legacy of the war, women and the Civil War and African-Americans and the Civil War.

Aaron Sheehan-Dean, a professor of Civil War studies at West Virginia University and author of three books on the Civil War: Why Confederates Fought: Family and Nation in Civil War Virginia, Concise Historical Atlas of the U.S. Civil War and Struggle for a Vast Future: The American Civil War.

“The historians that have agreed to present at the 2012 Bridgewater College Civil War Institute represent some of the finest in the field,” said Nick Picerno, the institute’s co-founder and BC chief of police. “All have appeared on C-Span and all have contributed in no small way to our understanding of the Civil War. We are excited to host this array of scholars.”

For further information regarding the 2011 BC Civil War Institute, contact Nick Picerno at 540-828-5761, or send him an e-mail at [email protected].

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 approximately 1,700 undergraduate students.