Each spring, the Reeder endowment brings to the YSU campus a nationally-renowned scholar in the field of nineteenth-century American history.
2025
Dr. Joseph M. Beilein, Jr.
“From Ohio Schoolmaster to Missouri Bushwhacker: The Strange Civil War of William Clarke Quantrill”
April 17, 2025
2024
Dr. Brian Matthew Jordan
“Enduring Civil War: Life, Death, and Survival in America’s Defining Conflict”
April 18, 2024
Much has been written about “Billy Yank,” but taking an intimate look at the experiences of the men in the 107th Ohio offers new insights into the lived complexities of the Civil War. As an ethnically German unit, the 107th joined the ranks of immigrants who made up 25% of the fighting forces of the United States. The men exhibited the everyday mettle that won Union victory, but faced nativist discrimination. They fought with pluck and determination, yet suffered misery and anguish. The experiences of this often overlooked and maligned regiment reveal the gulf between the lived realities of the war and the national myths that arose in its wake.
2023
Dr. Jonathan S. Jones
“Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and Opioid Addiction”
April 27, 2023
In the Civil War’s wake, many veterans struggled with lingering pain and disabling sicknesses. To cope, former soldiers often turned to opioids, and tens of thousands became addicted to the drugs. This presentation investigates how the Civil War sparked an opioid addiction crisis among veterans, how addiction affected their lives, and what the phenomenon reveals about the war’s traumatic aftershocks in the postwar decades.
2022
Dr. Hilary N. Green
“Remembering Gettysburg: Joseph Winters, Songs and Civil War Memory”
March 24, 2022
Focusing on a Black Chambersburg songwriter, this lecture explores how Joseph Winters contributed to African American memory of the Gettysburg campaign through songwriting. By documenting the African American experience during the Gettysburg campaign, Green will show how Winters continued to draw on this local memory for securing Black men’s vote in the 1876, 1880 and 1912 Presidential campaigns. This lecture was recorded and may be viewed here.
2021 – Inaugural Lecture
Dr. Sarah Handley-Cousins
“Disability and the American Civil War”
March 18, 2021
From Gone with the Wind to Mercy Street, Civil War pop culture is full of gory amputations. Magazines and newspapers from the war era are littered with patriotic stories, illustrations, and songs full of sentimental praise for the sacrifice of the “empty sleeves.” Indeed, amputation has become shorthand for Civil War disability–but that shorthand leaves an awful lot out. In this talk, Dr. Sarah Handley-Cousins discussed how reevaluating definitions of disability can shift what we think we know about the bodily toll exacted by the Civil War. This lecture was recorded and may be viewed here.