Vermont Women and the Civil War with Howard Coffin

Past event
Oct 19, 2022, 6 to 8 PM

Vermont Women and the Civil War is a Vermont Humanities Council Program hosted by the Fletcher Historical Society.

The Fletcher Historical Society welcomes you to attend this special presentation from the Vermont Humanities Council: Wednesday - October 19 - 6pm

Vermont's remarkable Civil War battlefield is well documented: breaking the flank of Pickett's Charge, the great stand at Wilderness, the climatic assault at Petersburg.

But little is known of how Vermont women sustained the home front. With nearly 35,00 of the state's able-bodied men at war, the monumental tasks of keeping more than 30,000 farms in operation became very much a female enterprise.

And women took the place of men in factories and worked after hours making items needed by the soldiers. A Vermont women edited anti-slavery newspapers, and others spoke against slavery. Also, Vermont women served as nurses in the state's military hospitals and in the war zone, and taught newly-freed slaves in the South.

This story is told in their words, from letters and diaries that describe life during the Civil War in the Green Mountain State. And at least one Vermont woman appears to have secretly enlisted and fought in a Vermont Regiment.

This talk is free, open to the public, and accessible to those with disabilities. For more information contact Sharon Tinker at 802-849-6847.

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Fletcher Historical Society 122 Cambridge Road Fletcher VT

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