A Revolution in Every Household and Family

A Revolution in Every Household and Family: A New History of Reconstruction in the Post-Civil War United States

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This event will be held in English.

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The ends of wars are always dangerous moments ripe with possibilities of every sort. In the United States after the Civil War, to the usual challenges of reconstruction was added the emancipation of four million people of African descent and destruction of slaveholding households established over generations. As the secrets of slavery spilled out, the sexual violence of the system and paternity of children born as a result, set an explosive charge beneath every negotiation over the terms of freedom. In that postwar world Reconstruction involved a revolution in every household and family. To tell that story now requires a new history.

Stephanie McCurry is the R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History at Columbia University. She is the author of three books including Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), and Women’s War: Fighting and Surviving the American Civil War. Her writing has appeared in the Atlantic, the Nation, the TLS, The New York Times among others. She was the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and another at the Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has two children, and lives in New York City.

The Rendez-Vous de l’Institut Series is generously supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

This event will be recorded and may be broadcast as part of our SNF Rendez-vous de l’Institut podcast series. By participating and asking questions, you consent to the use of your voice in this context.