Caroline E. Janney, history professor at Purdue University, will bring the keynote address at the 2015 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event in Knoxville, Tenn.
Caroline E. Janney, history professor at Purdue University, will bring the keynote address at the 2015 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event in Knoxville, Tenn. Janney’s presentation on “Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation,” will take place April 30 at Knoxville’s historic Bijou Theatre.
Janney is the author of two books on The Civil War and is the editor of John Richard Dennett’s “The South As It Is, 1856-66” and co-editor of the North Carolina Press’s “Civil War America Series.” Her first book, “Burying the Dead but Not the Past: Ladies’ Memorial Associations and the Lost Cause” explores the leadership from white, Southern women in preserving Confederate traditions in the post-Civil War South.
Her second book, and topic of discussion during her keynote address, “Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation” brings to light the stark differences between reunion and reconciliation, as Union and Confederate veterans are shown to have clung to their causes well into the 20th century.
“Caroline Janney’s important work reminds us that bringing North and South together was no easy task, and to achieve reconciliation so many gains made by African Americans in the Reconstruction era were sacrificed,” said Dr. Carroll Van West, Tennessee state historian. “We in Tennessee know in our own family histories the difficulties of the years after the Civil War and we look forward to how Dr. Janney can shed a national perspective on a time in history that shaped our state and nation.”
More than 6,000 people from around the world are expected to attend the four-day events surrounding the 2015 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event, “Reconstruction Tennessee,” April 30-May 1 in Knoxville.
American Bus Association’s Top 100 Selection Committee named the 2015 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event and the Blue & Gray Reunion and Freedom Jubilee as one of the best events to experience in 2015.
The signature event is jointly sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, East Tennessee Historical Society, and Visit Knoxville.
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To learn more about Tennessee’s Civil War story, download a complimentary app at www.tncivilwar150.com, email tn.civilwar150@tn.gov, or call 615-532-7520.