http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/womenslett_7560.mp3
In our ongoing series, a Sense of Place, we look to the history of our area to find out why things are the way they are today. KSMU’s Emma Wilson reports on a book that preserves the voices of Springfield residents past.
[Sound: woman reading excerpt from book]
On a recent evening in Founders Park, students from OTC read excerpts from a book being produced by the Springfield-Greene County History Museum and the Missouri State University English Department.
[Sound: woman reading excerpt from book]
They have compiled, transcribed, and edited the letters and written memories of women living in this area during the Civil War.
“It’s called Confederate Girlhoods.”
That’s John Sellars, the executive director of the Springfield-Greene County History Museum.
“It is mainly the writings of young ladies of the founding families of Springfield about their observances and what went on during the Civil War.”
He says that these every-day accounts of life in Springfield give a unique insight into the lives of women during the Civil War and help us understand one of Springfield’s most influential founding families.
“We had gathered all the letters as part of the personal papers of the Campbell family and they were in our archives. Then Dr. Baumlin, at the time, was on our board [and] he became familiar with the papers and we talked back and forth about how we would put it into book form and publish it through Moon City Press as one of their first publications.”
Dr. James Baumlin is a professor of English at Missouri State University and the editor for Moon City Press. That’s a publishing outfit run by the Missouri State English and art and design departments.
“The history museum is one of the archival treasures of our community and they have provided the materials for this book that we’re celebrating. But it’s not just the book. It is, in fact, the people who contributed to it and the history it remembers.”
Baumlin says that Confederate Girlhoods stands out from the many histories written about this area.
“This is the first book that is focusing on the women’s stories, on the women’s experience, on what they were doing as pioneer settlers,” he said.
Confederate Girlhoods: A Women’s History of Early Springfield, Missouri will be sold at the Missouri State bookstore, the History Museum, and Borders Books beginning in mid-November. For KSMU’s Sense of Place, I’m Emma Wilson.
[Sound: Music playing]