9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Chicago sits more than 600 miles from Gettysburg and more than 700 miles from Manassas and Atlanta, yet the city’s residents were intimately connected to the Civil War. Although the city was less than 30 years old when the war began, Chicago provided troops, supplies, and relief to the Union Army that proved critical to the war effort. In 1863 and 1865, the city hosted two important sanitary fairs, which raised money and supplies for wounded soldiers. Chicago also was home to Camp Douglas, which held Confederate prisoners of war. This seminar will reveal the interconnectedness between the Chicago home front and the Civil War battlefront, drawing largely on Newberry collection items.
Newberry Teachers’ Consortium is a subscription program open to Chicago-area teachers.