FLORENCE– A conference marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the University of North Alabama’s Guillot Student Center, with retired Auburn University history professor James McDonough as keynote speaker.
Several UNA students also will present Civil War research papers, and a secondary education-panel headed by assistant professor Gary Padgett will discuss the Battle of Shiloh from a literary perspective.
James McDonough
Hosted by the UNA department of history and Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, the conference is open to everyone. Cost is $10 for students and $15 for adults, which includes lunch and the keynote speaker. Registration information is at msnha.una.edu or by email to msnha@una.edu. Deadline to preregister is 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30. There is no cost or registration required to attend the research-paper presentations or panel discussions.
The conference schedule:
- Session 1, 9:30 a.m. — Kayla Scott, Battle of Shiloh; and John Gurner, Confederate soldiers’ hardships at Ft. Morgan
- Session 2, 10:45 a.m. — Nicholas Mosvick, Legal History of Conscription; and Roy Wisecarver, Karl Marx and the American Civil War
- Lunch, 12:30 p.m. – McDonough, Battle of Nashville
- Session 2 p.m. — secondary education panel on literary analysis of the Battle of Shiloh and how literature shapes young adults’ views of the battle.
McDonough, of Lewisburg, Tenn., is professor emeritus of history at Auburn. A native of Nashville, he studied at David Lipscomb College, Vanderbilt University, Abilene Christian College and Florida State University, from which he earned a Ph.D. in history. He was a faculty member at Lipscomb and Pepperdine University as well as Auburn. An award-winning historian, he’s written numerous books, articles and book reviews, mostly about the Civil War, and spoken to various groups around the nation.
For more information on the conference, call the MSNHA office at 256.765.5028
MEDIA RELEASE/Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area/Cathy Wood, media coordinator
