VCU, the University of South Carolina and the Museum of the Confederacy to Present a Civil War Science and Technology Lecture Series

By Mike Porter

The Virginia Commonwealth University College of Humanities and Sciences Science, Technology, and Society Program (STS) will present “Citizen’s School of Science and Technology,” a six-week public lecture series exploring science and technology during the Civil War. The series is being held in partnership with the Museum of the Confederacy and the University of South Carolina.

Experts from the VCU Medical Center, the Museum of the Confederacy, Longwood University and Loyola University will lead the series, illustrating their topics with objects from the museum’s collections.

All of the sessions are free and will take place between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Museum of the Confederacy, 1201 E. Clay St. To ensure adequate seating, please register by visiting the museum’s website at http://www.moc.org or by contacting Katie Walker at walkerkm@email.sc.edu.

John Coski, historian and vice president of research and publications at the Museum of the Confederacy, will present a lecture about the “arms race” between the Union and Confederate navies within the larger international context of revolutions in naval technology. Coski’s lecture, “Naval Innovations,” takes place on Thursday, Aug. 11.

Cathy Wright, curator at the Museum of the Confederacy, will explain how the current use of science and technology is helping the museum answer questions about the museum’s extensive collections. Wright’s lecture, “Mysteries Revealed,” happens on Thursday, Aug. 18.

James Neifeld, Stuart McGuire Professor and chairman at the VCU Medical Center’s West Hospital, will discuss medical advances during the Civil War. He’ll highlight hospitals such as Richmond’s Chimborazo Hospital, considered one of the largest and best-run hospitals during the Civil War. Neifeld’s lecture, “Medical Care,” is on Thursday, Aug. 25.

Michael D. Gorman, ranger and historian for the National Park Service, will share his expertise on photographs taken during the Civil War, with an emphasis on life in the Confederate Capital. Gorman’s lecture, “Photography,” takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

H. Jackson Knight, author and patent agent for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., will discuss Confederates who pursued and protected their inventions with patents despite the war, benefiting both the Confederate cause and their personal lives. Knight’s lecture, “Confederate Patents,” happens on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The final lecture in the series is a panel discussion by Kelly DeVries, professor of history at Loyola University, and Charles D. Ross, dean of Longwood University’s Cook-Cole College of Arts and Science. Their discussion, titled “War & Technology,” explores how the Confederacy, a largely agrarian society, created and supplied the South’s weapons. The talk also considers the centuries-long history of warfare technologies. The panel discussion takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

To learn more about VCU’s Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Program, visit http://www.has.vcu.edu/sts/ or contact wclary@vcu.edu.