An Unexpected "Web-Find"

I grew up in a place where Carlisle and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania were part of my backyard.  Whether it is that or some other force deep within, it's no mystery to me that my favorite period in American history is the Civil War Era.  It's such a strong influence in my life that I have incorporated that era into the novel that I've, admittedly, been limping along with for quite some time now.

 Since 2011 begins our nation's sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War, I was checking out some possible places to visit during the celebration.  There are planned events, activities and re-enactments in almost every state - even ones that didn't see any actual battles.  But here I am, in Tennessee - a state that was divided as much as the country itself.  Being in Tennessee puts me right in the center of all sorts of Civil War sites, battlefields, trails, etc.  During the years  2011 - 2015 there will be any number of opportunities to travel near and far and partake of a variety of learning and sightseeing opportunities that are being planned. 

But today's blog entry is not about the sesquicentennial.  It's about an unexpected "find" while surfing the web.  For some unknown reason, I did something I rarely do -- I clicked through the pages of "hits" for my search entry into the" teens and twenties pages."  There, I found a most welcomed surprise - a link to a blog about  Civil War Women .  The first entry I read there contained excerpts from the Civil War diary of Caroline Cowles Richards.  Caroline's diary was published in 1913 as Village Life in America 1852—1872, Including the Period of the American Civil War as Told in the Diary of a School-Girl.    And there are so many more entries for me to savor!  The blog's creator has posted the following: 

"The history of many American women has been so poorly preserved that I must tell their stories through the lives of their husbands or ignore them altogether."

   

My gratitude to Caroline Cowles Richards for leaving her diaries for all to read and to the creator of the Civil War Women's blog for caring enough about the women of the Civil War Era to be their voice.