George and Ann RichardsCivil War Era Center

On Monday, April 3rd, the Richards Center and the Penn State Department of History will host Dr. Holly A. Pinheiro, Jr., Assistant Professor of History at Furman University, for a book talk in Foster Auditorium. Dr. Pinheiro will discuss his book, The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice, recently published in the University of Georgia Press UnCivil Wars Series.

Dr. Pinheiro’s research focuses on the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in the military from 1850 through the 1920s. Counter to the national narrative which championed the patriotic manhood of soldiering from the Civil War through the 1920s, his research reveals that African American veterans and their families’ military experience were much more fraught. Economic and social instability introduced by military service resonated for years and even generations after soldiers left the battlefield. He has published articles in edited volumes and academic journals, in and outside of the United States. His manuscript, The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice, (with The University of Georgia Press in the UnCivil Wars Series) highlights how racism, in and outside of military service, impacted the bodies, economies, family structures, and social spaces of African Americans long after the war ended. His book has received rave reviews in the LA Review of Books and the Civil War Book Review. It received an honorable mention, in the Civil War Monitor, for the best Civil War book of 2022.

This event is sponsored by the Department of History, Latin American Studies, and the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center and is free and open to the public.