Civil War 150: Explaining the War and Its Meaning Through the Words of Those Who Lived It is presented by The Library of America in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided grant funding for the project. Pendergraft Library and Technology Center at Arkansas Tech was one of just 50 locations across the United States selected through a competitive application process to host the Civil War 150 exhibit. The free exhibit will be open at Pendergraft Library and Technology Center weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. through Aug. 23. The final opportunities to see the exhibit at Arkansas Tech will be from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on Aug. 26-27, from 7 a.m.-midnight on Aug. 28-29 and from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on Aug. 30. In addition to the national traveling exhibit of primary documents and firsthand accounts from the Civil War, Arkansas Tech will also host a series of special events that will examine the impact the Civil War had on Arkansas. All three programs will be open to the public and take place in Pendergraft Library and Technology Center room 300 south. Admission will be free. Dr. Thomas A. DeBlack, professor of history at Arkansas Tech, will present a lecture entitled “The Civil War in Arkansas: An Overview” on Thursday, Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. DeBlack is past president of the Arkansas Historical Association and the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers. He has authored and co-authored a number of books, including With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861-1874, winner of the inaugural Butler-Remmel Arkansas History Literary Prize. Local Civil War historians Wayne Phillips, Paul Staton and Michael Whitaker will participate in a panel discussion at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22. The discussion will focus on the Battle at Dardanelle and other skirmishes that took place in and around the Arkansas River Valley during the Civil War. The finale in the series of programs will be a performance by HARMONY, a band from Mountain View that will perform music from the Civil War era beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29. For more information about the Civil War 150 exhibit and events at the Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, call (479) 964-0569 or send e-mail to askalibrarian@atu.edu.]]>
