LIBRARY SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight
Civil War Impact: Henry County and Iowa Wesleyan
As the nation begins its commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Chadwick Library is hosting a series of new exhibits focusing on the Civil War, its impact on Henry County, and on Iowa Wesleyan College. The first of the series is comprised of three individual exhibits which take a look at the diversity of early Iowa settlers, their religious and political philosophies, and their impact on Iowa’s role in the Civil War. The featured exhibit is entitled Two Canes, Two Men: Joseph Dugdale and Henry Clay Dean. Rev. Henry Clay Dean, a Peace Democrat, and Rev. Joseph Dugdale, a Quaker abolitionist, were both clergy in Mt. Pleasant during the war. The center point of the exhibit are the two men’s canes. Rev. Dugdale’s ivory headed cane was a gift from close friend and fellow Quaker abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Lucretia Mott. Dean’s cane, which was featured on the PBS television show, The History Detectives, is on loan to the college for one year. It features a brass copperhead snake at the top of the cane and was a gift to Dean from southern supporters. The second exhibit, entitled Southern Influences in a Northern State: Iowa and the Civil War, focuses on the cultural, industrial, and social influences on Iowa’s political philosophy in the years leading up to the War Between the States. It discusses the impact of transportation and migration via the Mississippi River. The third exhibit takes a look at the early role of Henry County women in the Civil War. Entitled In Service: The Women and the War; the exhibit focuses on Henry County, Iowa women and, particularly, Iowa Wesleyan College women who sought the make a difference on the battlefield and the home front through service to the men and their families who served during the war. These women became nationally recognized for their nursing care, development of dietary kitchens, and orphan homes for the children of soldiers killed in battle. Among those featured women is Ann E. Harlan, wife of Senator James Harlan, who was the first woman to enter the battlefield at Shiloh to coordinate care for the wounded and dying. This series of exhibits will be on display through November 1, 2011.