Thursday, May 14, 2015
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Charles Herman Loeber (American, 1852 – 1914). Libby Prison, Interior, ca. 1968. Albumen print. George Eastman House, gift of Chicago Historical Association.
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Observing Elmira & Other Civil War Prisons During the Sesquicentennial: How Environment Plays into Captivity
Lecture by Dr. Michael Gray
Members: Free, Not-Yet-Members: $10, Students: $5
This event is SOLD OUT. Please consider joining us for another program.
In recognition of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, Dr. Michael P. Gray will present on the Union prison at Elmira with relatively unknown themes connecting the Chemung Valley stockade to other Northern confines. The two observatories built outside the stockade have become fairly well known in the prison’s lore, but many do not realize these episodic circumstances were not localized to the Southern Tier. Dr. Gray’s research has yielded similar viewing episodes elsewhere – Camp Douglas in Chicago, for example, also produced two similar towers. While at Johnson’s Island, in Ohio, steamboat “excursion trips” thrived in Lake Erie. Northern citizens were intrigued with the “unique” Southerners, paying a fee to “view, gawk, and gaze” at prisoners – this speaks to Civil War home fronts and the prison’s host communities, let alone the further indignities suffered by captives.
Dr. Michael P. Gray is currently an Associate Professor of History at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Gray’s expertise in Civil War prisons, has led to interviews with CNN and more recently, a history series on military.com.
About the Speaker
Dr. Michael P. Gray is currently an Associate Professor of History at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania where he teaches courses on the Civil War, Military History and Civil War memory. In 2014 he was the recipient of the first annual ESyoU award for “student centered learning” while his first book, The Business of Captivity: Elmira and its Civil War Prison was a finalist for the 2001 Seaborg Award. He was also a finalist for the Eastern National Award for his article, “Elmira, New York: A City On A Prison-Camp Contract.” In 2011, he wrote the new introduction to History of Andersonville Prison with the University Press of Florida and in 2013 “Captivating Captives: An Excursion to Johnson’s Island Prison” which sheds light on the exploitation of Confederate officer prisoners on Johnson’s Island. Gray’s expertise is in Civil War prisons, having been interviewed in 2014 by CNN on the camps and more recently is hosting a military history series “Battlefield 101” on Military.com.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Charles Herman Loeber (American, 1852 – 1914). Libby Prison, Interior, ca. 1968. Albumen print. George Eastman House, gift of Chicago Historical Association.
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Observing Elmira & Other Civil War Prisons During the Sesquicentennial: How Environment Plays into Captivity
Lecture by Dr. Michael Gray
Members: Free, Not-Yet-Members: $10, Students: $5
This event is SOLD OUT. Please consider joining us for another program.
In recognition of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, Dr. Michael P. Gray will present on the Union prison at Elmira with relatively unknown themes connecting the Chemung Valley stockade to other Northern confines. The two observatories built outside the stockade have become fairly well known in the prison’s lore, but many do not realize these episodic circumstances were not localized to the Southern Tier. Dr. Gray’s research has yielded similar viewing episodes elsewhere – Camp Douglas in Chicago, for example, also produced two similar towers. While at Johnson’s Island, in Ohio, steamboat “excursion trips” thrived in Lake Erie. Northern citizens were intrigued with the “unique” Southerners, paying a fee to “view, gawk, and gaze” at prisoners – this speaks to Civil War home fronts and the prison’s host communities, let alone the further indignities suffered by captives.
Dr. Michael P. Gray is currently an Associate Professor of History at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Gray’s expertise in Civil War prisons, has led to interviews with CNN and more recently, a history series on military.com.
About the Speaker
Dr. Michael P. Gray is currently an Associate Professor of History at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania where he teaches courses on the Civil War, Military History and Civil War memory. In 2014 he was the recipient of the first annual ESyoU award for “student centered learning” while his first book, The Business of Captivity: Elmira and its Civil War Prison was a finalist for the 2001 Seaborg Award. He was also a finalist for the Eastern National Award for his article, “Elmira, New York: A City On A Prison-Camp Contract.” In 2011, he wrote the new introduction to History of Andersonville Prison with the University Press of Florida and in 2013 “Captivating Captives: An Excursion to Johnson’s Island Prison” which sheds light on the exploitation of Confederate officer prisoners on Johnson’s Island. Gray’s expertise is in Civil War prisons, having been interviewed in 2014 by CNN on the camps and more recently is hosting a military history series “Battlefield 101” on Military.com.