Overview
Lucy Pier Stevens, a twenty-one-year-old woman from Ohio, began a visit to her aunt's family near Bellville, Texas, on Christmas Day, 1859. Little did she know how drastically her life would change on April 4, 1861, when the outbreak of the Civil War made returning home impossible. Stranded in enemy territory for the duration of the war, how would she reconcile her Northern upbringing with the Southern sentiments surrounding her? Lucy Stevens's diary-one of few women's diaries from Civil War-era Texas and the only one written by a Northerner-offers a unique perspective on daily life at the fringes of America's bloodiest conflict. An articulate, educated, and keen observer, Stevens took note seemingly of everything-the weather, illnesses, food shortages, parties, church attendance, chores, schools, childbirth, death, the family's slaves, and political and military news. As she confided her private thoughts to her journal, she unwittingly revealed how her love for her Texas family and the Confederate soldier boys she came to care for blurred her loyalties, even as she continued to long for her home in Ohio. Showing how the ties of heritage, kinship, friendship, and community transcended the sharpest division in US history, this rare diary and Vicki Adams Tongate's insightful historical commentary on it provide a trove of information on women's history, Texas history, and Civil War history.
Full Product Details
Author: Vicki Adams Tongate
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.513kg
ISBN: 9781477324677
ISBN 10: 1477324674
Pages: 382
Publication Date: 05 October 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
A work of exhaustive research and devoted scholarship . . . and a delightful and informative read. * Civil War Book Review * A rich interpretation by Tongate of a volatile period in Texas history witnessed by a unique and engaging diarist. * Journal of Southern History * A valuable look at the daily lives of women, of a Texas community, and of the Civil War home front. * Southwestern Historical Quarterly * Tongate has done a masterful job of editing. * Texas Books in Review *
A work of exhaustive research and devoted scholarship . . . and a delightful and informative read. * Civil War Book Review * A rich interpretation by Tongate of a volatile period in Texas history witnessed by a unique and engaging diarist. * Journal of Southern History * A valuable look at the daily lives of women, of a Texas community, and of the Civil War home front. * Southwestern Historical Quarterly * Tongate has done a masterful job of editing. * Texas Books in Review *
Author Information
Vicki Adams Tongate spent twenty years at Southern Methodist University, teaching and researching the Lucy Pier Stevens diary. She has now retired and lives in Fort Worth, Texas.
