By Lanita Withers Goins, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-3890
Posted 2-17-09
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Dr. Crystal N. Feimster, an assistant professor of history at UNC Chapel Hill, will discuss rape in the Civil War South for a lecture marking Women’s History Month at 4 p.m. Monday, March 2. The event, free and open to the public, will be held in Moore HRA, Room 2211.
Feimster’s talk, “Sexual Warfare: Rape and the American Civil War,” stems from research she conducted for her forthcoming book, “Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching.” In “Southern Horrors,” Feimster makes the point that lynching in the South cannot be understood without exploring rape, and that post-war hysteria about rape was deeply rooted in the sexual vulnerability white women experienced during the Civil War.
“Sexual Warfare” further explores women’s wartime fears. Sexual violence and the threat of rape were central to how Southern woman, both black and white, experienced the Civil War. The project examines the sexual crimes of both Union and Confederate soldiers as well as civilians and slaves during the war in order to broaden the understanding of rape as a tool of warfare.
Feimster teaches a range of courses in African American history, women’s history, southern history and oral history at UNC-CH.
The Women’s History Month lecture is sponsored by the history department and the African American Studies and the Women’s and Gender Studies programs at UNCG.
