Ithaca College

On April 11, 2011, Pearl Ponce, History, delivered the inaugural lecture in what will be a five-year partnership between the Tompkins County Public Library and the Tompkins County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration Commission designed to provide opportunities for informed discussion and increased awareness about the divisive “War Between the States.”  Ponce’s program, “Signposts on the Road to Disunion,” offered insight into the key events leading up to the war--- from the Compromise of 1850, through Bleeding Kansas, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and the election of 1860.

TCPL and the Commission will provide Library patrons and community members with at least two annual opportunities to learn, from regionally-recognized experts, about the people, issues, themes and lasting impacts of the War.  Other programs being planned include a look at Civil War nurses, Northern Democrats, the Elmira Prison Camp, a panel discussion on African Americans in Upstate, NY prior to the War, an exhibit of Civil War photographs and a discussion on the legacy of war.

For more information about Library programs, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty atcwheeler@tcpl.org or (607) 272-4557 extension 248.  For information about the Tompkins County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration Commission, contact Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen at ckk6@cornell.edu.