Sacred Trust Talks 2016 - The Last Confederate Christmas: Slaveholding Women, Ritual, and Authority in Civil War Richmond
During the Civil War, Richmond faced an influx of soldiers, refugees, prostitutes, scam artists, impoverished soldiers’ wives, and African Americans who sought shelter and employment. With this influx came a rise in vice, crime, and dangerous social unrest. With many of the city’s men away fighting on the battlefields or preoccupied with political affairs, social patrolling often fell upon the city’s female elite, who relied on a core set of rituals. This presentation explores the Christmas celebration of 1864-one of the ladies’ final rituals. Presented by Ashley Whitehead Luskey, PhD, Author & Historian.