Coffee @ The Kennedy Museum
Join us for a cup of coffee as we listen to John C. Rodrigue, the Lawrence and Theresa Salameno Professor of History at Stonehill College, discuss his book Freedom’s Crescent: The Civil War and the Destruction of Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley. This sweeping history explores the Lower Mississippi Valley’s pivotal role in abolishing slavery in the American South.
The Lower Mississippi Valley is more than just a distinct geographical region of the United States; it was central to the outcome of the Civil War and the destruction of slavery in the American South. Beginning with Lincoln’s 1860 presidential election and concluding with the final ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, Freedom’s Crescent explores the four states of this region that seceded and joined the Confederacy: Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. By weaving into a coherent narrative the major military campaigns that enveloped the region, the daily disintegration of slavery in the countryside, and political developments across the four states and in Washington DC, John C. Rodrigue identifies the Lower Mississippi Valley as the epicenter of emancipation in the South. A sweeping examination of one of the war’s most important theaters, this book highlights the integral role this region played in transforming United States history.
This event is free, please RSVP below.
About The Author
John C. Rodrigue is a historian who focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction era, slavery and emancipation, and the U.S. South. His most recent book is Freedom’s Crescent: The Civil War and the Destruction of Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley, which was published in 2023 by Cambridge University Press. He is also an editor of one of the volumes of Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867. He received his B.A. from Rutgers University, his M.A. from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. from Emory University.
Freedom’s Crescent: The Civil War and the Destruction of Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley has received the following awards:
Finalist, 2024 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Winner, 2024 John L. Nau III Book Prize in American Civil War Era History, Nau Center Administrators