Date: Sun, 8 May 2011 11:33:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Historical Association
Subject: Civil War Program: Life on the Home Front
Historical Society Continues Civil War Series
On May 22, 2011, LeRae Umfleet will present a program entitled “Life on the Home Front.” The Civil War had a profound effect on all aspects of life in the South. Stories of bravery and suffering on the battlefields of the war are often told, but most of us know far less about the lives of those who stayed behind during those troubled years. Ms. mfleet will draw on Chatham County and other historical documents for insight into the lives of ordinary local people during the war — how women fared with family and farm with husbands and fathers gone, ambivalent feelings about the war, the home guard, and increasing shortages of goods.
The second in a series of three public lectures commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War will be held in the multi-purpose room, building 2, at Central Carolina Community College, Pittsboro, beginning at 2:00 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.
Throughout her career in public history, Ms. Umfleet has worked with a multitude of sites in a variety of capacities, including the North Carolina State Archives, the North Carolina Collection in Chapel Hill, the Joel Lane Museum House in Raleigh, Davis Library in Chapel Hill, and Historic Hope Plantation in Windsor. Originally from Bath, North Carolina, LeRae graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1991 with a Bachelor’s Degree in History and earned a Master’s Degree from East Carolina University in 1998. Reflecting her personal interest in plantation slavery, her Master’s thesis was entitled “Slavery in Microcosm: Bertie County, North Carolina 1790-1810.”
Ms. Umfleet currently works as the Chief of Collections Management for the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. In this position, she manages how the agency cares for, collects, stores, and exhibits the objects in its custody. In her spare time, LeRae enjoys learning more about women’s roles during the Civil War, including sewing period fashions, and sharing her love of history with anyone who will listen!
Sponsored by the Chatham County Historical Association, Inc., this lecture series began in early March with Dennis Brooks’s presentation about Chatham troops and the battle of Gettysburg. It will end with a program in September presented by Michelle Lanier entitled “A War with Many Voices: African-American Memory and the Civil War.” For information and travel directions, visit www.chathamhistory.org.