The American Civil War was not only a clash of armies and ideologies, but it also shaped and tested loyalty, friendship, family, and enmity on the battlefield and within the halls of government across a divided nation. The 2026 ACWM Symposium will explore human connections that emerged from conflict.
New to the symposium this year! A full weekend Civil War history experience you may customize to your schedule and interests.
This year we are pleased to provide more options and more opportunities to engage with the museum, symposium speakers, and our historians! Join small group tours of the collections, a special “Meet the Speakers” Q&A program and private reception in the museum, and ACWM historian-led battlefield tours on Friday and Sunday! Scroll down for more details.
Symposium daylong event occurs on Saturday, February 14, 2026 from 9:30am-5:30pm. Doors Open: 8:45am
Lectures Will Be Presented By:
•Dr. Jonathan White, Professor of American Studies, Christopher Newport University “Unlikely Collaborators: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Promise of America”
•Dr. Brandi Brimmer, Morehead-Cain Alumni Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Black Women, Civil War Memory, and the U.S. Pension Bureaucracy”
•Dr. William C. “Jack” Davis, retired Executive Director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies and Professor of History at Virginia Tech. “Davis, Johnston, and Beauregard–The Triple-play that Crippled the Confederacy”
•Dr. Lindsay Privette, associate professor of history, Anderson University “Together at Vicksburg: Exploring the Bonds Between Commanders, Surgeons, and Soldiers”
•Dr. Caroline Janney, John L Nau, III, Professor in History of American Civil War, Director, John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History “From Partisan Warrior to Family Man: The Personal Relationships of John S. Mosby”
