On Thursday, August 20, 2015, Dr. Michael Woods will discuss the “Emancipation and Statehood in West Virginia” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
In the fall and winter of 1862-63, President Abraham Lincoln transformed the Civil War into a revolution by issuing the preliminary and final versions of his Emancipation Proclamation. Professor Michael Woods of Marshall University discusses the origins, development, and effects of the two-part proclamation, paying special attention to West Virginia-then in the process of statehood-in the broader story. Shrouded in myths and half-truths, the Emancipation Proclamation’s true significance and limitations become clearer by considering the relationship of the Mountain State to the politics of slavery and war.
Michael Woods is assistant professor of history at Marshall University. He completed his BA at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and his MA and PhD at the University of South Carolina. His book, Emotional and Sectional Conflict in the Antebellum United States, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014. He has also published articles in the Journal of Social History and the Journal of American History. Woods teaches courses on U.S. history, the Civil War era, and the U.S. South.
For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
