Recommended Reading for Civilians
These are available from many different outlets and the links are provided only as information for the books.
Civil War Era Knit and Crochet Patterns
by DeAnn Upton
Civilian Lady
Who Wore What?
by Juanita Leisch
An Introduction to Civil War Civilians
by Juanita Leisch
Powdered, Painted and Perfumed: Cosmetics of the Civil War Period and their Historical Context
by Virginia Mescher
Rachel Weeping: Mourning in Nineteenth Century America
by Karen Rae Mehaffey
Civil War as a Crisis in Gender
by LeeAnn Whites
Resources for Famous Civilian women/men (for impression building)
Amazing Women of the Civil War
by Webb Garrison
The Civil War in Georgia
edited by John C. Inscoe
Confederate Women
by Mauriel Phillips Joslyn
Women in the Civil War
by Mary Elizabeth Massey
They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War
by Deanne Blanton & Lauren Cook
Heroine of the Rebellion: Or Woman’s Work in the Civil War:
A record of Heroism, Patriotism and Patience
by LP Brockett (reprint of 1863)
Spies
Double Death: The true story of Pryce Lewis
by Gavin Mortimer
Wild Rose: The True Story of a Civil War Spy
by Ann Blackman
Southern Lady/Yankee Spy: Elisabeth Van Lew
by Elizabeth Varon
Spy of the Rebellion
by Allen Pinkerton
Nurses/Surgeon/Medicine
Civil War Hospital Sketches
by Louisa May Alcott
Civil War Nurse: Diary and letters of Hannah Ropes
by Hannah Ropes, edited by John Brumgardt
Women of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War
by Stephen B. Oates
Battlefield Angels: The Daughters of Charity Work as Civil War Nurses
by James Rada, Jr.
The Birth Place of Souls: Diary of Harriet Eaton
by Jane E. Schultz
Surgeon in Blue: Jonathan Letterman
by Scott McGaugh
Gunn’s Domestic Medicine
by John C. Gunn (reprint of original)
Bleeding Blue and Grey: Civil War Surgery and Evolution of American Medicine
by Ira Rutkow
Homefront
Historical Uses of Herbs in the Mid-Nineteenth Century and Home Remedies,
Including Medicinal, Beauty and Household Usage of Herbs
by Virginia Mescher
Foods in the South During the Mid-19th Century
by Virginia Mescher
Mid-Nineteenth Parlor Games
by Michael Mescher
“Making Do” or Substitutions of Scarce Items during the Civil War
by Virginia Mescher
Everyday Life During the Civil War
by Michael J Varhola
Refreshments Now and Then
by Patricia B Mitchell
Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South
in the American Civil War
by Drew Gilpin Faust
Laundress
(most information here can be found from web blogs and sites
but there are a couple of must-have books)
Women of War: Battlegrounds were not always just for men
by Ken Mink
Laundry Handbook: Manual for Creating a Civilian
or Military Laundress Impression/Exhibit
by Virginia Mescher
Laundry and Cleaning Practices of the Mid-Nineteenth Century
by Virginia Mescher
Plain Needlework
by Melissa Roberts
Back to Links page for civilians
Back to Civilian Corner page