Casualties of War
A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium
HARRY S. TRUMAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM
Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium
August 17, 2024
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum
Tickets on sale now
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area presents Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium. Measuring the struggle for freedom against the loss of liberty, the symposium will explore the wide-ranging effects of the border conflict and the loss of civil liberty for those caught in its vortex.
Until the mid-nineteenth century, a democratically elected government of civilian authorities protected the US’s founding guarantees: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Events in eastern Kansas and western Missouri forced the unthinkable, posing a direct challenge to those American values. When a military attempts to exert control over a hostile insurgent civilian population, fundamental questions emerge – with consequences that reverberate through history to the present moment.
This day-long event gathers a broad-based group of historians to discuss the price of civil liberties during wartime at the Harry S. Truman Library & Presidential Museum in Independence, Missouri.
Sessions presented will examine the Kansas-Missouri border war through the lenses of how geopolitical conflict shapes gender roles; the suspension of habeas corpus and invocation of martial law; the dawn of industrial total war; the lessons of insurgent movements; and more. Speakers include Kerry Altenbernd, Alisha Moore Cole, Dr. Harry Laver, Daniel L. Smith, and Richard Titterington.
Advance registration is required. Tickets for the program are $40 and include access to all sessions, museum admission, and a catered lunch. Ticket sales end August 15.
Schedule
9:30 a.m.
Check-in
10:00 a.m.
Welcome & introductions
10:15 a.m.
Kerry Altenbernd, “The Battle of Blackjack: John Brown Begins the War on Slavery”
11:15 a.m.
Alisha Moore Cole, “Petticoat Warriors”
12 p.m.
Lunch
12:30 p.m.
Dick Titterington, “Westport: Three Days in October 1864”
1:30 p.m.
Dr. Harry Laver, “African-American Soldiers and the Fight for Civil Liberty”
2:30 p.m.
Daniel L. Smith, “The Loss of Civil Liberties in the Struggle for Freedom and the Lasting Legacy of the Battle of Westport”
3:15 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium is a combined presentation of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and the Civil War Roundtable of Kansas City. Its sponsors encourage participants to gain a better understanding of the events of the late 1850s and early 1860s that shaped our region and influenced national history.
Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium
Date: August 17, 2024
Location: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum, Independence, Missouri
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area presents Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium. The day-long event gathers a broad-based group of historians to discuss the price of civil liberties during wartime at the Harry S. Truman Library & Presidential Museum in Independence, Missouri. Measuring the struggle for freedom against the loss of liberty, the symposium will explore the wide-ranging effects of the border conflict and the loss of civil liberty for those caught in its vortex.
About Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium
Until the mid-nineteenth century, a democratically elected government of civilian authorities protected the US’s founding guarantees: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Events in eastern Kansas and western Missouri forced the unthinkable, posing a direct challenge to those American values. When a military attempts to exert control over a hostile insurgent civilian population, fundamental questions emerge – with consequences that reverberate through history to the present moment.
Key topics include:
- Geopolitical conflict and gender roles
- The suspension of habeas corpus and invocation of martial law
- The dawn of industrial total war
- The lessons of insurgent movements
- More
Featured Speakers:
- Kerry Altenbernd
- Alisha Moore Cole
- Dr. Harry Laver
- Daniel L. Smith
- Richard Titterington
Registration Information:
Tickets are on sale now at freedomsfrontier.org/casualties-of-war. Advance registration is required. Tickets include access to all sessions, museum admission, and a catered lunch. Ticket sales end August 10.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Johnny Szlauderbach
Director of Communications & Projects, Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area
[email protected]
785.424.5594
About the Symposium:
Casualties of War: A Civil War on the Western Border Symposium is a combined presentation of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and the Civil War Roundtable of Kansas City. Its sponsors encourage participants to gain a better understanding of the events of the late 1850s and early 1860s that shaped our region and influenced national history.
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) builds awareness of struggles for freedom in western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Established by Congress in 2006, FFNHA covers a unique physical and cultural landscape across 41 counties and 31,000 square miles. It promotes three diverse, interwoven, and nationally significant stories: frontier settlement, the Missouri-Kansas Border War and Civil War, and enduring civil rights disputes. FFNHA inspires respect for multiple perspectives and empowers area residents to preserve and share these stories, achieving its goals through interpretation, preservation, conservation, and education for all residents and visitors. It is one of 62 federally recognized National Heritage Areas across the United States.
FREEDOM'S FRONTIER NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA
P.O. BOX 526
LAWRENCE, KS 66044
785.856.5300
GALLERY HOURS: BY APPT. TUES - FRI, 9AM - 4PM