Irish American Civil War Songs and Music with Catherine Bateson

COVID-19 and closures won’t stop us from sharing the incredible lessons we can learn from studying medical care during the Civil War!

Join us on Wednesday, November 18 at 1:00 PM on Facebook Live for a virtual program hosted by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. You can tune in live by visiting facebook.com/civilwarmed/live at the scheduled time.

Education Coordinator John Lustrea will talk with Dr. Catherine Bateson about Irish American Civil War songs and music. Music was such an important aspect of the Civil War soldiering experience, but not enough attention has been paid to what meaning the soldiers placed on it. In particular with Irish soldiers, Dr. Bateson is seeking to dive deeper into this important topic. The conversation will cover why music was so important and it’s role in helping wounded soldiers recover.

Dr. Catherine Bateson is a tutor and lecturer of American History at Durham University in the UK, where she teaches eighteenth and nineteenth century American slavery, Native American, Civil War and social history to undergraduate students. She has previously lectured, convened courses and tutored at the universities of Edinburgh, Gloucestershire, Wolverhampton and Sussex across the UK, again specializing in American history, studies and British racial history. She gained her PhD in 2018 from the University of Edinburgh, where she worked on the culture and sentiments of Irish American Civil War songs and music, and is currently working on a manuscript about this topic. Catherine is also the current Vice-Chair of the Scottish Association for the Study of America (SASA) and was the co-founder for the War Through Other Stuff Society (both organizations are active on Twitter). She also holds a BA from University College London, which included a year of study in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, and a MA in American Studies from King’s College London. She can – with some persuasion – sing Irish American Civil War songs too!

Like these programs? Consider supporting our efforts by becoming a member or donating to the Museum! Your efforts ensure that we can continue sharing the story of Civil War medicine in this crucial time. In history, we can find hope amid our struggle against COVID-19.