The Symposium on the 19th Century Press, The Civil War, and Free Expression ended Saturday with a tour of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield led by National Park Historian Jim Ogden.
The symposium featured presentations of selected papers that deal with U.S. mass media of the 19th century, the Civil War in fiction and history, images of race and gender in the 19th century press, presidents and the 19th century press, and sensationalism and crime in 19th century newspapers.
“An interesting development for the conference over the last few years is the increasing presence of ‘mainstream’ historians,” said Dr. Kit Rushing, head of the Department of Communication, who works with Dr. David Sachsman, George R. West, Jr. Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs, to organize the annual event. “The sharing between journalism historians and ‘mainstream’ historians, both with interests in the 19th century, is an interesting and, to me, exciting development of the little conference.”
A selection of Rushing’s photographs of the 2007 symposia is available on the Communication website.
