Capital Dames

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Cokie Roberts, the author of three New York Times bestsellers, including Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty, turns her attention to the Civil War in a riveting exploration of the ways in which the conflict transformed not only the lives of women in Washington, D.C., but also the city itself.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, the small, social Southern town of Washington, D.C., found itself caught between warring sides in a four-year battle to determine the future of the United States. Much has been written about the men who defined the course of the war, but the role of America's women in the conflict has been given short shrift. Capital Dames introduces the resilient and remarkable women who remained in America's capital after the declaration of secession, chronicling their experiences during this momentous period of our country's historyand the transformation of a Southern society town into a center of national power, activism, and change.

While the nation's men marched off to war, either onto the battlefields or into the halls of Congress, the women of Washington joined the cause as well. As the city was transformed into an immense Union Army camp and later a hospital, they enlisted as nurses, supply organizers, relief workers, and journalists. Many risked their lives making munitions in highly flammable arsenals, toiled at the Treasury Department printing greenbacks to finance the war, and plied their needlework skills at the Navy Yardonce the sole province of mento sew canvas gunpowder bags for the troops.

Examining newspaper articles, government records, and private letters and diariesmany never before publishedRoberts brings the war-torn capital into focus through the lives of formidable ladies like Sara Agnes Pryor and Elizabeth Blair Lee. Her engrossing, well-researched narrative is an inspiring work about increasing independence and political empowerment, honoring the indispensable role of Washington, D.C.,'s women in strengthening the city while keeping the lines of communication open with their Southern sisters, and in facilitating healing once the fighting was done. Compelling social history at its best, Capital Dames concludes that the war not only changed Washington; it also forever changed the role of women in American society.

Reviews

"Cokie Roberts regularly dissects the power dynamics of modern-day Washington. As an author, though, she's demonstrated a special regard for the farther reaches of American history and its behind-the-scenes players." -- New York Times Book Review

"Roberts is a gifted narrator of Civil War history, weaving the experiences and perspectives of the women into a fresh and illuminating account of key battles and events, from John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry to the assassination of the president." -- Washington Post

"An engaging narrative.... Roberts documents the struggles of many women to overcome their second-class status.... [she] does not ignore the experiences of 'ordinary' women." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

"Helping to reverse...cultural ignorance in American history...Roberts again combines her historical interest and long personal knowledge of Washington politics... [and] unearths the important and unique role of women during the US Civil War." -- Christian Science Monitor

"An enlightening account detailing how the Civil War changed the nation's capital while expanding the role of women in politics, health care, education, and social services. " -- Kirkus Reviews

"Another splendid female-centric slice of history. . . . Roberts illuminates how the harsh realities of the war changed the course of individual lives and permanently altered the course of American women's history." -- Booklist

"The author's extensive research...gives this fresh look at Washington, DC during the Civil War era a sense of intimacy, immediacy, and originality.... [A] well-written, readable study. . . . Informative and accessible." -- Library Journal

Author Bio

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and NPR. She has won countless awards and in 2008 was named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers We Are Our Mothers' Daughters; Founding Mothers; Ladies of Liberty; and, with her husband, the journalist Steven V. Roberts, From This Day Forward and Our Haggadah. She lives just outside of Washington, D.C.