Dittmer to be featured speaker about women in Civil War for History Happy Hour on Thursday

QUINCY — The Lincoln-Douglas Debate Museum, 128 N. Fifth, will be the site of a presentation by Arlis Dittmer, local historian and former president of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, on “Courageous Women; Confronting Obstacles in Turbulent Times” on Thursday, March 20 as part of its History Happy Hour program series.

The evening will begin at 5 p.m. with a mini reception that includes light refreshments. The presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by a question-and-answer session and conversation.

The Civil War provided an opportunity for women to play a significant role in war for the first time in American history. Their domestic life was upended with additional burdens placed upon one half of the population who could not vote or hold public office.

Women became spies, couriers, soldiers, doctors, nurses, farm managers, fundraisers, organizers, writers and reporters. They worked in offices, factories, hospitals and in fields strewn with the wounded, dead and dying. Life was never the same.

There is no cost to attend. Sonations to the Lincoln-Douglas Debate Museum will be accepted on site.

For more information, visit www.lincolndouglasdebatemuseum.com.