#368 Women & the Civil War Pension System w/ Kristin Jorgensen

About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of the Civil War Pension System on women's roles in American society, featuring Kristin Jorgensen's research.

The Civil War was the bloodiest military engagement in American history, and for the wives of those killed or wounded in battle, the struggle for survival continued long after the shooting ceased in 1865. In this episode we speak with longtime friend of the show Kristin Jorgensen about her recently-defended MA thesis, "From Private Misfortune to Public Entitlement: Rural New York Widows and the Civil War Pension System" which tells the story of how the Federal benefits offered to the wives of Union soldiers helped transform women's roles in American politics and society. To find out more about Kristin's work, you can follow her on linkedin or check out her business Pastward at PastwardHistory.com . This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

People in this episode

Guest: Kristin Jorgensen

Topics covered

• Civil War
• pension system
• women's roles
• American politics
• society
• history

Keywords

• Civil War
• pension system
• women
• politics
• society
• widows
• Union soldiers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pastward, PastwardHistory.com

Books & works: From Private Misfortune to Public Entitlement: Rural New York Widows and the Civil War Pension System

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