There's no specific classroom, museum or meeting space connected to the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era. But the mission of the program, based at Kennesaw State University, is an educational one, designed to introduce and inform students of all ages about a tragic time in the country's history.
“The center really began as a series of annual symposia that evolved,” explained Director Brian Willis. “We’re now getting ready to have our 14th annual Civil War Symposium and the center this year marked its 10th anniversary.”
The interest in the symposia caught the attention of Kennesaw State that created a home for the center where it can organize events and maintain a small display of artifacts. It also supports courses in the history and philosophy departments around Reconstruction and the Civil War home front. The Center’s outreach also extends to continuing education courses in Civil War topics that are open to the general public. But the university does not provide funding. Wills points out: “We’re expected to raise funds for our operating costs.”
Through its few courses, symposia and a range of special events, the center works to provide a range of programming on a complex and complicated period of history, said Wills.
“The Civil War was a time when events shaped the way the country will look from then on,” he said. “We can talk about events that brought on the war, the war itself and the outcomes and ramifications. We study the ways in which the war still impacts society today, how we can understand this crucial period and what lessons we can learn. In that context, our topics can cover everything from Jamestown to Donald Trump. We want to remind people that the Civil War had a wide footprint.”
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Past symposia have looked at the years between the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the 150th anniversary of the conflict. One year was highlighted by an Abraham Lincoln expert who led a program on the election of 1860. The center also organizes trips to historic sites around the Southeast.
“The western theater of the war was everything from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, and Georgia falls into that theater,” said Wills. “We’ve typically tried to put on programs about events in that area because it’s closer to home, and people have usually heard of those campaigns.”
While the classes offered at KSU are restricted to enrolled students, the symposia, excursions and continuing education programs are open to anyone. The center also offers resources to local history groups, such as the Civil War Roundtable of Cobb County and the Georgia Battlefields Association, and to home-schooling families.
“Our audience is the local community,” said Wills. “We don’t do a scholarly conference with academic papers, so it’s very approachable while still being historically sound.”
Wills himself brings a significant expertise to the center. A veteran teacher, he has taught at the University of West Georgia and has been at Kennesaw for seven years. He’s written several books about the war and is a member of the Georgia Civil War Commission that works to protect the state’s Civil War sites.
“I’m just excited for more people to hear about the work we do,” he said.
The center has a number of educational programs planned. On Saturday, a dinner at KSU's Continuing Education center on Busbee Drive will highlight the work of local groups and individuals who have worked to preserve the state's historic battlefields. On March 18, the center's annual symposium will feature programs around General James Longstreet, a critical figure at Gettysburg. And on April 8, a field trip to Gainesville will explore the area's historic roots and its connection to Longstreet, who died there in 1904.
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