Episode Summary: Dr. Beebe interviews Dr. Matt Stith about the Northern Home Front during the American Civil War. She then applies this context to four poems by Emily Dickinson: “When I was small, a Woman died—” (F518/J596), “It feels a shame to be Alive—” (F524/J444), “He gave away his Life—” (F530/J567), and “How many Flowers fail in Wood –“ (F534/J404).

Part 1 (Biography & Overview) Starts: 00.00

Part 2 (Interview with Dr. Matt Stith) Starts: 22:19

Part 3 (Four Poems) Starts: 35:46

Dr. Beebe’s LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-beebe

Emily Dickinson: A Companion: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/emily-dickinson/ 

5-Question Poll: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LCQZTGT

Dr. Matt Stith is Associate Professor of History at the University of Texas at Tyler where he has taught since 2011.

He teaches a range of courses on American history, including the Civil War & Reconstruction and American Environmental History

He is the author or editor of four published or forthcoming books and a dozen essays that explore military and environmental history in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Extreme Civil War: Guerrilla Warfare, Environment, and Race on the Trans-Mississippi Frontier (2016)

https://lsupress.org/books/detail/extreme-civil-war/

Beyond the Quagmire: New Interpretations of the Vietnam War (2019) 

https://untpress.unt.edu/catalog/jensen-beyond-the-quagmire/

Resources:

Ackmann, Martha. These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of 

Emily Dickinson. W. W. Norton, 2021.

Beebe, Ann. Emily Dickinson: A Companion. McFarland, 2022.

Emily Dickinson Lexicon: https://edl.byu.edu/  

Emily Dickinson Museum. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/ 

Faust, Drew Gilpin. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. 2008

Gallman, Matthew. Northerners at War: Reflections on the Civil War Home Front. 2010.

Civil War Photographs - https://www.archives.gov/research/still-pictures/civil-war