Baptists and the Civil War

Paul Harvey

While we're on the subject of the religious history of the Civil War, here's a new resource of interest. I received an email today from Bruce Gourley, Executive Director of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, on a new site he has constructed on Baptists and the Civil War, featuring an abundance of essays, documents, daily journal entries, and other resources on that subject. He writes:

"Baptists and the American Civil War: In Their Own Words" is a day-by-day journal of the Baptist experience, North and South, during the Civil War. Each day a new journal entry is published, corresponding with that date 150 years earlier.

This digital project began as an outgrowth of research done for my dissertation-turned-upcoming book, Diverging Loyalties: Baptists in Middle Georgia During the Civil War (due in the fall from Mercer University Press).

A quick survey of this website shows it to be a terrific resource for scholars working on all sorts of subjects, as well as those interested in Baptist history of the religious history of the Civil War, in particular. The daily journal features short bits of information and analysis on the events of that day 150 years ago -- this entry from Jan. 2, 1861, for examples, describes the process of voting for secession in Georgia.

Congratulations to Bruce Gourley on making his research and interests available in this wonderfully accessible way, and in incorporating the best scholarship in doing so.