PASSWORDMANAGEMENT
Joan Gundersen Honored
Former students, family members, and the history faculty gathered Monday, April 26, to celebrate founding faculty member Joan Gundersen's visit to the campus. Dr. Gundersen currently holds a research appointment at the University of Pittsburgh. During the reception, a plaque was unveiled which will hang in the history department, ensuring that future students and staff will not forget Dr. Gundersen鈥檚 achievements.
After the plaque was presented, Dr. Gundersen gave a talk on "Women Refugees and Camp Followers in Revolutionary Virginia," based on her recent research. She discussed the historically-ignored presence of women dislocated by the Revolution.
Virginia alone had twenty thousand such women, from all social positions, including African American slaves from plantations and Native American villagers from the western frontier. Some were following their husbands on war campaigns, but the majority were refugees whose homes had been destroyed by the fighting 鈥 many even before Independence had been declared. Her talk highlighted not only the universal difficulties faced by women in war zones, but also illuminated the depth of upheaval involved in the American Revolution.