Archives to Host Food For Thought Lunchtime Lecture on Thursday, April 20 at 12:00 pm

04/06/23

Press Release - For Immediate Release


Media Contact: Hayley Richards


(334) 353-1881 or hayley.richards@archives.alabama.gov


FOOD FOR THOUGHT LUNCHTIME LECTURE AT THE ARCHIVES ON THURSDAY, APRIL 20 AT 12 PM 

THE FAILURE OF OUR FATHERS: FAMILY, GENDER, & POWER IN CONFEDERATE ALABAMA

PRESENTED BY VICTORIA OTT 


Montgomery, AL (04/06/2023) – The Alabama Department of Archives & History (ADAH) will continue its 2023 Food For Thought lunchtime lecture series on Thursday, April 20, at 12 PM.  Victoria Ott will present The Failure of Our Fathers: Family, Gender & Power in Confederate Alabama. The program will be held in the ADAH’s Joseph M. Farley Alabama Power Auditorium in Montgomery. It will also be livestreamed through the ADAH’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Admission is FREE.


During this presentation, Ott will explore how family played a key role in encouraging Alabamians to support the Confederate cause during the Civil War. Going to war meant protecting loved ones from outsiders who threatened to turn the world upside down. Ott will discuss how many Alabamians initially viewed the Confederacy as a “family” and the state as a paternal figure who promised to protect loyal dependents throughout the conflict. As the war ravaged Alabama, the construct of a familial structure that once created a sense of loyalty became a source of power to question the war and challenge state leadership.


Victoria Ott is the James A. Woods Professor of American History at Birmingham-Southern College. She has published numerous essays concerning gender relations in the Civil War South including Confederate Daughters: Coming of Age During the Civil War (2008). Her latest publication, The Failure of Our Fathers: Family, Gender, & Power in Confederate Alabama, was published by the University of Alabama Press in 2023.


Copies of Ott’s book, The Failure of Our Fathers: Family, Gender, & Power in Confederate Alabama, will be available for purchase in the ADAH’s Museum Store and online at shopalabamaoriginal.com. 


For additional information, contact Alex Colvin at archives.alabama.gov or (334) 353-4689. A complete schedule of our 2023 lunchtime lecture series is available at archives.alabama.gov. Food for Thought 2023 is sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Alliance and the Friends of the Alabama Archives. 


The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the state’s government-records repository, a special-collections library and research facility, and home to the Museum of Alabama, the state history museum. It is located in downtown Montgomery, directly across Washington Avenue from the State Capitol. The Museum of Alabama is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. The EBSCO Research Room is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. To learn more, visit www.archives.alabama.gov or call (334) 242-4364. 


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Alabama Department of Archives & History 

624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36130

www.archives.alabama.gov


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