The Special Collections Research Center at Morris Library (SIU) is celebrating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War by hosting a national exhibit and three speakers.

Civil War 150, a national traveling exhibit, will be on display at Morris Library’s Special Collections Hall of Presidents from April 28 to May 16. This exhibit traces major events during the Civil War through the eyes of soldiers, presidents, freedmen, and families. A companion display highlights the impact of the war on Southern Illinois, showcasing the letters of local soldiers and their wives. To celebrate this exhibit, the Special Collections Research Center welcomes three guest speakers to the Hall of Presidents and Chancellors.

• April 28, Monday, noon. Glen Bishop: Southern Illinois regiments in the Atlanta campaign of 1864.
• May 2, Friday, 4 p.m. Rhonda Kohl: Researching the 5th Illinois Cavalry.
• May 9, Friday, 3 p.m. Darrel Dexter: The Political Climates of Southern Illinois during the Civil War.

Civil War 150 is a national traveling panel exhibition organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in partnership with The Library of America. The project, Civil War 150: Exploring the War and Its Meaning through the Words of Those Who Lived It, has been made possible in part through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. The exhibit is also sponsored by Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections Research Center and the Friends of Morris Library.

Call for more details at 618-453-2516.