Sarah0725

MeaghanandMichael · September 2009

So the other night you briefly told me about your studies. I was very intrigued! What are you focusing on specifically about the monuments? Do you have a dissertation/thesis topic at all? How did you get drawn to that? I love that kind of stuff.

sarah0725 · September 2009

Sorry bout that, was talking to FI on the phone (those pesky long distance relationships).Civil War monuments have been a bit of a passion for me for a long time; I was always a Civil War buff, and when I got into art history and realized I could combine the two by doing monuments, I was in heaven. I wrote my MA thesis on soldiers' and sailors' monuments, which are a subset of common soldier monuments that deal specifically with the four branches of the armed forces (army, navy, cavalry and artillery at the time).I'm incorporating that research into my larger dissertation, which will be about the rise of the common/citizen soldier as a figure to memorialize in the years after the Civil War (as opposed to monuments to generals like Lee or Grant). I'll be thinking about whether this is an American phenomenon, and how the idea of soldier as citizen is so important to our national identity. I'll also be considering what function memorials played in the postbellum era, and whether they helped heal the country by allowing people to mourn or made things more difficult by preserving the reasons for the conflict.That, or the short answer is that I'm looking for an excuse to spend the next few years driving around the northeast and taking pictures of sculptures.

MeaghanandMichael · September 2009

What FI more important than knotting? Imagine that!I am seriously fascinated by your work. I love thinking about things like that. There are so many facets to this study it seems. This part:whether they helped heal the country by allowing people to mourn or made things more difficult by preserving the reasons for the conflict.made me think of a paper I wrote on a similar idea but instead of the soldier monuments it was done on the religious symbol of the cross. Since both sides had deeply rooted religious convictions for fighting the war, the cross ultimately took on a dualistic entity as both a war monger and freedom fighter. Plus, when people turned back to religion for comfort as they picked up the pieces of their life, that seemingly steadfast symbol held such conflicting emotions.I would be interested to read more on your topic though. I really like how you picked up on the common soldier as opposed to the general. Exploring the democratization of heroism must be a trip. Best of luck!

sarah0725 · September 2009

Exploring the democratization of heroism must be a trip.I think this is my favorite part of the project. It's still really relevant too; there was an ad floating around for the National Guard over the winter called "Citizen Soldier" that had all these images of soldiers being heroic, with closeups of their wedding rings. That kind of thing dates back at least to my period if not earlier.I'm sure I'll be talking about it all more as time goes by. Right now I'm not really working on the diss yet, because I need to finish up coursework this semester and then pass my comps next semester. But it's all in the back of my head.Your cross example sounds like a pretty great comparison to the wars over symbols and inscriptions that went on in the 1870s to 1890s. It's interesting to watch how the word "slavery" completely disappears from monument inscriptions by the end of the 19th century.

MeaghanandMichael · September 2009

It's interesting to watch how the word "slavery" completely disappears from monument inscriptions by the end of the 19th century.Wow. Interesting, but not surprising.Thanks for sharing!

sarah0725 · September 2009

No problem! I definitely like talking to it.I think I'm off to bed now, because getting up early to go running + first day of seminars = melting into a sleep puddle.

sarah0725 · September 2009

to = aboutYeah, definitely too tired to think.

MeaghanandMichael · September 2009

Goodness woman, how are you even still standing? go! Night.

Sarah0725

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