Author Archives: Sarah Kay Bierle

Can We Love History?

When I was little, I told people: “I love history.” It was my favorite subject in school (closely followed by grammar and writing), and I missed no opportunity to tell people about my passion for the past. Today is Valentine’s Day, and I find myself contemplating the word and meaning of love. So…can we trulyContinue reading “Can We Love History?”

Face Down in the Field

I had an adventure this weekend. I went out to do some “off-trail battlefielding” to find some earthworks and follow the footsteps of a division I’ve been researching. Don’t climb on the earthworks, don’t get lost, and follow all National Park rules and then it’s okay to do some more in-the-field research and really getContinue reading “Face Down in the Field”

What happened? Civil War Photograph Mystery

I like to look at the Civil War era photographs of couples and families. It’s a visual reminder that the war and what happened in the military affected the homefront and vice-versa. One afternoon I was looking at civilian/military images, noting details on poses for couples, and I came across this image digitized in LibraryContinue reading “What happened? Civil War Photograph Mystery”

Historic & Modern Photographs: Do They Match?

Ever since 2019 when I wrote about this photograph of U.S. Sanitary Commission members in Fredericksburg, Virginia, for Emerging Civil War, I’ve wanted to try to match the historic photographs to the location as it appears today. I have an on-going file of information about the USSC during the Overland Campaign and it’s fun toContinue reading “Historic & Modern Photographs: Do They Match?”

Civil War Photographs That Make Me Smile & Wonder

One of my jobs at work is to sort through photos and figure out which ones to feature occasionally in our social media posts. Library of Congress is such an excellent resource for finding Civil War photographs and the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (digitized) is one of my favorite places to lookContinue reading “Civil War Photographs That Make Me Smile & Wonder”

“Here You Are”: Poetry for an Unknown Union Soldier

Sharing some historical, Civil War era photographs this month… I know photographs don’t talk, but sometimes the image can grip the heart. That’s the way I felt when I saw the photograph of this young Union soldier on Library of Congress’s website. I stopped what I was working on at the time and just studiedContinue reading ““Here You Are”: Poetry for an Unknown Union Soldier”

“Go Dye A Sweater”: A New Year’s Eve Story

Well, it’s 2021. Let’s go! I’m trying to feel motivated and looking forward to sharing some historical photos in a four week series this January. However, since we’ve got five Sundays in the month, I thought it might be fun to start off with something a little lighter. Something crazy happened on New Year’s Eve,Continue reading ““Go Dye A Sweater”: A New Year’s Eve Story”

Voices From The Crisis

There’s something I want to say, but just wasn’t fitting into my article for Emerging Civil War this week. Accounts from Union soldiers after the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 and then looking at their reaction to the positively-spun presidential commendation and newspaper reporting got my brain turning. History was helping me thinking aboutContinue reading “Voices From The Crisis”

Victoria and Christmas Memory

The other evening I was watching the Christmas episode from Season 2 of the BBC show Victoria. It’s a heartwarming feature about Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, their children and extended family. Albert spends most of the episode trying to create an absolutely magical Christmas experience for his wife and children while also wanting to getContinue reading “Victoria and Christmas Memory”