Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History

Join us for a fascinating look at plants and their uses during the American Civil War.

Slavery was at the heart of the South's agrarian economy before and during the Civil War. Agriculture provided products essential to the war effort, from dietary rations to antimalarial drugs to raw materials for military uniforms and engineering. Drawing on a range of primary sources, this history examines the botany and ethnobotany of America's defining conflict. The author describes the diverse roles of cash crops, herbal medicine, subsistence agriculture and the diet and cookery of enslaved people.

About Judith Sumner:

Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  

Judith served as a visiting scientist for several summers in the LEAP (Learning About Plants) program at Harvard for Boston school teachers and has volunteered as a National Public Radio Science Mentor. She has spent summers working with teachers at the Museum Institutes for Teaching Science (MITS) program and conducting workshops on science writing.

Judith has been the lecturer-in-residence at the Star Island Natural History Conference, and she has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the PBS program "Cultivating Life" with Sean Conway, and various other PBS and educational programs. 

You can learn more about Ms. Sumner by visiting her website: About Judith | sumnerbotany (judithsumner.com)

Registration is required.  Please register by completing the form or calling 978-249-9515.

This event is made possible by a grant from the Athol Cultural Council.