The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai, written from 1864-1865 in the antebellum South, charts Mordecai’s daily life and her evolving perspective on Confederate nationalism and Southern identity, Jewishness, women’s roles in wartime, gendered domestic roles in slave-owning households, and more. While never losing sight of the racist social and political structures that shaped Emma Mordecai’s world, The Civil War Diary provides a vivid look at the wartime experiences of a Jewish woman in the Confederate South.

Dr. Dianne Ashton was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and World Religions at Rowan University. She is the author and editor of a number of books, including Hanukkah in America: A History and Rebecca Gratz: Women and Judaism in Antebellum America.

Dr. Melissa R. Klapper is Professor of History and the Coordinator of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Rowan University. She is the author of five books, including Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women’s Activism, 1890-1940, which won the National Jewish Book Award in Women’s Studies. Klapper is a past HBI Scholar in Residence (2007, 2023) and the recipient of two HBI Research Awards. She completed this book during her residency in 2023.

Colleagues at Rowan, Ashton was a mentor to Klapper long before they ended up at the same university. When Ashton passed away during the writing of this book in 2022, Klapper decided to finish the project. Read ‘The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai’: Rowan historian completes late colleague’s book focusing on Jewish life in the South (Dec. 2024).

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event and are also available at Bookshop, Amazon, and your local bookseller.