Content Expansion Will Bring New Material to Civil War Collection

The University of Iowa Libraries has signed an agreement with Accessible Archives, an electronic publisher of primary source full-text historical databases, to preserve in digital format a number of primary source publications from the Civil War era. The Libraries’ holdings include various Civil War memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories, which up to now have been available only for those with access to its Special Collections Department.  Once the materials have been digitized and made fully searchable, they will become a new portion – an additional part – of The Civil War, a collection from Accessible Archives that has been well received by university and public libraries.

The Libraries has already contributed missing issues of Godey’s Lady’s Book to the digital collection. Among the Civil War books soon to be preserved and made searchable are: One Year’s Soldiering, Embracing the Battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, written by the chaplain of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry and published in 1863; Sketches of the War, 2nd Edition, by Charles Henry Nott, published in 1865; and The Twenty-First Regiment of the Iowa Infantry, by George Crooke, published in 1891. Full-page images will be included, giving researchers access to the text, photographs, portraits, maps, and illustrations found in the original print format.

“We are delighted to extend the collaboration begun with Godey’s Lady’s Book and provide material from the University of Iowa Special Collections to enhance Accessible Archives’ The Civil War. Iowa provided more troops per capita than any other state in the Union, and Iowa men fought in nearly all the campaigns and major battles, were captured and imprisoned in the South, and after the war wrote about their experiences and came together frequently in reunions.  All of this is documented in the University of Iowa contribution,” said Edward Shreeves, Director of Collections and Scholarly Communication and Associate University Librarian.

“I think the publications from Iowa will be a great addition and enhancement to the material that we already have.  Many times, the Midwest is overlooked as far as Civil War coverage and I think this collection will help to improve that,” added Tom Nagy, Accessible Archives COO.

The Iowa publications will complement the Civil War newspapers and memoirs that are already online, which were obtained from the Godfrey Memorial Library and Vincennes University.