Virtual Event: April 16 – Everyday Experiences of Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War | 250 Years of Jewish Life in America Series
Join us on Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 12:00 PM Eastern Time, US.
What was it like to be a Jew in the armies of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis? Jewish soldiers were religious outsiders in military environments that made few allowances for their specific needs. They were often expected to subsist on diets heavy in pork and to worship on Sundays rather than Saturdays. Furthermore, most of their Christian comrades had never encountered Jewish people before.
Join Prof. Adam Mendelsohn as he explores the visible and invisible ways that the everyday experiences of Jews were distinct from those of other soldiers who served during the Civil War.
His extensive research incorporates the Shapell Roster of Jewish Service in the American Civil War, a digital database documenting the lives and military services of Jewish soldiers and sailors who served on both sides of the conflict.
We invite you to join us for this lecture with Mendelsohn followed by Q&A with JTA Editor-in-Chief Philissa Cramer. Presented by The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and 70 Faces Media.
Professor Adam D. Mendelsohn holds the Isidore and Theresa Cohen Chair in Jewish Civilization at the University of Cape Town where he is Director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies. He is the author of Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army and is at work on a companion volume on the Confederacy.