Bowdoin College has selected 2013 as a commemorative year to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

A variety of campus programs, panels, and exhibitions are being presented throughout the calendar year, both to remind us of this pivotal event in American history and to encourage us to explore contemporary issues that the Civil War narrative suggests – notions of self, memory, nationhood and social conscience, to name a few.

Returned to camp towards dark, drank a little tea & went to bed. Have eaten nothing since morning, & then only a little bread & gruel.

-Taken from Isaac Winslow Case’s diary, January 1, 1863.  Case was Class of 1848 and captain in the 22nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

As a part of this sesquicentennial commemoration, the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives presents the blog On this Day in Civil War History”¦ as a daily reminder of what occurred 150 years ago.

The posts derive from among the historical resources in Special Collections: a passage from a letter to a soldier, a soldier’s diary entry, a note of condolence, a daily surgeon’s morning report, an account of activities on the home front.

Cumulatively, these entries provide a panoramic view of the lives, emotions and occupations of the individuals who experienced a sometimes horrific, often mundane existence during the difficult year of 1863.

Special thanks go to Glenn Skillin, a friend of Special Collections & Archives, whose preliminary research was crucial in developing the content for this blog.

Bowdoin is also commemorating the sesquicentennial with Alumni College programming.

“The Afterlife of the American Civil War,” a series scheduled August 8-11, 2013, will feature keynote speakers, talks by Bowdoin faculty and walking tours of historic Brunswick.