Civil War Widows

Length 13:00
Licensor Radio Diaries
Producer(s) Joe Richman/Radio Diaries
Formats Archival, Documentary, Soft Feature
Topics African American, Historical, Women
Produced July 1, 1998
Added to PRX December 8, 2003
 

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Summary:

Alberta Martin and Daisy Anderson are the last living Civil War Widows.

Website:

http://www.radiodiaries.org/

Tones:

NPR NewsMagazine-y

Language:

English

Description:

More than 135 years ago, Union troops clashed with Confederates at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle marked the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. At that same battlefield in 1997, Daisy Anderson and Alberta Martin first met. They had come to Gettysburg to be honored as the last known living Civil War widows.

If the notion of a living Civil War widow seems confusing, we should explain that both women married in their early 20's. Their husbands were near 80. Alberta Martin and Daisy Anderson?of course?were not alive during the Civil War. But for many people they are the closest thing we've got.