Villanova University was founded in 1842 by the Order of Saint Augustine. To this day, Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition is the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. Villanova prepares students to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.


The strength of the Villanova experience comes in part from the University’s welcoming community. All members are bonded together by a shared responsibility to uphold the ideals of Saint Augustine and let the principles of truth, unity and love guide their lives. The Villanova community helps students grow intellectually, professionally and spiritually, and challenges them to reach their full potential.


The University’s rigorous academic experience, rooted in the liberal arts, forms an environment in which students and professors are partners in learning. The Villanova community is dedicated to providing a personalized experience that fosters every student’s intellectual and spiritual well-being. As part of their education, students are encouraged to enrich their own lives by working for those in need. Through academic and service programs, students use their knowledge, skills and compassion to better the world around them.


There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. These colleges are the setting for an experience that develops both the heart and the mind, and creates the atmosphere where students are called to ignite change.


Villanova University is located in a suburban community 12 miles west of Philadelphia, Pa.

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Expert Inquiry

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Mary Elizabeth Massey and the Civil War Centennial

"To Forget and Forgive": Reconstructing the Nation in the Post-Civil War Classroom

From Harvest Field to Battlefield: Rural Pennsylvania Women and the U.S. Civil War

Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

Women and the American Civil War: North-South Counterpoints

Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era)

Army at Home: Women and the Civil War on the Northern Home Front (Civil War America)

Civil War Sisterhood: The U.S. Sanitary Commission and Women's Politics in Transition

Emilie Davis’s Civil War: The Diaries of a Free Black Woman in Philadelphia, 1863–1865

Dr. Judith Giesberg is a professor of history and the Robert M. Birmingham Chair in the Humanities at Villanova University. She is the author of several books on the Civil War era, examining subjects like women's relief work during the conflict, how working-class and African American women endured the struggle on the Northern home front and the trade in pornography among U.S. Army soldiers. 

Dr. Giesberg has also produced and overseen a number of digital projects focused on African American communities during the war and postwar periods, in particular in the North. Among their number is "Last Seen," an effort to collect and digitize information wanted ads taken out by former slaves looking for loved ones lost in the domestic slave trade. Recently, Dr. Giesberg has written a book drawing from this archive—containing almost five thousand letters and advertisements placed by members of the "Freedom Generation"—to compile these individuals and families' stories in a narrative form for the first time.

Caroline LeCount

Census

Slavery

U.S. Civil War

Women's History 

Confederate Statues

Slavery Broke Apart Families. After Emancipation, How Did They Reunite?

"Last Seen" Review: Separated by Slavery

The Unfulfilled Promises of Emancipation and Reconstruction

"Last Seen": Searching for Lost Family After Slavery

"Last Seen": After Slavery, Family Members Placed Ads Looking for Loved Ones

The Missing Persons of Reconstruction

At Mother Bethel, Villanova Professor Previews "Last Seen," Her Book About How Black Families Searched for Relatives Sold During Slavery

The Search for a Meaningful Clue to the Mystery of an Enslaved Ancestor

From Indentured Servant to University Benefactor: This Man's $10,000 Gift Helped Villanova Survive

Squirrel Oil, Raccoon Thighs and Tobacco Spit: Capt. Andrew Luck Is Back in the NFL Playoffs

Jeff Sessions Is Wrong. Sanctuary-City Advocates Aren't Like Secessionists. They're Like Abolitionists.

President Trump Is Playing Politics With the 2020 Census. It Could Backfire.

John Kelly Gets Civil War History Wrong

"My Mother Was Sold From Me": After Slavery, the Desperate Search for Loved Ones in "Last Seen Ads"

"Information Wanted": Freed Slaves' Heartbreaking Ads Tell Personal Stories of Slavery

Professor of History; Robert M. Birmingham Chair in the Humanities | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

After the Civil War, newly freed slaves placed "Information Wanted Ads" in newspapers, looking for lost family members who were sold off or ran away. A new initiative at Villanova University aims to catalog the ads for researchers and genealogists. Vladimir Duthiers has more.

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19th-Century Ads Written by Newly Freed Slaves Tell Story About Chapter in History

"Bonnie's Beat" With Judith Giesberg, PhD

Judith Ginsberg and Jonathan White joined Dan Weinberg on March 25, 2017 to discuss their books about pornography and dreams in the Civil War. Order the books! http://authorsvoice.net/event/a-house-divided-talks-about-sex-in-the-civil-war-and-midnight-in-america/

"A House Divided," Season 2, Episode 3: Judith Giesberg and Jonathan White

After being freed from slavery, former slaves took out ads in newspapers in search of their families. History professor Judy Giesberg describes her latest project to digitize these ads and see if connections can be made.

Searching for Loved Ones After Slavery

Political unrest, racial justice and epidemic disease are the pressing issues of 2020, but have we been here before? Dr. Judith Giesberg, Professor of History at Villanova University, speaks about how the social and political issues we're seeing today are similar to those faced in 1918, the controversies over the removal of civil war monuments, and how the new administration can learn from this period of American history.

Learn more about Judith Giesberg's expertise and media appearances here:
https://expertfile.com/experts/judith.giesberg

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Dr. Judith Giesberg on the Parallels Between 2020 and the U.S. Civil War

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