On Saturday, October 11, the Central Library is open to registered Heartland Book Festival attendees only. Regular services, such as hold pickups, public computers and phones, and public meeting rooms, will not be available.

If It Looks Like a Man: Gender Identity, Female Soldiers, and 'Lady Bushwhackers' in the Civil War
Series:
Missouri Valley Sundays,
Civil War
Presented By
Aaron Barnhart, Diane Eickhoff
In a time of great emphasis on the separate roles of men and women, hundreds of females—Union and Confederate—cut their hair, bound their breasts, donned men’s clothing, and reported to army recruiters for duty during the Civil War. Others served as scouts, spies, or rode with their husbands and brothers in contested areas.
Public historians Diane Eickhoff and Aaron Barnhart explore how and why these extraordinary women defied cultural norms to participate in America's largest domestic military conflict.
Eickhoff and Barnhart have traveled throughout Missouri and Kansas, visiting and writing about historic sites. They are co-authors of The Big Divide: A Travel Guide to Historic and Civil War Sites in the Missouri-Kansas Border Region.
Listen
Upcoming in this series:
Enfys McMurry
'Disaster at 39,000 Feet: How ...
Sunday, October 26, 2025
2:00pm
On May 22, 1962, a routine flight from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Kansas City turned tragic after radar contact was suddenly lost. Eight crew members and 37 passeng...
Watch or Listen to Past Events in this Series:
Brandon G. Kinney
The Mormon War of 1838
Sunday, June 24, 2012
2:00pm
Author Brandon G. Kinney explores the complex series of events that led to the brief but bloody Mormon War of 1838, a conflict over religion, ideology, and land pitt...

If It Looks Like a Man: Gender Identity, Female Soldiers, and 'Lady Bushwhackers' in the Civil War
Series:
Missouri Valley Sundays,
Civil War