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This website was built by four students at the
University of Virginia in Hius 403: Digital History and the Civil
War.
- Peter Brownfeld is a second year student from Alexandria, VA and a
history major. He will graduate in May, 2000. He writes a weekly column
for the Cavalier Daily and
hopes to
become a professional journalist. He can be reached by email at peb7h@virginia.edu
- Ji Sun Hwang is a fourth year student from Bethesda, MD, and a double
major in Biochemistry and History. She will graduate in May, 1998. Her
future plans include graduate school. She can be reached by email at jsh8h@virginia.edu.
- Dominique Picou is a fourth year student at the University of
Virginia. She is graduating in May, 1998 with no major and no definitive
plans for the next two years, which she plans to enjoy in the
beautiful Charlottesville area before embarking upon a law school
adventure. Her email address is ndp3x@virginia.edu
- Alessandro Santarelli is a fourth year history major from Alexandria,
Virginia. He attended Gonzaga College High School and is graduating from
the University of Virginia in May, 1998. Having appeared in numerous
drama productions here at Virginia, Alessandro is moving to Los Angeles
to pursue an acting and directing career. He loves Flowmaster mufflers.
He can be reached by email at ars2v@virginia.edu
Our goal was to discover how productive the Freedmen's Bureau in
Staunton, VA was during Reconstruction. We based our research on records
from the National Archives in Washington DC, two newspapers: the Staunton
Vindicator formerly known as the Spectator , and the
Valley Virginian , and a variety of secondary resources. Please see our
bibliography for a full listing of resources we used.
One stumbling block we ran into was the lack of records and
images regarding the Bureau. The individuals and organizations that we
consulted in Staunton include the Staunton Historical Society, the
Staunton Public Library, Mary Baldwin College, and local historical
experts. These sources had little, if any, information regarding the
Bureau. We believe this trend is not indicative of the failings of these
organizations, but rather shows that during Reconstruction the Staunton
community largely ignored the Bureau. As a result, our information is
primarily drawn from the Bureau's records, local newspapers, and secondary
sources.
We hope this website portrays what the Bureau was empowered to
do, and how it coped with the many problems which it faced.
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