Browse Exhibits (2 total)
Beloit Students in the Civil War
The American Civil War launched the United States into turmoil when it began in 1861. By the end of the war in 1865, an estimated 620,000 soldiers were dead as a result of the war. Beloit College was not immune to the conflict, and many men associated with the college joined the Union Army.
Four hundred and seventy-nine soldiers from Beloit College served during the Civil War. Of these men, most were young and one hundred and eighty-six were privates. Fifty-three of the four hundred and seventy-nine did not come back alive.
On July 14th, 1869, Memorial Hall (now part of the Logan Museum of Anthropology) was dedicated to those Beloit soldiers who served in the Civil War. As part of this dedication, many relatives of Beloit soldiers sent in letters and memoirs to the College, recalling their lives and service.
Some of these young men had extensive letters written by family and friends memorializing them in text; the college still has these letters in its possession and some are transcribed for this project. Using these texts, as well as accounts from external sources, this exhibit seeks to map the movements of Beloit soldiers during their service in the Union Army. Five students have been selected for the purposes of this exhibit: Dudley Cowles, Edmund Dawes, Quincy Pollock, Whitney Tibbals, and Frank Edgar Woodruff.
World War II at Beloit College
The students at Beloit College were affected by the war both overseas and back home. During the war, Beloit College changed their academic structure in order to incorporate a more military based education. This allowed students and service men to obtain their degrees at an accelerated pace so the service men could go off to fight in the war at higher rankings within the military.
While military trainings were focused around the service men of the 95th College Training Detachment, the social lives of all students were altered to focus around the military in a variety of ways such as calisthenics, bond sales, and dances for visiting soldiers.
This exhibit shows the changes that were made to both the academic and social lives of Beloit College students during the war.
Featured Exhibit
You have no featured exhibits.