The Grand Army of the Republic Posts in the Shenandoah Valley

By the early 1880s, as the number of Union veterans moving to the South increased and the nation entered the era of reconciliation, the Grand Army of the Republic (the largest national organization of Union veterans) established numerous posts in communities which during the Civil War largely supported the Confederacy. By the end of the decade four GAR Posts existed in the northern Shenandoah Valley. "Outlived the Odium" will explore, with a particular emphasis on Winchester's Mulligan Post No. 30, the circumstances which led to the establishment of GAR Posts in the Valley, highlight the GAR's efforts to fulfill the organization's mission of fraternity, charity, and loyalty, examine the various positive interactions GAR Posts in the Valley had with Confederate veterans, and discuss the various challenges that confronted the relationship between the GAR's members in the Valley and their former foes.

Jonathan Noyalas is director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute, a history professor at SU, and the author or editor of sixteen books and more than 100 articles, essays, chapters, and reviews which have appeared in a variety of popular and scholarly publications. Noyalas has consulted on a variety of projects with organizations such as the National Park Service, National Geographic, American Battlefield Trust, and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. He has appeared on NPR's 'With Good Reason," C-SPAN's American History TV, and PCN. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship including the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award--the highest honor that can be bestowed upon anyone in higher education in Virginia.