MSU hosts 2026 Marszalek Lecture with award-winning Civil War historian
Contact: Alyssa Edwards
Mississippi State University Libraries welcomes students, faculty and community members to attend the 2026 John F. and Jeanne A. Marszalek Library Fund Lecture Series 6 p.m. on March 5 in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
Free and open to the public, the annual program highlights outstanding graduate research alongside a distinguished guest lecture.
The featured lecturer is Lesley J. Gordon, Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at the University of Alabama and an award-winning Civil War historian. Her talk, “Remember the Hero: Writing about Cowardice and the American Civil War” will examine interpretations of courage and memory in Civil War history.
This year’s Marszalek Graduate Student Award recipient, Jackie Perkins, will present “Designing Efficiency: Beauty, Nature and Technology in Chicago’s Parks, 1870–1890.”
“The Marszalek lecture is a great event each year that showcases original student research paired with a talk from a more seasoned scholar,” said David Nolen, associate dean of Archives and Special Collections. “We are especially privileged this year to be hosting such a well-regarded Civil War historian as Dr. Lesley J. Gordon. This long-running event has played host to many wonderful talks over the years, and this year is no exception.”
Established in 2002, the John F. and Jeanne A. Marszalek Library Fund supports the purchase of primary sources for MSU Libraries in the areas of Civil War and Reconstruction, Jacksonian America and race relations.
A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.
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