The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania holds a series of remarkable wartime letters from a Texas farmer who served in the Confederate army. William Elisha Stoker described life in the army and openly expressed his concerns about the war, his family and even his slaves in a series of powerful, though badly spelled, letters home to his wife, Betty. Dickinson student Don Sailer produced a short documentary film about Stoker, but the House Divided Project has also digitized the Stoker letters and created a fully teachable exhibit about the family, including the sad fate of daughter Priscilla. Finally, the exhibit features an interactive essay that offers an annotated version of the film script allowing teachers and students direct access to the sources behind the documentary.
- A Texas Farmer’s Civil War (companion exhibit)
- Stoker Letters (House Divided research engine)
- Annotated Interactive Script (Stoker documentary)