Civil War Book Talk to Recall “Hell on Earth” Prisoner of War Camp

Thursday, February 17th at 7:00 PM 

Professor Derek Maxfield to present his book HELLMIRA 

Long called by some the “Andersonville of the North”, the Civil War prisoner of war camp in Elmira, New York, is remembered as the most notorious of all Union-run POW camps. It existed for only a year – from the summer of 1864 to July 1865 – but in that time, and for long after, it became darkly emblematic of man’s inhumanity to man.

Confederate prisoners called it “Hellmira”.

In his book, Hellmira: The Union’s Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp – Elmira, NY, Derek Maxfield contextualizes the rise of prison camps during the Civil War, explores the failed exchange of prisoners, and tells the tale of the creation and evolution of the prison camp in Elmira. In the end, Maxfield suggests that it is time to move on from the blame game and see prisoner of war camps – North and South – as a great humanitarian failure.

A 1986 graduate of Dundee Central School, Maxfield is presently Associate Professor of History at Genesee Community College in Batavia where he has twice been awarded the prestigious SUNY Chancellor’s Award – in 2013 for Scholarship and Creative Activities and in 2019 for Excellence in Teaching.

The public is invited to attend this free event on in the Dundee Library community room, 32 Water St., Dundee.  The presentation is sponsored by the Dundee Library and the Dundee Area Historical Society.

Copies of HELLMIRA will be available for sale at the event ($14.00) and the author will sign copies after the presentation.