9/21 - Athenaeum at 1pm - America's Worst Maritime Disaster: The Sinking of the Steamboat "Sultana"

Please join us on Wednesday, September 21, at 1pm for "America's Worst Maritime Disaster: The Sinking of the Steamboat 'Sultana'" presented by Jim Erickson.

The Steamboat "Sultana" was a Mississippi River paddle wheeler which was destroyed by an explosion and fire north of Memphis in 1865. Of the over 1,000 people who died, the majority were Union soldiers returning home after being released from Confederate prison camps in GA and AL. This discussion will review some Civil War events at the time, a little steamboat history, and newspaper articles and survivor accounts of this tragedy.

The Library Athenaeum is located on the second floor, bluff side of the Darrell W. Krueger Library. For the complete Fall 2011 Library Athenaeum schedule, please visit the following: http://www.winona.edu/library/athenaeum/