Melissa Winn
Melissa A. Winn is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Previously, she was the Marketing Manager for the American Battlefield Trust and Director of Photography for HistoryNet, publisher of nine history-related magazines, including America’s Civil War, American History, and Civil War Times, for which she served as the primary photo researcher, photographer, and a regular writer.
Melissa is a Senior Editor for Military Images magazine, with a regular column focused on women and the Civil War. She is the editor of Shavings, the member newsletter of the Early American Industries Association, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Civil War Roundtable Congress; and serves as President of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table.
Melissa received a BA in English from the University of Wisconsin, with a concentration on creative nonfiction writing. She has written for and published articles in multiple trade and commercial publications for more than 20 years. She was a 2015 finalist for the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Portfolio.
Melissa is a member of the Professional Photographers Association, Authors Guild, Women’s Relief Corps, and the Center for Civil War Photography. She collects Civil War photographs and ephemera, with an emphasis on Dead Letter Office images and Union General John A. Rawlins, chief of staff to General Ulysses S. Grant.
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Melissa is also a member of the Emerging Civil War Speakers Bureau. Her available presentations are listed below:
Dead Letter Office Images: The Civil War’s Lost Sentiments
During the Civil War years, hundreds of thousands of soldiers wrote letters home, many containing card-sized photos of themself. By the end of the conflict, thousands of letters and images remained undelivered at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C. For decades after the war, the employees of the Dead Letter Office went to extraordinary efforts to return these images to a rightful recipient. Melissa shares photos from her collection of Dead Letter Office images and tell the touching story of these interrupted sentiments and the noble efforts by many to send them home.
“When This You See Remember Me”: Portrait Photography and the Civil War
In this talk Melissa examines and discusses portrait photography in 19th-century America and the Civil War, highlighting emerging photographic trends and how evolving technologies shaped images that served as lasting expressions of identity, memory, and loss for soldiers and their families.
Grant’s Conscience: The Unique Camaraderie Between Ulysses S. Grant and his Chief of Staff John Rawlins
In this talk Melissa discusses the life of Union General John Rawlins, the prewar origins of his close and
unique friendship with General Ulysses S. Grant, and the many ways in which the lives and
legacies of these two men were not only intertwined during the Civil War, but for each of their
lifetimes, and, likely, eternity.
Although barely mentioned in the personal memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, General John A. Rawlins, Grant’s chief of staff, was often considered his right-hand man, closest confidante, and by some, even, his conscience—the man who kept Grant sober during the Civil War. So why the snub in Grant’s two-volume recollections of the conflict in which they served side by side? In this talk, Melissa uncovers the myths and truths about their historic connection.
Women of War: On the Homefront and the Battlefield
“Women of War,” presented by Melissa A. Winn, highlights the vital roles that women played during the Civil War, both on battlefields and the homefront. Drawing from her Military Images magazine column, Winn brings to life the stories of extraordinary women—such as vivandières, nurses, spies, and pioneers, including Dr. Mary Edwards Walker and Marie “French Mary” Tepe—whose courage, service, and resilience challenged 19th-century gender norms and left a lasting impact on the war’s history.
“The Wisconsin Angel”: Cordelia Harvey’s Devoted Service to the State and the Nation
Few people did so much for so many Wisconsin Civil War soldiers as Cordelia Harvey. She only served a brief time as Wisconsin’s First Lady, but her major contributions, most notably for the wounded and ill, came after the sudden death of her beloved husband forced her to face a new role and a new future.
Camp Randall: From Civil War Training Camp to UW-Madison Badgers’ Football Stadium
Camp Randall in Madison, WI, was a pivotal Civil War site that served as both a training ground for tens of thousands of Union soldiers and, for a brief period, a prison camp for Confederate soldiers. Donated by Governor Alexander W. Randall, it was named in his honor. After the war, veterans championed the site, leading the state to purchase it and gift it to the University of Wisconsin, ensuring its preservation as Camp Randall Stadium, a historic landmark that still stands today. I’ll talk about its long-storied life and transformations.
