How Kentuckians fared in the late Civil War and afterward will be the focus of a March 8-9 conference at the University of Louisville on “Victory Achieved — Freedom Denied: From Civil War to Reconstruction in Kentucky.”

Historians and other scholars will discuss Kentucky’s post-war Confederate identity; the lives of women, African Americans and soldiers during the war and Reconstruction; and lawlessness of wartime and post-war Kentucky. The keynote speaker, Columbia University history professor Barbara Fields, will examine issues Kentucky and other border states faced. Other topics will range from Kentucky horse-racing to Lincoln to Confederate memorials.

The public symposium is sponsored by UofL’s College of Arts and Sciences and Center for Arts and Culture Partnerships, along with the Frazier History Museum through support from the Institute of Museum & Library Services. The conference includes the chance to visit several related local history exhibits.