UNC Asheville Hosts Talk on the Role of Jews in the Civil War;
Preeminent Jewish Historian Eli Evans to Speak

Eli Evans

UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies will host a talk by preeminent Jewish historian Eli Evans at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, at UNC Asheville’s Owen Conference Center. Evans will discuss "Reflections on the 350th Anniversary of the Arrival of Jews to North America: War Between Brothers from 1860 On" and will examine the roles Jews played on both sides of the Civil War. The event is free and open to the public.

Evans’ talk will be held to celebrate the arrival of the Jewish Heritage Video Collection (JHVC) at UNC Asheville’s Ramsey Library. The collection of nearly 200 videotapes on Jewish themes was created under the direction of Evans and is supported by a gift from the Bob and Carol Deutsch family and a Jewish Media Fund grant.

Evans is a leading historian on the Jewish South. He is the author of "The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South," which is widely considered a classic and has been in print for more than 30 years; "Judah P. Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate," a biography of the Confederacy’s Secretary of State; and "The Lonely Days Were Sundays: Reflections of a Jewish Southern," a collection of essays.

A Durham native, Evans was a speech writer for President Lyndon Johnson and directed former North Carolina Governor Terry Sandford’s "Study of American States," which focused on the future of state government. In 1978, Evans became the first president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation and oversaw grants totaling more than $147 million for Jewish causes, urban affairs, education and biomedical research. He retired from the Foundation in 2003.

For more information about the lecture or the video collection, call UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies at 828/251-6576.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Rick Chess, UNCA Center for Jewish Studies Director, 828/251-6576
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526