Marietta College will welcome alumna Lauren Thompson, Ph.D., Class of 2007, back to campus for a public lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in McDonough Auditorium. Her lecture, “Friendly Enemies: Soldier Fraternization throughout the American Civil War,” is based on her book of the same title.
Published by University of Nebraska Press, “Friendly Enemies” draws from hundreds of primary sources, including the letters of Union and Confederate soldiers. Thompson explores moments when opposing troops met during breaks in fighting to exchange conversation, food, coffee and tobacco. These moments reveal how personal meetings laid the groundwork for sectional reunion after the war. However, that reunion excluded Black Americans.
Thompson first began researching the topic while completing her master’s degree at West Virginia University and while spending her summers as a seasonal park ranger at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Now an associate professor of American history at McKendree University in Illinois, Thompson has earned recognition for her scholarship and teaching. In 2025, she was honored with the United Methodist Exemplary Faculty Award and the William Norman Grandy Faculty of the Year Award.
“We are delighted to have Professor Lauren Thompson back at Marietta College to offer a public lecture and spend time with our history students,” said Dr. David Torbett, Israel Ward Andrews Professor of Religion at Marietta College. “Lauren’s accomplishments in her field have made our history department proud.”
Torbett described Thompson’s book as an important and groundbreaking study of an underexplored topic in Civil War history.
“Speakers like Lauren demonstrate the importance of history to the liberal arts education we offer at Marietta College,” Torbett said. “To remember the past and to develop the critical skills to investigate the past and its effects on our present are the skills of a well-rounded person and a conscientious citizen.”
In addition to the public lecture, Thompson will visit a history class and meet informally with students. The informal discussion will focus on her approach to research and teaching. She previously returned to campus as a visiting professor during the 2015–2016 academic year and has remained closely connected to the College.
The March 25 event is free and open to the public. McDonough Auditorium is located on the campus of Marietta College, 215 Fifth St., Marietta, Ohio. For more information, visit marietta.edu/event/lauren-thompson-friendly-enemies or contact Dr. Torbett at dt002@marietta.edu.