Comprised largely of free-state sympathizers, the German community of Concordia was located in Lafayette County, which contained more slaves than any other Missouri county. During the Civil War, the settlement became a target of a guerilla band led by "Bloody Bill" Anderson. Despite wartime travails, Concordia prospered amidst the agricultural and transportation changes of the post-war decades.

Robert W. Frizzell describes the Civil War-era conflicts surrounding Concordia on Sunday, August 16, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Frizzell is director of libraries at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. His book, Independent Immigrants: A Settlement of Hanoverian Germans in Western Missouri won a Governor’s Book Award from the Missouri Humanities Council in 2008.

This presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Speakers Series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library. The series is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Admission is free. Click here or call 816.701.3407 to RSVP. Free parking is available in the Library District Parking Garage located at 10th and Baltimore.