Book authors will be at Tama County Museum

The Tama County Museum, Toledo, will host a presentation by Cedar Falls authors Jeanine Humbert Johnson and Cynthia Huffman Sweet, on Wednesday, April 1, at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. Sweet and Johnson collaborated on their book, Since I Started For the War: The Letters & Diary of Solomon B. Humbert Co. B, 31st Iowa Volunteer Infantry, as an outgrowth of Sweet’s work toward a masters degree in history at the University of Northern Iowa.

Jeff Kurtz, Executive Director of the Cedar Falls Historical Society, noted, “This book is a direct result of Cyndi Sweet’s Master thesis exhibit ‘Cedar Falls Civil War.’ As Cyndi and Jeanine worked together to showcase Solomon Humbert’s Civil War artifacts for the 2007 exhibit, the idea for a book was developed. The Historical Society is delighted to be able to offer this book in our gift shop.”

Since I Started for the War is based upon the letters and diary Humbert wrote during the Civil War. Around the letters and diary, Sweet weaves the story of Cedar Falls how the war affected those left behind, how Cedar Falls developed due to the arrival of the railroad, and how the community rallied to support the troops with fresh vegetables, butter, bread, blankets, and hospital supplies. The story concludes with Humbert’s activities following the war, his contributions to the growth of Cedar Falls, and a short Humbert genealogy researched and written by Humbert’s great-granddaughter Jeanine Humbert Johnson.

Sweet, who researched and wrote the book, noted the importance of Humbert’s family in facilitating both the exhibit and the book. “If Humbert had not saved Civil War artifacts, if his family had not valued and retained the mementoes of his life, and finally been willing to share them for the exhibit, neither the exhibit or the book would have been possible. It is important that communities understand and support the role of their local Historical Society and museum in telling the story of their community and the families that built it.”

Jeanine Johnson is an independent genealogist and archivist with a special interest in local history. She currently serves on the Archives Committee at the Cedar Falls Historical Society and is a member of the D.A.R. and the Northeast Iowa Genealogical Society.

Cynthia Sweet serves as Executive Director of the Iowa Museum Association and works as an independent historian specializing in public history and genealogical research. She is the author of multiple genealogies and journal articles, the most recent resolving the 200-year old mystery surrounding the ancestry of Robert Logan of Red River Settlement (now Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada).