In Kara Walker: A Pictorial History of the Civil War [Annotated], Walker presents a powerful visual dialogue on the Civil War era. Her work tackles some of the most difficult aspects of American history, exposing complex narratives of race, violence, and identity. To help visitors engage more deeply with these themes, we’ve created a dedicated reading and resource area within the gallery. This curated collection of books provides historical, cultural, and artistic context to the works on display, offering critical analyses of Walker’s art alongside texts that explore broader topics such as race, memory, slavery’s legacy, and Civil War history.

We hope this resource not only enhances the visual experience but also encourages extended reflection. Walker’s work demands more than passive observation—it addresses histories that are painful, urgent, and still resonate in today’s discourse. Additionally, a reflection wall is available for visitors to share their thoughts, questions, and reactions to the exhibition. Our goal is for this communal space to foster shared experiences and provide an outlet for processing the intense emotions that Walker’s work often evokes.

Interested in a guided tour of the exhibition? Schedule a small group experience with our team of UMN Student Tour Guides at [email protected]. 

Recommended Reading

	Tina M. Campt, A Black Gaze: Artists Changing How We See (MIT Press, 2021)
	William R. Cross, Winslow Homer: American Passage (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022)
	Jon Grinspan, Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024)
	William D. Green, Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota, 1865–1912 (University of Minnesota Press, 2015)
	Anita Haldemann (Ed.), Kara Walker: A Black Hole is Everything a Star Longs to Be (JRP|Editions, 2021)
	Saidiya Hartman, Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America (Oxford University Press, 1997)
	Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, The Art of Remembering: Essays on African American Art and History (Duke University Press, 2024)
	Christopher P. Lehman, Slavery's Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2019)
	Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts (Ed.), Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration (Gallery Books, 2022)
	Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Seeing the Unspeakable: The Art of Kara Walker (Duke University Press, 2004)
	C. Reinhardt (Ed.), Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love (Walker Art Center, 2019)
	Robert Hobbs, Kara Walker: White Shadows in Blackface (Hatje Cantz, 2018)
	Herdrich, Stephanie L., and Sylvia Yount, with contributions by Daniel Immerwahr, Christopher Riopelle, and Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022)
	Kara Walker, Kara Walker — Book of Hours (Sikkema Jenkins & Co., 2020)
	Asma Naeem, Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now (Princeton University Press, 2018)
	Alfred H. Guernsey and Henry M. Alden, Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Fairfax Press, 1985)