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.