Who: Students enrolled in “The Nineteenth Century City” and Victoria Ott, Birmingham Southern University Associate Professor of History.

What: Students will present an exhibit on young women in the 19th century who attended female institutions of higher learning in west Alabama and other areas around the country. There will also be a silent auction of student photography, the proceeds of which will be donated to Jemison Mansion and the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society. Guest speaker Victoria Ott will speak on courtship rituals during the Civil War.

When: Wednesday Dec. 2, 4-5:30 p.m.

Where: Gorgas House, University of Alabama campus

Why: Sharony Green, assistant professor of history who teaches “The Nineteenth Century City,” feels students should attend this event because it is worth being curious about these women, the way we can expand the narrative, and the way in which women were claiming power in the classroom.

“Typically we think of southern belles as standing around, looking pretty, and fanning themselves,” said Green, “but young women were engaged in learning. Women on this campus are part of a longer legacy of learned women.”