Announcements and activities.

Beauvoir, the last home of Jefferson F. Davis, suffered severe damage from the waves and winds of Hurricane Katrina. Only two of the buildings remain, the mansion and the Presidential Library. The positive news is that both of these will be repaired, with adequate time and funds.

Efforts are underway now to begin Beauvoir recovery, but we need your financial assistance. Staff members, working with members of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, have already begun removing many items for preservation. Your donations are needed more than ever. Please forward all contributions to: Mississippi Division--United Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., d/b/a The Jefferson Davis Home & Presidential Library, P.O. Box 7, Meridian, MS 39302-0007. Checks may be made payable as above or simply "Beauvoir Relief Fund," and all contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

The Catoctin Center for Regional Studies in Frederick, Maryland, will host a conference October 13-14, 2006, on the Civil War and the home front in the mid-Atlantic border region. The conference theme is "Crossroads of War: The Civil War and the Homefront in the Mid-Atlantic Border Region." It is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and is part of a larger project aimed at enhancing public understanding of the rich Civil War history in the area, including central Maryland, south central Pennsylvania, northern Virginia, and northeastern West Virginia. Sessions and tours will address mid-Atlantic military campaigns, civilian life, the role of women, the African American experience, community studies, civil liberties, and postwar reconstruction. The conference will be held at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland. For more information please contact Dr. Barbara Powell, Catoctin Center for Regional Studies, Frederick Community College, 7932 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, MD 21702; telephone: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]; website: http://catoctincenter.frederick.edu.