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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A descendant of Civil War diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut is speaking at a symposium at the University of South Carolina.

University spokeswoman Margaret Lamb says Martha M. Daniels, who is related to Chesnut, is speaking Thursday at the Hollings Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Chesnut had an insider's look at the tumultuous period of history and wrote about her contacts with many of the era's most prominent political and military leaders.

Others speaking at the forum include Walter Edgar, the director of USC's Institute for Southern Studies and Henry Fulmer, the curator of manuscripts at the South Caroliniana Library, which houses a collection of Chesnut's papers.

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