Comments on: “The Robert E. Lee Memorial: A Conflict of Interpretation” http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/ Where History, Heritage, and Education Intersect Thu, 24 May 2012 01:47:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Kevin Levin http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-11242 Kevin Levin Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:52:59 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-11242 Bob, Thanks for correcting me. Maybe I need to go back and reread Simpson's biography. Hey Johnny, Bob is the expert on these matters so listen up. Bob,

Thanks for correcting me. Maybe I need to go back and reread Simpson’s biography. Hey Johnny, Bob is the expert on these matters so listen up.

]]> By: Bob Pollock http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-11241 Bob Pollock Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:50:57 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-11241 Kevin, Very slight correction here. Julia never owned any slaves. She was "given" slaves as a child by her father. Although she acted as if she owned them and she wrote as if they belonged to her, her father never legally transferred ownership to her. They were legally owned by him. As I'm sure you also know, Grant did own one slave which he freed in March 1859. The manumission paper states that Grant purchased this slave from his father-in-law but since Grant had virtually no money at the time, it seems likely that if Grant actually paid anything at all, it was a nominal sum. Kevin,

Very slight correction here. Julia never owned any slaves. She was “given” slaves as a child by her father. Although she acted as if she owned them and she wrote as if they belonged to her, her father never legally transferred ownership to her. They were legally owned by him. As I’m sure you also know, Grant did own one slave which he freed in March 1859. The manumission paper states that Grant purchased this slave from his father-in-law but since Grant had virtually no money at the time, it seems likely that if Grant actually paid anything at all, it was a nominal sum.

]]> By: Kevin Levin http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-11237 Kevin Levin Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:03:10 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-11237 Johnny, I recommend you read Elizabeth B. Pryor's recent biography of R.E. Lee for his views on slavery and what happened to the Custis family slaves. For Grant you should read Brooks Simpson's biography. Most people know that the slaves in question did not belong to him, but to his wife. Please take the time to inform yourself. Johnny,

I recommend you read Elizabeth B. Pryor’s recent biography of R.E. Lee for his views on slavery and what happened to the Custis family slaves. For Grant you should read Brooks Simpson’s biography. Most people know that the slaves in question did not belong to him, but to his wife. Please take the time to inform yourself.

]]> By: johnny http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-11236 johnny Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:37:34 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-11236 Well lets see Lee freed his slaves which he inherited and Grant kept his until forced to free them under the constitutional amendment. Pot calling the kettle black eh? sorry for the pun. Well lets see Lee freed his slaves which he inherited and Grant kept his until forced to free them under the constitutional amendment. Pot calling the kettle black eh? sorry for the pun.

]]> By: Kevin Levin http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-6861 Kevin Levin Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:28:47 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-6861 Sara, I have actually thought about this aspect of the story. My plan is to reference it, but as you noted, there is the question of where to fit it in a 20-page - manuscript length essay. Sara,

I have actually thought about this aspect of the story. My plan is to reference it, but as you noted, there is the question of where to fit it in a 20-page – manuscript length essay.

]]> By: Sara Bearss http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-6860 Sara Bearss Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:22:00 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-6860 This suggestion may be quite beyond what you can accomplish in a single essay, but have you considered trying to bring into the story the free blacks who lived at Arlington alongside the slaves? The 1850 census records twenty-one free blacks living at Arlington. Some of these are members of the Syphax family (the children of Maria Carter Syphax, daughter of George Washington Parke Custis whom he informally freed and provided for; one served in the postwar Virginia House of Delegates while another was an important figure in the postwar D.C. school system), but others seem to be free or freed people who had elected to remain with enslaved family members. It adds depth and richness to the story, but it may be much more than you want to tackle in an essay-length study. This suggestion may be quite beyond what you can accomplish in a single essay, but have you considered trying to bring into the story the free blacks who lived at Arlington alongside the slaves? The 1850 census records twenty-one free blacks living at Arlington. Some of these are members of the Syphax family (the children of Maria Carter Syphax, daughter of George Washington Parke Custis whom he informally freed and provided for; one served in the postwar Virginia House of Delegates while another was an important figure in the postwar D.C. school system), but others seem to be free or freed people who had elected to remain with enslaved family members. It adds depth and richness to the story, but it may be much more than you want to tackle in an essay-length study.

]]> By: Kevin Levin http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-6819 Kevin Levin Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:38:32 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-6819 Thanks John. This is what happens when you fail to pay attention during grammar lessons. Thanks John. This is what happens when you fail to pay attention during grammar lessons.

]]> By: John http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-6818 John Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:51:38 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-6818 Kevin, Besides being a lover of history, I am also the son of an English teacher and the grateful recipient of her love of language and its proper use. As you say, this is an abstract; but one particular sentence stuck in my head which caused my grammar antennae to twitch. You wrote, "However, absent was the presence of a large slave population that worked the grounds as well as a Freedmen's Village at the end of the war." With all due respect, it should have been, "Absent, however, was ..." I really should have been a copy editor if such a job still existed. Respectfully Submitted etcetera etcetera, John Kevin,

Besides being a lover of history, I am also the son of an English teacher and the grateful recipient of her love of language and its proper use. As you say, this is an abstract; but one particular sentence stuck in my head which caused my grammar antennae to twitch. You wrote, “However, absent was the presence of a large slave population that worked the grounds as well as a Freedmen’s Village at the end of the war.” With all due respect, it should have been, “Absent, however, was …” I really should have been a copy editor if such a job still existed.

Respectfully Submitted etcetera etcetera,
John

]]> By: Brian B. http://cwmemory.com/2009/04/06/the-robert-e-lee-memorial-a-conflict-of-interpretation/#comment-6815 Brian B. Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:32:07 +0000 http://cwmemory.com/?p=3374#comment-6815 Great ideas that unfortunately I don't think will ever be implemented so long as there are people who view Lee on a pedestal, and those who only see him as the face of the confederacy and in turn, slavery. Historic Arlington represents a chance to address the issues you pointed out above, the paradox of what's become hallowed ground for America and it's uglier past as a place where men, women, and children toiled as slaves. It's also a place where the veil of embellishment surrounding Lee can be pulled back and where we can catch a glimpse of the real man because Lee's interactions with the slaves of Arlington is relevant to knowing who he really was as well as being a place that meant a lot to the Lee family who were devastated when it was turned into a cemetary thereby rendering it a place they could never return to. Great ideas that unfortunately I don’t think will ever be implemented so long as there are people who view Lee on a pedestal, and those who only see him as the face of the confederacy and in turn, slavery. Historic Arlington represents a chance to address the issues you pointed out above, the paradox of what’s become hallowed ground for America and it’s uglier past as a place where men, women, and children toiled as slaves. It’s also a place where the veil of embellishment surrounding Lee can be pulled back and where we can catch a glimpse of the real man because Lee’s interactions with the slaves of Arlington is relevant to knowing who he really was as well as being a place that meant a lot to the Lee family who were devastated when it was turned into a cemetary thereby rendering it a place they could never return to.

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