About Me

Personal

Welcome, my name is Kevin Levin.  I am originally from Ventnor, New Jersey (just outside of Atlantic City) and now live and teach in Charlottesville, Virginia.  I hold an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Maryland (1994) and an M.A. in history from the University of Richmond (2005).  Before moving to Charlottesville I taught philosophy at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science in Mobile, Alabama. I now teach courses in American History and serve as the Department Chair at the St. Anne’s – Belfield School.  I am particularly interested in nineteenth-century American history, including the Civil War, slavery and historical memory.  Current research projects include a book-length manuscript on the battle of the Crater and historical memory as well as an edited collection of the letters of Captain John C. Winsmith who served in the 1st South Carolina Infantry.  I’ve presented papers at academic conferences as well as numerous Civil War Roundtables in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  Check out my CV for a complete list of publications and other academic activities.

About Civil War Memory

I started blogging in November 2005 and as of February 2010 have written over 2,000 posts.  I blog about subjects related to how Americans have chosen to remember and commemorate the Civil War.  Topics cover a range of issues from Civil War historiography to issues in public history and the teaching of history on the high school level. To get a better sense of the range of topics covered on this site I highly recommend browsing the archives page or by category and individual tags.  You can also take advantage of the “Related Posts” feature, which can be found at the end of individual entries and before the comments section.

Your comments are very much appreciated.  Please remember that comments are screened by me for content.  I prefer that comments focus on the subject of the post, though I understand that it is impossible to predict the direction that my readers want to go.  That said, I may at times control the direction of the discussion.  Remember, you can always start your own blog.   In addition, any inappropriate remarks will be immediately deleted and can be followed by a commenter being banned entirely from participating in discussions.  Finally, URL links to home pages and other sites will also be evaluated.  These judgments are made at my discretion.

Civil War Memory has received a number of honors, including the 2007 Cliopatria Award for Best Individual Blog, which is given by the History News Network. The citation reads as follows:

Kevin Levin’s Civil War Memory is an impressive individual blog, with a track record of several years. It commonly offers the best of both military history blogging and history blogging about the broader political, intellectual, and social context of regional conflict. This past year, for example, Civil War Memory has devoted considerable attention to the Lost Cause myth and the quest for Black Confederates.

In April 2007 Civil War Memory was selected as one of Typepad’s Featured Blogs and it has also been reviewed in America’s Civil War Magazine and noted for its “humanistic insight and scholarly precision.”

Check out my interview with Gerry Prokopowicz on Civil War Talk Radio (June 2006)

You can email me at kevlvn@aol.com