Kevin Levin

Brad Paisley Meet Leslie Barris

by Kevin Levin on April 10, 2013 · 23 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture, Lost Cause, Memory

So, in addition to having trouble accessing my blog yesterday the news feed that I use to track stories related to Civil War memory is clogged with articles about the Brad Paisley – LL Cool J controversy.  I’m not sure which is worse.  I don’t have anything insightful to say about the song other than [...]

Boston’s Civil War Memory or Lost Cause

by Kevin Levin on April 7, 2013 · 12 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Historians, Soldiers

The other day I briefly noted my surprise by how little the war was being discussed in a conference devoted to Massachusetts and the Civil War.  What I am struck by now looking back on the three days of talks at the MHS is the overwhelming emphasis on Boston’s abolitionist community.  That should not come [...]

Common-place Marks Civil War Sesquicentennial

by Kevin Levin on April 7, 2013 · 4 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Historians

In between the final day’s sessions yesterday at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Megan Kate Nelson and I met over lunch and cocktails to talk a little business.  Over the next few months we will be co-editing a special issue of Common-place on the Civil War Sesquicentennial and Civil War memory.  The issue is slated for [...]

This weekend I am attending a conference hosted by the Massachusetts Historical Society called “Massachusetts and the Civil War: The Commonwealth and National Disunion.”  Last night John Stauffer gave the keynote address on abolitionism in the Bay State and today I attended three panels.  The range of topics discussed is really quite impressive.  I especially [...]

How do I know this?  Fold3 is offering free access to all of its Confederate records during the month of April, which happens to be Confederate History Month.  Well, it’s CHM in the few places that still acknowledge it.  Check out the press release from the Georgia Division SCV. So much is portrayed by Hollywood [...]

Conan Becomes a Civil War Reenactor

by Kevin Levin on April 3, 2013 · 5 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture

This is hilarious.  Enjoy

Reality TV Show For Historians?

by Kevin Levin on April 2, 2013 · 23 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture, Civil War Historians

You heard that right.  It was just a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of basing a reality TV show around the eccentricities and annoying behavior of history buffs.  Here is the description for the casting call: Are you a curious person, and obsessed with history? Can you recite facts inside [...]

Earlier today I finished reading Michael J. Bennett’s essay “The Black Flag and Confederate Soldiers: Total War from the Bottom Up” which is also published in Andy Slap and Michael Smith eds., This Distracted and Anarchical People: New Answers for Old Questions about the Civil War-Era North.  In his essay, Bennett explores accounts of massacres [...]

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