I’ve been thinking about the gulf between the public’s response to Spielberg’s Lincoln and Tarrantino’s Django Unchained and the overall commentary coming from professional historians and other public intellectuals. I’ve commented on this before, but this morning I was pleased to read Christian McWhirter’s review of both movies in The Civil War Monitor. Actually, it’s [...]
Civil War Sesquicentennial
It was just a matter of time. After months of protesting outside of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts over the removal of Confederate flags from the grounds of the “Old Soldier’s Home”/Pelham Chapel the Virginia Flaggers have little to show for their efforts. All attempts to branch out and get involved in other causes [...]
Word came today that the National Park Service will begin demolition of the old Cyclorama building at Gettysburg. It was just a matter of time. I never had a real problem with it being there, though I admit it was sort of an eyesore. I also have no problem with removing it for that reason, [...]
I just came across the schedule for the upcoming meeting of the Stephen D. Lee Institute in St. Augustin, Florida next month. It should come as no surprise that they decided to focus on the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. A quick glance at the titles of the presentations suggests that participants will be [...]
The Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission has issued a report on the progress and impact of its programming. While living in Virginia I served as an adviser to the commission’s education committee. I attended a few meetings and communicated via email with a number of members. It was an honor to be involved. The report can be [...]
Unfortunately, this may be the closest we get to any formal acknowledgement of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation by the federal government. I love the broadside/poster theme and the use of one of the oldest letterpress print shops in the country to create the image. In addition to the stamp, you can also [...]
From the video description: For thirty two days, voices of veterans of the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars animated a bronze commemorative statue of Abraham Lincoln that has stood silently in Union Square Park since 1870. The memories and feelings of ordinary Americans spoke through Lincoln as part of an outdoor public art installation by [...]
