If your interest in the Civil War has its roots in the early 1960s than chances are that it was American Heritage’s Picture History of the Civil War that sparked your imagination. It’s not just the frequency with which it comes up in conversation, but the way in which it is remembered. I’ve heard a [...]
Memory
Last night I received an email asking why I continue to post about the activities and antics of the Virginia Flaggers [see here and here]. It should be obvious given the content of this blog, but let me once again state the obvious. The Flaggers and their cause provide a clear window into the changing [...]
Update: Margaret Blough reminded me that the UDC has always maintained a strict code for displaying the Confederate flag. Their concern has always been that liberal use would disconnect it from the Civil War – a lesson the Flaggers and others should take to heart. Looks like the Virginia Flaggers suffered a setback this week [...]
I had a wonderful time earlier this week in Batavia, New York, where I presented a talk on the battle of the Crater. Around 70 people showed up for a two-hour presentation. I spoke for the first hour and fielded questions for the second. The audience was engaged throughout and asked some excellent questions. Before [...]
Thanks to everyone who left a comment in response to my last post on David Blight. I wanted to take a few minutes to respond to Barbara Gannon’s comment, which I believe gets at something central to Blight’s overall approach to Civil War memory: Blight’s explanation is popular because it is neat and satisfying. It [...]
In response to one of my posts last week on the Civil War Sesquicentennial one of my readers expressed a feeling of frustration (not on the blog) that David Blight’s interpretation of Civil War memory has become the standard or official narrative. The individual is a professional historian, who has written on the subject. On [...]
This morning neo-Confederate crusader Edward Sebesta posted the third of his four-part series on the Museum of the Confederacy. Sebesta is convinced that the museum stands at the center of the neo-Confederate cause: “The 3rd installment covers how the MOC creates Confederate identification amongst its supporters, visitors, and others by being a shrine and reliquary.” [...]
One of my first posts all the way back in 2005 focused on what I saw as the inevitable decline of our Civil War round tables. I suggested that without a resurgence of interest in the Civil War era that animated Americans in the early 1960s these groups would disappear one by one. In light [...]