The Stone Mountain Memorial Association [SMMA] is now soliciting proposals from cultural and museum exhibition design and interpretive planning teams for the development of an Interpretive Plan for Memorial Hall in Stone Mountain Park. This is a welcome development, but it involves a significant number of challenges that will need to be addressed if a Read more

John Mitchell Jr., crusading African-American editor of the Richmond Plane, predicted the following as the Robert E. Lee monument was dedicated in his city in 1890: “He [Black man] put up the Lee monument, and should the time come, he’ll be there to take it down.” The events of the past few years have proven Read more

Earlier this month I shared some information about the important work that historian Barbara Gannon and her students at the University of Central Florida are doing to identify and honor the Black and white Union soldiers buried in a mass grave on the Olustee battlefield in Florida. Dr. Gannon and a few of her students Read more

Last week John Hennessy retired from the National Park Service. His career spanned 40 years, beginning at the Manassas National Battlefield Park and ending as the Chief Historian/Chief of Interpretation at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. It is hard to think of anyone who has had more of an influence on how I Read more

Yesterday morning the city of Boston removed the Freedman’s Memorial or Emancipation Group from Park Square. It will be placed temporarily in storage until a new home is chosen, where the memorial can be properly interpreted for the general public. The memorial is a copy of the one dedicated in Washington, D.C. in 1876 on Read more

Regardless of how much we would like it to be the case there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to Confederate monuments. The wave of Confederate monument removals over the past summer has died down significantly. Much of the media’s attention is now focused elsewhere. Communities across the country must decide how best to Read more

Back in June I sat down with historian Dr. Hilary Green to talk about the Confederate monument controversy as part of the “Cabinet Conversation” series hosted by my good friends at Ford’s Theatre. It was a real thrill to be able to chat with Dr. Green. She is doing important work to raise awareness at Read more

As you might imagine it’s been a busy summer on the Confederate monuments front. Rarely does a week go by that I am not contacted by the media to comment for a story. It certainly takes time from other projects, but it’s nice to be able to help out and share my interest in this Read more

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is best remembered as the site where Union and Confederate armies fought between July 1-3, 1863. When it was all said and done the Army of the Potomac could claim a decisive victory. Tourists and history buffs travel each year to the battlefield to mark its anniversary, but this year the COVID19 pandemic Read more