The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Fridge => History Section => Topic started by: Malte279 on January 31, 2010, 02:22:43 PM
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Hi,
I'm wondering if anyone of our American members is aware of any kind of events, expositions, seminars, anything which are going to take place in the next few years about the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War.
I consider writing a dissertation (the papers that would in case of success make me a Dr.) on such events surrounding the 150th anniversary and the way in which history is dealt with in these events.
Now there is a certain urgency for me behind this request because one of the potential jobs I'm applying for at the moment demands the applicant to send in a project sketch (5 to 7 pages) on a planned dissertation.
While I do have some basic concepts on what I would expect such a dissertation to look like it is kind of tricky to write a project sketch on a dissertation where the majority of the source material is yet to be created (uncommon for a historian to wait for sources to be created in the future :blink:).
Moreover I must finish it by February 10th at the latest.
I would therefore greatly appreciate any information (however marginal it may appear) you may have come across on anything related to the impending 150th anniversary of the American Civil War and related events.
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This interest of mine about the impending Sesqui-Centennial of the Civil War is the reason for my recent question about the newspaper reading habits of our members (I am particularly interested in the newspaper use of our American members of course). Very soon there will be the first 150th anniversaries (of Lincoln's election and the following crisis of secession). I am very interested in what the papers write and what commemorative events there may be. It would be especially interesting to know if and how the papers in Southern States (I know we have members from Virginia, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee for example) may sound different from the papers in the north.
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earliest event will likely be on April 14th 2011 with the shelling of Fort Sumter. I would imagine that would come with re-enactments and festivities accompanying the occassion..at least in the early stages of the war, both sides treeated battle as an excuse to have a picnic and watch the 'show'
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I would suppose there to be earlier snippets in the newspapers and possibly conventions or the like occasioned by such anniversaries as the election of Lincoln (November 6th) and the secession of South Carolina (December 20th) and at least in the local papers of individual states there is likely to be something on the anniversary of secession of those states which left the Union before the shelling of Fort Sumter (Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) as well. I would be extremely interested in any such newspaper snippets linked in any way to the events and their anniversary.
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Today is the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's election. In a local newspaper I found a reference to Kennedy's election (50th anniversary in that case) but nothing about Lincoln (it would have surprised me more than a little if there had been something). However, I am very, very interested if there is anything in the papers you may get in your hands today or in the next few days.
If any of you find any reference or article of any kind in any newspaper you might get in touch with these days I would be most obliged if you could let me know about it :yes
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I haven't seen anything on Lincoln's election.
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I checked all of the newspapers from Saturday and Sunday that I could find in my house, but came up with nothing. Sorry. :(
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I'm not sure if this has anything to do with what you're looking for, but I figured this would be the best place to mention it.
I just found out that there's going to be a movie about Abraham Lincoln that will be directed by Steven Spielberg. According to an online article I just read, the actor who will play Lincoln has just been chosen, even though filming won't start for months.
Here's the article I found:
http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/169-dani...abraham-lincoln (http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/169-daniel-day-lewis-will-be-steven-spielbergs-abraham-lincoln)
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I hadn't been aware of this movie. Thank you for the information it is certainly one I am going to watch come the day it is released :)
Funnily enough I may be playing Abraham Lincoln myself. There are some events planned at my university and among other there have been suggestions of some Lincoln speeches or debates to be reenacted. All this is very well and uncertain, but in any case I have been growing a beard of lately hoping to perhaps qualify as a Lincoln :lol
Personally I don't really like that beard while the feedback I got about its looks have been somewhat diverse :p
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This isn't exactly a 150-year anniversary, but since it's Civil War related, I figured you might be interested in an article I read today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101225/ap_on_...age_in_a_bottle (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101225/ap_on_re_us/us_message_in_a_bottle)
Basically, a message in a bottle from the Siege of Vicksburg has recently been opened and decoded.
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Neat, thanks for posting the interesting link. It was neat reading the page.
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I recently came across another Civil War related article. Five myths about why the south seceded:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1010703178.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07/AR2011010703178.html)
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the anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter isn't until April so you likely won't hear much in the press until then.
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Thank you very much Chronicler for posting these articles. They are really interesting and I think especially the second one is important seeing just how how many "Lost Cause" myths are very prevalent and actively promoted in order to whitewash parts of history.
Again, thank you very much for bringing these articles up :yes
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Now here's a Civil War Era-related article I'm surprised to see:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110124/ap_on_...coln_document_2 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110124/ap_on_re_us/us_altered_lincoln_document_2)
It turns out that a famous document signed by Lincoln was altered by the historian who found it over a decade ago.
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Looking at the image in the article I am surprised that anyone (least of all other historians) would not notice for even a second that document has been tampered with. Even someone who doesn't know anything further about it can tell that the 5 was not written at the same time as the rest of the document. One can still even see part of the 4 below it. If this picture really shows the fake part of the document it is beyond me how it could ever fool anyone (not to mention that the case of a pardon to a soldier is something that could easily be checked with other documents).
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Here's another article I just found. Five myths about Abraham Lincoln:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1021703340.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/17/AR2011021703340.html)
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What is remarkeable about the article is that many of the myths are hard to call myths as such. For example the first one, "Lincoln was a simple country lawyer". Of course he became famous, successful and therefore did not limit himself to the cases that we would link to the work of a "simple country lawyer". However, you do not usually start a legal career with the big cases of nationwide importance. Of course you won't be hired for crucial tasks in huge cases by clients who have the money to hire the best and most reputable lawyers available unless you are just that. He was a lawyer, but throughout his career he dealt with simple as well as larger cases. So where does the myth come in?
As for the case of "Lincoln was depressed" it is once again the question of where to draw the line of medical depression and if people really think of the very worst case scenario when they say say he was depressed (or if everyone who says "I'm depressed!" is thinking of it for that matter). There are plenty of sources suggesting that Lincoln was often melancholic and had his depressive moments. But that is all the the supposed myth is saying I think.
Being "too compassionate" once again is a matter of personal opinion. I think this section however contains the worst blunder in this article by the mention of the exectution of 38 indians as a case to disprove Lincoln as being a compassionate person. What the author totally misses is that the execution of 38 indians (the largest mass execution in American histroy for all I know) happened after the uprising of the Sioux in 1862 and what the circumstances were. There had been attacks on towns from which the civilian population in particular suffered. I'm not making a case against the general right of the indians to defend against the breaking of treaties and the theft of their land, but it is important to understand that after the defeat of the indians the original plan was for all captured indians charged of murder were to be executed. That plan found great support by the outraged settlers at the time and under the circumstances of the war and the original plan would have meant that no less than 303 indians would have been hanged. Lincoln however commuted 265 of the prisoners and approved of the execution only of those who were charged with the killing or raping of women and children. The majority was outraged against this clemency, but Lincoln stood firm on the view that he would not have men hanged for votes. That other scandal mentioned in the article about the fortfeit document was simply about the pardon to a deserter granted by Lincoln in 1864 rather than 1865. Whatever it tells about the historian who did fake the number, I do not see it as telling much about the compassion of Lincoln.
As for the point of Lincoln being mortally I'll I'm looking forward to learn some more of the arguments in this debate through a documentary I have recently been sent by Kacie (thank you very much Kacie :)).
And thank you very much for sharing the article with us Chronicler :) Please do not mistake my critical view of some of what the article says for lack of appreciation for your bringing it up here :)
Did anybody by the way hear about any events to take place near his or her home in in the upcomming month (150th anniversary of the outbreak of the war)? I'm really in a blue funk about being unable to attend the events taking place in the US this year and therefore I really appreciate any observations, reports, or materials which I may recieve from you about the events surrounding the 150th anniversary of the outbreak fo the civil war.
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Finally, I've found an article that actually mentions events that have taken place for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, specifically in the south and that it's controversial:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110304/us_time/08599205598100 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110304/us_time/08599205598100)
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Sorry for double posting, but I've found even more articles. No, I have not done any research. I just stumbled across them, like every other article I've linked to.
First article, new information on how Lincoln tried to get blacks to leave the U.S. and colonize other lands:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lincoln_colonization (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lincoln_colonization)
The other one I found compares Lincoln, who freed the slaves in 1863, to Czar Alexander II, who freed the Russian serfs in 1861:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110225/stage_...rts_russia_tsar (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110225/stage_nm/us_finearts_russia_tsar)
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Maybe this article will interest you, Malte. This one is all about what the major anniversaries will be:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_civil_war_at150 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_civil_war_at150)
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Looks like Chronicler beat me to it ;).
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Two more articles I found.
Who fired the first shot of the Civil War? Pensacola, Florida claims that it did before Fort Sumter:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_civil_war_first_shot (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_civil_war_first_shot)
6 myths about the Civil War (and why they're false):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/201104...lwarmythsbusted (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110412/sc_livescience/6civilwarmythsbusted)
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A few more articles I found over the weekend.
The re-enactment of Fort Sumter:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110415/ap_on_...ivil_war150th_4 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110415/ap_on_re_us/us_civil_war150th_4)
A short article on how pop culture affected views on the Civil War:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110412/ts_csm/376613_1 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110412/ts_csm/376613_1)
Some Civil War books that might be worth reading:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/2011041...ricancivilwar_1 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110415/ts_dailybeast/13519_10bestbooksontheamericancivilwar_1)
Unlike the south, the north seems to have forgotten the Civil War:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110417/ap_on_...forgotten_north (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110417/ap_on_re_us/us_civil_war_forgotten_north)
No offense, Malte, but I'm honestly starting to wonder if you have read the articles that I've been linking to in this topic. I just want to be sure that I'm actually helping someone and not doing this just because I can. :unsure:
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Thank you very much Chronicler :yes
These articles are quite interesting for me indeed. Especially those dealing with how the current memorial events are conducted are interesting for me comparing those celebrations with the 100th anniversary events of 1961. Also the comments and discussions written below some articles are illuminating.
I'm sorry that I had not responded earlier because I really, really not only appreciate your posting these articles, but read them of course as well. I am wondering how much (if any) interest other GOF members take in the events of 1861 - 1865, in the events leading up to it, and in the commemoration of all these events ever since.
The books listed on the page of book recommendations include some that I have not yet read. As for the movies mentioned in another article I think there are many more movies (including such rather recent ones as "Gods and Generals" and "Cold Mountain") that would be interesting to discuss, but I'm not sure how many here in the GOF take interest in this. As for myself I really am obliged to you for posting the articles here :)
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I must admit, the American Civil War and American history in general is really not that interesting to me. I prefer reading about the history of some other countries.
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Looks like there's going to be a Civil War related program on the History Channel on Memorial Day (next Monday). It's about Gettysburg, and seems like it'll be more like a dramatization than a typical documentary. Here's a sneak peek video on the website:
http://www.history.com/shows/gettysburg/vi...peek-gettysburg (http://www.history.com/shows/gettysburg/videos/playlists/exclusive-video#sneak-peek-gettysburg)
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It looks like after the movie 1993 movie "Gettysburg" which focused mainly on the generals and officers this might be a movie more focussed on the common soldiers. I regret I watch it here in Europe. Is there any chance anyone of you might record it? I would be really most interested in watching it and most obligued if one of you could record it :yes
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To tell you the truth, I don't think you need to even ask anyone to record it. A few years ago, I recall one program of the History Channel that I really liked and eventually decided to do a Google search on it, and found a video of the whole 2-hour program on Google, and later on You-Tube (as nine 10-minute videos). From that experience, I'm expecting that, given some time, you'll be able to find it online somewhere.
I'm not sure if it would be uploaded on the channel's website after it airs on TV, but there is a chance of that happening. At lot of shows on that channel have full episodes available to watch online, so I think it's a good possibility.
Also, I recently found out that that program will actually be part of what will be called "Civil War Week". At this time, the only other program for that week that I know of is one about the lives of the two major generals of the war: Ulysses Grant and Robert Lee. There will also be special episodes of some shows, but I forget which ones. Go ahead and take a look on history.com to find out more.
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I was right. A few days after "Gettysburg" aired on TV, someone uploaded it on YouTube (as six 15-minute videos). In fact, two people seemed to have done so, even though one of them currently only has half of it uploaded (which makes it easier for me to decide which person's videos to go with). Here are the links:
Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IshclhvSNnY&feature=related)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vpCalOoB6U&feature=related)
Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJegtpjE3B4&feature=related)
Part 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaLl09bLC0A&feature=related)
Part 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_bTdNH-o0U&feature=related)
Part 6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BMMMW__W3k&feature=related)
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Excellent.
Thank you very much :)
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Came across another Civil War related article. Lots of artifacts have recently been discovered at the site of a little-known POW camp:
http://news.yahoo.com/archaeologists-comb-...-164121276.html (http://news.yahoo.com/archaeologists-comb-newly-found-civil-war-pow-camp-164121276.html)
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(Wow, has it really been more than a year since I brought up anything in this topic? :huh: Oh well, nothing to be concerned about at all.)
Remember that movie about Abraham Lincoln I mentioned near the beginning of this topic? I just found a trailer for that movie, which will be in theaters November 9.
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/f...-234902598.html (http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/first-lincoln-trailer-debuts-daniel-day-lewis-presidential-234902598.html)
Interesting how Lincoln's actual voice is not like what we typically hear.
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Just to add to this, today (September 19th) is the 150th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Shepherdstown. Two Union regiments volunteered to push across the Potomac and drive off Rebel positions on a bluff on the other side of the river. My great-great-great uncle's regiment was one of the two that volunteered, the 4th Michigan. The 4th Michigan and 1st US Sharpshooters forded the river under fire and scaled the bluff, causing William Pendleton's Confederates to flee and abandon their guns almost immediately. Shepherdstown is also my alma mater, as I received my baccalaureate from Shepherd University two years ago. It just blows my mind that I received my education and degree on the same grounds that my great-great-great uncle fought on 150 years ago.
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These days there is an offer for a position at the university of Mainz in the department of US history. Not only would this be just the kind of job I have been applying for for such a long time, but it is also a job that would allow me to write a dissertation and it offers financing for visitis to other countries for research.
In short, it may well be my very last chance to actually see some of the events about the sesqui-centennial of the civil war I want to write my dissertation about. For me a lot depends on this application.
Part of the application is a synopsis of my disertation including some literature and source material I intend to use. There is quite a lot of online source material among other from the various states' sesqui-centennial commissions. However, so far I have found but very little printed material / books on the commencing of the sesqui-centennial celebrations. There are whole libraries full of books published ocassioned by the sesqui-centennial, but the huge majority of the books is not so much about the planned events and the way they are (or in some cases have been) conducted, but rather about the historical events themselves which have already been extensively documented before.
I am wondering if anyone here has seen and can name any books not on the civil war as such but focussed specifically on the 150th anniversary events, their planning and their realization. Are you aware of any such literature focussed on the comemmoration rather than the historical events?
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I got a possibly naive question and would be very glad and obliged if someone could give me an answer of this one. Many US states have established Sesquicentennial Commissions for the planning, organization and conducting of events related to the Sesquicentennial Commissions as well as for historical research ocassioned by it. However, there is some vagueness about how and by whom these commissions were formed. In some cases they are quite clearly established by the state governments (the homepage of the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission for example declares its creation by the General Assembly of Virginia back in 2006 even linking to the bills by which the commission was created). In case of other commissions there is no reference to them being created by the state governments. Wisconsin's commission for example (the page of which does not have the .gov ending reserved by pages from the government) describes itself as organized by The Wisconsin Veterans Museum, under the direction of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.
So are some of the commissions created by the local governments and some are not? Does the Federal government in Washington play any role in the comissions of various states? Are there states with more than one Sesquicentennial Commission?
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I hardly ever read news online anymore, but I did find something rather interesting:
This Week in the Civil War (http://news.yahoo.com/week-civil-war-140043633.html)
I haven't read it yet, but it does look interesting. Too bad I can't find links to the other articles in this series.
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I just found a bunch of articles online, due to today marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. I don't have the time to read any of them tonight (watching Civil War shows on the History Channel instead), but I'll link to them anyway.
http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-stories-a...-143300033.html (http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-stories-ancestor-fired-patriotic-desire-143300033.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-stories-r...-143300307.html (http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-stories-reluctant-soldier-picketts-charge-143300307.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-stories-j...-143300906.html (http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-stories-john-pickel-chancellorsville-gettysburg-beyond-143300906.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/remembering-gettysbu...-154507289.html (http://news.yahoo.com/remembering-gettysburg-non-americans-join-fray-154507289.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/second-gettysburg-ad...-145004250.html (http://news.yahoo.com/second-gettysburg-address-50-years-civil-war-145004250.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/war-ends-park-holds-...-010352679.html (http://news.yahoo.com/war-ends-park-holds-gettysburg-ceremony-010352679.html)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/interactive-...-183822901.html (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/interactive-gettysburg-using-modern-mapping-183822901.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/video-constitutional...-100608025.html (http://news.yahoo.com/video-constitutional-conversation-gettysburg-100608025.html)
Edit: I found two more interesting articles today. (July 2)
http://news.yahoo.com/hollywood-helps-turn...-151419757.html (http://news.yahoo.com/hollywood-helps-turn-gettysburg-hill-151419757.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/visitors-flock-remem...-172744102.html (http://news.yahoo.com/visitors-flock-remember-gettysburg-battle-172744102.html)
Edit: Yet more interesting articles today. (July 3)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-gettysb...3?siteid=yhoof2 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-gettysburg-re-enactment-moments-2013-07-03?siteid=yhoof2)
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-...ampaign_id=yhoo (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-03/muskets-and-cell-phones-reenacting-gettysburg-150-years-later?campaign_id=yhoo)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/armies-ap...3?siteid=yhoof2 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/armies-approach-gettysburg-for-150th-anniversary-2013-07-03?siteid=yhoof2)
http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-march-pick...-204640216.html (http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-march-picketts-charge-commemoration-204640216.html)
I think I'd better stop there. It's clear there's a lot of coverage going on around the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg.
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I hardly ever read news online anymore, but I did find something rather interesting:
This Week in the Civil War (http://news.yahoo.com/week-civil-war-140043633.html)
I haven't read it yet, but it does look interesting. Too bad I can't find links to the other articles in this series.
I'm quoting this because I just found another article in what I'm assuming is the same series.
This Week in the Civil War (http://news.yahoo.com/week-civil-war-140043633.html)
It's not just this week, but also the next few weeks.
Edit: Wait, is it just the same article, but just gets updated every month? :unsure: I'm honestly a little confused right now.
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Lincoln has recently been identified in a rare photo taken just moments before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.
http://news.yahoo.com/abraham-lincoln-phot...-133929572.html (http://news.yahoo.com/abraham-lincoln-photo-taken-at-gettysberg-133929572.html)
http://news.yahoo.com/really-lincoln-getts...-202535320.html (http://news.yahoo.com/really-lincoln-gettsyburg-photo-stirs-debate-202535320.html)
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Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.
I just recently found an article about a speech made by former president Eisenhower on the centennial of the Gettysburg Address, which was largely forgotten due to Kennedy being assassinated just three days later.
http://news.yahoo.com/lost-presidential-sp...-110215876.html (http://news.yahoo.com/lost-presidential-speech-made-gettysburg-address-anniversary-110215876.html)
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Yesterday (Feb. 17) was the 150th anniversary of when the Confederate submarine Hunley sank a Union ship before it too sank. According to an article I found, it seems the mystery of how the sub sank may have finally been solved.
http://news.yahoo.com/confederate-sub-made...-140603874.html (http://news.yahoo.com/confederate-sub-made-history-150-years-ago-monday-140603874.html)
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Interesting article, thanks for posting the link. I can imagine they must have been very brave to have gone down in a submarine, considering the technology they had at the time.
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I don't have any specific articles to link to today, but the month of April 1865 saw a lot of major events, such as the end of the Civil War, the fall of the Confederate States, and the assassination of Lincoln. Today marks the beginning of the 150th anniversary of a 30-day period that changed American history in more ways than virtually any other specific month ever has. (I even recall once seeing a show on the History Channel that focused entirely on the major events of April 1865.)
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Okay, now I've got something.
First, excerpts on how the Associated Press had covered the final days of the Civil War, 150 years ago:
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-150-years-ago-lee...-070153750.html (http://news.yahoo.com/ap-150-years-ago-lee-surrenders-grant-070153750.html)
And second, one history buff has been able to visit just about every single Civil War battlefield right on the 150th anniversary of each battle:
http://news.yahoo.com/65-battlefields-buff...-070227873.html (http://news.yahoo.com/65-battlefields-buffs-civil-war-campaign-nears-end-070227873.html)
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I came across two rather long and informative articles today (the first is a couple years old by now, but still interesting to read).
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archiv...vil-war/277022/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/150-years-of-misunderstanding-the-civil-war/277022/)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archiv...nt-over/389847/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-civil-war-isnt-over/389847/)
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For tomorrow's anniversary of Lincoln's assassination, I came across an article about the original report by the Associated Press, written by a correspondent who actually got to hold the gun that shot Lincoln.
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-original-ap-repor...-164237036.html (http://news.yahoo.com/ap-original-ap-report-lincolns-assassination-164237036.html)
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This Friday I'll hold a presentation on the life, work, death and myth Abraham Lincoln that I have been working on for quite a while. I'm very much looking forward to it.
Soon the sesqui-centennial will be over and I'm looking back at it with a strong twinge of regret. Back in 2009 I was very convinced that I would be writting my dissertation to become a Ph.d. on the subject. I hadn't expected how difficult it was to get in such a position here in Germany.
I'm no longer who I was back in 2009 and I have found happiness in some other fields too, but the inability to get to these once in a lifetime events and to write my disseration on them will always remain one of the big "what if?" moments of my life. :neutral