Civil War Sesquicentennial
Fort Monroe Could Be the Crowned Jewel of Virginia's Civil War Sesquicentennial
Of all the sites in Virginia that could be used to interpret the Civil War from multiple perspectives Fort Monroe is right there at the top of my list. Tim Kaine toured the facility yesterdayand briefly commented on the site's significance, but stopped short of taking a position on its future status once the military leaves in 2011 - the beginning of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. The National Park Service has surveyed the ground, but has not pushed for the site to fall under its jurisdiction. Personally, I would love to see the NPS take control since I am confident that they would do a first-rate job of interpreting the site.
In addition to the obvious focus on its military significance, Fort Monroe was also a destination for fugitive slaves early in the war, which makes it central to telling the story of emancipation. Finally, the incarceration of Jefferson Davis makes it an ideal place to tell the complex story of Reconstruction. While I would like to see all of these themes explored, I am especially interested in using the site to interpret how black Southerners forced the issue of emancipation on Lincoln and the North, and in doing so, helped to redefine the very idea of freedom in America. I've said it before, but I find it bizarre that we don't emphasize emancipation and freedom in our civil war, given the rhetoric that as Americans we hold so dear. Such a focus would also help us to bridge barriers between our popular perceptions of the war and the black community.
Virginia's Civil War Sesquicentennial
That's right, on April 29, 2009 the University of Richmond will host the first of a series of "Signature Conferences" which will take place through 2015. Ed Ayers has organized this first gathering which has the tentative title, "America on the Eve of the Civil War." Rather than a traditional conference setting Ayers is hoping to invite presenters who will play the roles of various characters in Virginia in 1859. The idea would be for those individuals to respond to news on the ground in a way that would highlight the contingency or unknown as to how events might play out.
The details have yet to be worked out, but you can see how it neatly fits into Ayers's recent scholarship which attempts to present the history as unfolding within the context of an uncertain future. It also points to his commitment to appeal to a wide range of people. The event may also include a forum where issues of interpretation and memory can be discussed. This event will be followed by a conference at Harper's Ferry on June 25-26. Virginians should be very proud of the hard work that has already been put into a broad range of events, which hopefully will appeal to a broad spectrum of the state's population.
Today's meeting of the Advisory Council to the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission was a bit draining, but well worth the time. In the morning we listened to a series of reports and in the afternoon divided up into smaller groups to discuss a number of issues. Andrew Talkov, who is the Exhibition Coordinator at the Virginia Historical Society updated us with the work his organization is doing to put together two separate exhibits which will tour the state throughout the sesquicentennial. Edward D.C. Campbell, who is in charge of document digitization at the Library of Virginia, gave us an overview on their plans to uncover as many private collections as possible from around the state and have them digitized for research and educational purposes.
The commission still seems to be a bit wary about its position on reenactments. At this point the commission will not endorse or support the organization of reenactments, which was the initial recommendation of James I. Robertson. As many of you know Robertson was a prominent figure during the Centennial celebrations and knows all too well the controversy that was generated as a result of reenactments. I understand the position, but I wonder whether the commission is giving in too quickly. After all, these reenactments are going to bring the most visitors to Virginia and the commission may be losing an opportunity to reach out to an entire segment of the Civil War community. Reenactments are going to take place regardless of whether the commission endorses them or not, but they may run the risk of generating some bad press with certain interest groups if they feel they are being snubbed. I don't know what the solution is, but I wonder whether all options have really been exhausted in trying to find ways of packaging these types of events in a way that steers clear of potential problems. The other issues that seems to be more of a stumbling block is the question of under what conditions other organizations can use the commission's logo.
This is an important question since the goal of the sesquicentennial is commemoration and not celebration and we can all imagine a number of nightmare scenarios. One place where this has come up is in the creation of local sesquicentennial commissions. The state commission is encouraging every county to form their own commission, and at this point 55 out of 134 localities have done so. The issue at hand is whether the state commission will be able to exercise control over the types of events or the make-up of individual commissions. Should there be guidelines in terms of the kinds of people that can serve on a local commission and who on the state commission should have oversight of all of this? What is the line between appropriate and inappropriate events? This connects to the broader issue of private funding.
The most interesting aspect of all of this is the politics of fundraising, which I know nothing about. We all know that the Civil War is a divisive subject so it stands to reason that private businesses may be apprehensive about making donations and having their names attached to various events. One very interesting suggestion was to focus on the fact that private funds would be used to support a wide range of institutions throughout Virginia.
This would keep the focus off of trying to package the sesquicentennial around some vaguely defined Whiggish interpretation of American history. I just don't have much patience for Victorian notions of moral progress and American Exceptionalism. I don't mean to impugn the United States, I just don't think that such views make much sense regardless of where they are applied. In the end, the important point is that Virginia's commission is far in the lead of any other state commission. In fact, the people in charge of the commission spend time consulting with other state's who are working to organize their own commissions. I couldn't be more encouraged by the progress that Virginia's commission has made thus far.
Advisory Council Meeting Today in Richmond
Today I head down to the Library of Virginia in Richmond to take part in a meeting of the Advisory Council for the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commision of the American Civil War. Click here for the agenda.
South Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Adds Key Members
South Carolina's Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission seems to be making some progress of late. They are not as far along as Virginia and North Carolina so it will be interesting to see if they can pull it all together before 20011. As we all know they are pretty much up to bat first given the significance of Fort Sumter. I came across an interesting little article which indicates that the commission is concerned about ensuring that events reflect multiple perspective and appeal to a wide array of the state's population, especially the African-American community. To that end the commission added a representative from the Penn Center, which is historically significant in its own right:
"My concern was that the African-American experience was not being represented, and that's true of everything in South Carolina -- whenever it comes to these statewide events and committees, they forget African-Americans are (about 29 percent) of the state," said Jannie Harriot, chairwoman of the S.C. African-American Heritage Commission, who is slated to be part of the board and spearheaded the effort to include Penn Center. "If anybody knows anything about the history of South Carolina and the history of Penn Center, you know about the contributions of Penn Center right after the Civil War and even during the Civil War."
Patrick McCawley noted that, "The advisory commission is looking to commemorate events, not celebrate (events)." "We want to be inclusive, and these (sesquicentennial) events should be designed to include all the multiple perspectives that go on when you have a cataclysmic event like the Civil War."
Easier said than done.
Civil War Memory