Civil War Lecture Series Debuts

Intriguing perspectives of the American Civil War will rise to the forefront in upcoming lectures at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. October’s lecture, The Civil War in Fiction and Film, centers on how memory of the Civil War has been manipulated and its history reinterpreted. The lecture complements the popular exhibit Real to Reel: The Making of Gone with the Wind, on view through Jan. 13, 2013.

The 2012-2013 Civil War Sesquicentennial Lecture Series kicks off in November when distinguished historian and author James I. Robertson Jr. presents The Untold Civil War: Exploring the Human Side of War. He will reveal surprising, new stories about overlooked factors that affected the war.

The series continues in March with when Elizabeth R. Varon dispels myths about Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.

LECTURES

The Civil War in Fiction and Film

Sunday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m.

Free admission

David Sachsman, Professor of Communications, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Consider the many ways the Civil War has been depicted by American writers and filmmakers. How have fiction and film manipulated memories of the war and reinterpreted its history? Find out during this program presented by David Sachsman, author of Memory and Myth: The Civil War in Fiction and Film. A book signing will follow the program. Copies are available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

2012-2013 Civil War Sesquicentennial Lecture Series

The Untold Civil War: Exploring the Human Side of War

Sunday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m.

$8 in advance, $10 on Nov. 4

$5 for ages 18 and under, $5 for Associates

Tickets are available in the Museum Shop or by calling 919-807-7835.

James I. Robertson Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor in History Emeritus, Virginia Tech University

Historian James Robertson presents compelling new stories as alternatives to traditional battle narratives of the Civil War. He points to overlooked factors that affected the war, ranging from the role of weather and high emotions to the world-changing implications of more women in the workplace. He also addresses the effects of “firsts” on the home front, such as introduction of standard time, pre-sized clothing, canned goods, toilets and even Santa Claus.

Robertson has authored several books about the Civil War, including Civil War! America Becomes One Nation and Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend.

Legacies of Appomattox: Lee’s Surrender in History and Memory                   

Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m.

$8 in advance, $10 on March 3

$5 for ages 18 and under, $5 for Associates

Tickets are available in the Museum Shop or by calling 919-807-7835. 

Elizabeth R. Varon, Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History, University of Virginia

Dispelling the myth that the Appomattox surrender was a “gentleman’s agreement” between Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant that reunited the South and North, Elizabeth Varon argues that the surrender terms were controversial from the start and became the touchstone for the conflicts during Reconstruction.

The lectures are featured during the N.C. Civil War Sesquicentennial, which continues through 2015. The Museum of History and the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources are presenting programs in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in North Carolina.

For more information about the Museum of History, call 919-807-7900 or access www.ncmuseumofhistory.org.

About the N.C.  Museum of History

The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton Street, across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The Museum of History, within the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

About the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported symphony orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council, and the State Archives. Cultural Resources champions North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy. To learn more, visit www.ncdcr.gov.