Robert E. Lee and the Question of Loyalty

More than 150 years after the end of the American Civil War, General Robert E. Lee remains a source of fascination and controversy. Was he a loyal Virginian, swept up in a bloody Civil War against his will? Is he better understood as an elite slaveholder, who led armies into the field in defense of a racist society? Was he a symbol of nobility and honor, or a traitor? These questions about the past loom large in contemporary conversations about the memory and commemoration of the Confederacy.
The Department of History at the University of Florida is proud to host Dr. Gary W. Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia, for the annual Augustus M. Burns Memorial Lecture on Friday, February 19th at 4:00. Dr. Gallagher will be speaking on “Robert E. Lee and the Question of Loyalty.”
Gallagher, one of the nation’s leading historians of the Civil War, and one of the field’s most sought after public speaker, is the author or editor of over 25 volumes. A specialist on the war’s social, cultural, and military history, Gallagher has written widely on Robert E. Lee and the complex issues surrounding the Lost Cause.
The lecture will be held in the Harn Museum of Art’s spacious Chandler Auditorium on Friday, February 19th at 4:00. It will be followed by a question and answer session and a small reception.
Co-sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta.

Produced by The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
241 Pugh Hall
University of Florida
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http://oral.history.ufl.edu/


February 2016
Cat. No. VIDS 218