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It’s just one example of what likely occurred in many a Virginia household, in 1861, and even later. Yet, popular contemporary “memory” of Virginia, at war on the side of the Southern Confederacy, seems to have no, or very little “recollection” of such instances. The following comes to us via the August 7, 1861 issue […]
March 23, 2011 by Robert Moore
I’m really jumping the gun here, because I should be holding this story in reserve (sure, why not… pun intended) until 2014… marking the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Virginia’s Confederate reserve units. Still, I brought it up the other day (in “WYSIWYG Confederates?”) , so I figured that I would pick-up from where […]
February 23, 2011 by Robert Moore
Thinking about Craig’s post from the other day, I remembered something I’ve been meaning to post about cornbread… yes, cornbread. Now cornbread has become known as something distinctly “Southron”, but appears to have origins with the Native People of what is now the southeastern U.S. (references vary, but among those suggested as originators are the […]
February 21, 2011 by Craig Swain
So can we just throw a blanket over the whole "southern experience" and call it a collective culture distinct from the rest of America?
February 16, 2011 by Robert Moore
There’s been some talk lately, on the blogosphere and elsewhere, about the possibility that the S.C.V. will get a Nathan Bedford Forrest license plate in Mississippi. Brooks Simpson blogged about it today, and Eric Wittenberg blogged about it on the 10th. While both of them explain why Forrest should not be on a plate (and […]
February 8, 2011 by Robert Moore
Just a quick thought, but… What is one’s personal Civil War heritage? I see it as that link to the past through ancestors. So, if heritage is a part of us… the blood of our ancestry running through us, I’m wondering… With each generation, there comes the possibility/probability that a new line of heritage is […]
February 15, 2009 by Robert Moore
If modern Confederate remembrance does not come close to accurately capturing the true definition of Southern heritage in the Civil War era, what does? I’ll be posting on this in the coming week. In the meantime, hat-tip to Kevin at Civil War Memory for making us aware of a YouTube clip, and a “well-done” to […]
February 9, 2009 by Robert Moore
I know, I’ve talked about this before, but clearly, the view of the Civil War in terms of “Southern perspective” suggests something… singular… even an implied “unity” as a people in support of “Cause.” It is reflected in the way that some people represent “Southern perspective” as “Confederate perspective.” Plurality is missing, and therefore the singular representation misleads, […]
January 17, 2009 by Robert Moore
It is fine to both privately and, to a degree, publicly reflect upon the lives of historical persons. It fulfills various needs of the living. Look at a historical person (or persons) and consider the part of the historical person’s character, actions, etc., and consider how one may take meaning from these reflections. For some, […]
November 29, 2008 by Robert Moore
Over the past nine months, I’ve spent some time focusing on problems with “memory” of the Civil War, but have limited it to problems with memory in those who look favorably on all things Confederate. I’ve focused on the new-era Confederate remembrance movement because, having once been a part of it, I am much more familiar […]
November 1, 2008 by Robert Moore
On average, very few of us know what our ancestors actually thought regarding events within their own time. Regretfully, because of this some researchers begin to speculate because they want some sort of definitive explanation behind what they do find in their research. “Gray” or indefinite history is simply not acceptable to some, so there […]
October 31, 2008 by Robert Moore
When considering the study of Civil War memory, I read regularly, and with great interest, the stories about Southern culture being under attack. What’s even more interesting is when Southern culture is defined by certain people through Confederate symbology (e.g., the Confederate flag, monuments, heroes, etc.). Is it, therefore, to be assumed that Confederate symbology […]
September 5, 2008 by Robert Moore
Abstracted from a portion of my response to a comment…” Depending on how it is used, “Southern Heritage” does not necessarily mean “Confederate heritage.” To be Southerner does not mean that one had to be Confederate. For that matter, to have “Southern Heritage” does not mean that the ancestry alive at the time of the war, was “exclusively […]
March 17, 2008 by Robert Moore
This might seem petty to some, but this is just one of those items that gets under my skin. It’s just one of my those “stickler” issues that I have as an historian. Just about every morning, I drive by Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg, Virginia and I notice the seven star First National Confederate flag […]
March 8, 2008 by Robert Moore
I’ve written about how I am puzzled over the way that those with no familial connections whatsoever have found “sympathetic connections” with one side or another in the Civil War. I’ve also written about how a person, descended from a Union soldier, had been left with a legacy of forgotten family participation in the war. However, today, I […]
February 27, 2008 by Robert Moore
Kevin made a good point yesterday and I should have been more clear. When I see the word “traitor,” my problem is with the way that it is used within a body of work – the context in which it is used. If it is a part of discussing things within historical context, then I […]
August 7, 2011 by Robert Moore
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