Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory

Dr. Blight talked about his book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, published by Harvard University Press. In his lecture, Mr. Blight explored the relationship between history and memory, and discusses the importance in establishing the difference between the two. The author believes that race is the central problem in how Americans made choices to remember or forget the Civil War. He also explored what he feels were the three overall visions of Civil War memory: the reconciliationist vision that neglected the African-American role; the white supremacist vision which is a segregated memory of the war on Southern terms; and the emancipationist vision which embodied the African-American memory of freedom. After his presentation, he answered questions from members of the audience. close