Tour, but only a brief clip is shown in the first few minutes of this program. Good evening and welcome, everyone. I am tom putnam, director of the john f. Kennedy president ial library and museum, and on behalf of the executive director of the Kennedy Library foundation, the board of directors, and all of our colleagues, i think you for joining us this evening. Let me first acknowledge the generous underwriters of the forum, boston capital, the local institute, raytheon, the boston foundation, and our media partners. We considered having this Forum Last Night on the actual 50th anniversary of mrs. Kennedys tour but did not want to make any of you having to choose between sharing valentines day with loved ones or with your friends here at the Kennedy Library. We are so pleased to have so many of you with us this evening. 50 years ago, Jacqueline Kennedy introduced herself to the nation. In many ways, the public already knew her from her role as the president s wife, mother of two child
Nick so since he retired, he teaches at new mexico state university, teaches about history and Civil War History and he had a book that came out this week, the u. S. Constitution and secession. It is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce you to dr. Dwight pitcaithley. Dr. Pitcaithley he promised he was not going to include the rockstar part. Best laid plans. Thank you for coming tonight. Thanks to nick that wonderful introduction and thanks to the grant site for hosting this event. Im going to talk about 25 or 30 minutes, and then alternative over to you, so you can talk about whatever you want to talk about, and we hope that during my time, i have been provocative enough that we can have a conversation that goes on for another 35 or 40 minutes. Robert jim moran, who many of you know, threetime loser prizewinner, wrote that the civil war is our only felt history, history lived in the national imagination, and i think that is true, whether your ancestry goes back that far on not.
Shes no stranger to virginia, having earned her, one of her m. A. s and phd at the university of virginia. At oberlin, she created the history design lab that allows students to develop projects involving methodological approaches ranging from oral history, podcast, historical fiction and public history. Remember what we said about our speakers and their commitment to mentorship and education. Shes the author of the civil war and transformation of american citizenship. As i was preparing this introduction, i read her work in the flagship journal civil war history, part of a roundtable discussion about new civil war revisionism. Also, women, sl slavery and the boundaries of freedom in washington, d. C. Is now under contract, i am pleased to say, explaining how black women in the Nations Capital made claims to liberty during the civil war. The program today free women, mobilizing emancipation and citizenship in wartime washington, d. C. Ladies and gentlemen, tamika nunley. [applause] pro
May be your first public speech in richmond, virginia. She is a professor of history for the study of war in society at the university of southern mississippi. She taught previously in texas which accounts at least in part for the topic of our program today. As you can see in your program, she is fully immersed in the history of miss of mississippi. Recently, she launched the civil war governors of mississippi project. A partnership with the university of the southern of southern mississippi. I should draw your attention to the common theme you will hear in my introductions. Their role as educators and as mentors of younger students. Dr. Ural is a former president of the mississippi has oracle and serves on the board of trustees for the society of. And on several editorial boards. As you can see from the title of her book in the program, her scholarship explores the intersection of military and social history. Her newest book hoodss texas brigade is the basis for her program today. Lad
[laughter] i want to thank our longsuffering panelists for bearing with me as i arrived at a workable concept and title. I do have a clear idea i did have a clear idea what i wanted the symposium to be. A blend of wellknown speakers. Blended with excellent lesserknown speakers who you should want to know well and will want to know well and have them speak about their Exciting New Research and their contributions to civil war scholarship. I stumbled on a title and a gimmick using the year 2020. As a way of providing hindsight and insight into the study of the civil war. With that concept in mind, i want to introduce our first speaker who was an obvious choice to lead off this conference. Jack davis has been one of the most prominent and accomplished civil war scholars for several generations. He started as a boy, i think. If i recall correctly, his were civil war book, a biography of John C Breckenridge he rode as a college student. He won the first of four awards. You will find a parti