Memorializing the Civil War in 21st-Century America
Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series
Event Details:
In recent years, monuments commemorating the Confederacy have created enormous controversy. Hundreds of memorials honoring Confederate leaders such as General Robert E. Lee and President Jefferson Davis were constructed not immediately following the Civil War, but during the height of the Jim Crow era between the 1890s and 1950s. In the wake of the 2017 white nationalist march in Charlottesville, VA, experts ponder how memory and the ongoing battle for racial equality continue to shape modern America.
Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. Edna Greene Medford is interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history at Howard University. Harold Holzer (moderator) is the author of the forthcoming book Monument Man: The Life and Art of Daniel Chester French.
Image credits: (Holzer) Matt Capowski; (Foner) Daniella Zalcman
Location:
The Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024