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James Longstreet: The Confederate General That Defied The South
with Elizabeth Varon
January 11 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
The most remarkable political about-face in American history was made by General James Longstreet. He fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, but after the war, he supported Black voting and joined Louisiana’s newly elected, integrated post-war government. Despite being one of the highest-ranking Confederate generals, Longstreet has never been honored with statues or memorials in the South because of his post-war actions in rejecting the Lost Cause mythology and urging racial reconciliation. Join us for this discussion with Dr. Elizabeth R. Varon, Langbourne M. Williams professor of American history at the University of Virginia. Moderated by ACWM President and CEO, Dr. Rob Havers.
Elizabeth R. Varon is Langbourne M. Williams professor of American history at the University of Virginia and a member of the executive council of UVA’s John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History. Varon’s books include Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, A Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy, and Appomattox: Victory, Defeat and Freedom at the End of the Civil War. Her most recent book, Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War, won the 2020 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize and was named one of The Wall Street Journal’s best books of 2019.