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Bridgewater Civil War Institute focuses on memory, memorialization

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bridgewater collegeHow the Civil War has been remembered and memorialized is the topic of the Ninth-Annual Bridgewater College Civil War Institute, to be held Saturday, April 16 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The one-day institute, which is free and open to the public, will be in the Spoerlein Lecture Hall (Room 100) of the college’s McKinney Center for Science and Mathematics.

Exploring the theme of “Civil War Memory and Memorialization” are:

Peter Wallenstein, author and professor of history at Virginia Tech. Wallenstein, who will speak on “Remembering Reconstruction – and All the Ways It Never Was,” specializes in the history of the South and higher education.

Waite Rawls, co-executive director of the American Civil War Museum. Rawls will speak on “Burying the Dead, But Not the Past.”

John Coski, historian and author of The Confederate Battle Flag: America’s Most Embattled Emblem, will speak on “History of the Battle Flag to the Present Day.”

Elizabeth Varon, historian and Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia. Varon will speak on “Legacies of Appomattox: Lee’s Surrender in History and Memory.”

“We are indeed privileged to offer this year’s array of speakers,” said Nick Picerno, chief of police at Bridgewater College and co-founder of the BC Civil War Institute. “The topic is certainly relevant as we witness a national dialogue that focuses on how we commemorate Civil War history, particularly the role of the South.”

Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,800 undergraduate students.

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