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Robert E. Lee

  • SOURCE: Substack
    1/18/2023

    Bemoaning Alabama's King-Lee Holiday Misses a Bigger Point

    by Kevin M. Levin

    While white Alabama still embraces the "lost cause" mythology embodied by Robert E. Lee, outrage about the holiday he shares with Martin Luther King, Jr. shouldn't blind the public to the ongoing struggle to change the commemorative landscape—in Montgomery and nationwide. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    5/23/2022

    Facing the Truth in the Land of Lee

    by Laura Brodie

    The controversy over removing Robert E. Lee's portrait from diplomas at Washington and Lee University points to an uncomfortable truth: Lee's historical depiction as handsome has been a visual symbol of the Lost Cause that has contributed to acceptance of the pro-Confederate mythology. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    12/30/2021

    Richmond's Lee Statue, other Confederate Memorials Could go to Black History Museum

    Marland Buckner, interim executive director of the Black History Museum, said in the release that his institution “takes very seriously the responsibility to manage these objects in ways that ensure their origins and purpose are never forgotten: that is the glorification of those who led the fight to enslave African Americans and destroy the Union.”

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    12/5/2021

    Virginia to Dismantle Lee Statue Plinth

    Outgoing Governor Ralph Northam will execute the removal of the pedestal and the transfer of the surrounding traffic circle to the City of Richmond before Glenn Youngkin succeeds him in office. 

  • SOURCE: Los Angeles Review of Books
    11/3/2021

    Lee's Fault: On Allen Guelzo's Biography

    by John Reeves

    A reviewer concludes that Allen Guelzo's new biography succeeds in evaluating Robert E. Lee's military career but misses in its assessment of his relationship to slavery and his legacy.

  • SOURCE: Bryan-College Station Eagle
    9/22/2021

    Remember, Lee Betrayed His Country

    by Walter Kamphoefner

    The removal of Robert E. Lee's statue in Richmond was a necessary step in the halting American version of Germany's Vergangenheitsbewältigung – facing the evils of the nation's past. 

  • SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
    6/7/2021

    Retaining Its Name

    Despite a protest movement by students and other stakeholders, Washington and Lee University's institutional changes in response to its legacy of slavery and ties to the Confederacy will not include rejecting Robert E. Lee's name.

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    2/5/2021

    A Southerner who abandoned the Lost Cause (Review)

    West Point historian Ty Seidule's book traces his own personal path from venerating the Lost Cause myth of the Confederacy to rejecting it, including questioning the number of monuments to Robert E. Lee at the US Military Academy. 

  • SOURCE: Civil War Memory
    1/3/2021

    Do We Really Need Another Biography of Robert E. Lee?

    by Kevin M. Levin

    Recent discussion of the forthcoming biography of Robert E. Lee by Allen Guelzo shouldn't foreclose the possibility that the book will offer insight because many historians object to Guelzo's participation in Donald Trump's conference on teaching history. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    10/19/2020

    Fraternity that Reveres Robert E. Lee Faces Revolt over Racism

    A Texas chapter of Kappa Alpha called for the national fraternity to repudiate its veneration of the Confederacy, sparking a firestorm among active members and alumni about the place of the Lost Cause and Robert E. Lee in the organization's culture. 

  • SOURCE: National Review
    9/17/2020

    The Mystery of Robert E. Lee

    by Allen C. Guelzo

    The supernatural composure attributed to Robert E. Lee was belied by his many anxieties and obsessions, writes the author of a coming biography of the Confederate general. 

  • SOURCE: The Progressive
    7/7/2020

    The Story Behind the Lee Statue in Richmond, Virginia

    by Peter Rachleff

    Now the time has come for the story of the Workingmen’s Reform Party, the building of Richmond’s City Hall, and the solidarity-based politics of the Black and white members of the Knights of Labor, to come out into the light.

  • 4/26/2020

    Historic Houses Turn to Technology Amid COVID-19 Closures

    by Hana Hancock

    Historic home sites have responded to the COVID crisis by developing online exhibits. More work remains to be done, and many cultural and historical institutions are in financial peril from the crisis, reports HNN's Social Media Editor. 

  • 11/17/19

    Robert E. Lee Wasn't a Hero, He Was a Traitor

    by Michael McLean

    Lee was no hero. He was neither noble nor wise. Lee was a traitor who killed United States soldiers, fought for human enslavement, vastly increased the bloodshed of the Civil War, and made embarrassing tactical mistakes.