“The History Guys” Podcast

The American History Guys are three university professors who specialize on 18th, 19th, and 20th century American history. You’ll be most familiar with the 19th century guy, Ed Ayers of the University of Richmond. The others are University of Virginia instructors Peter Onuf (18th century) and Brian Balogh (20th century). I received an email from an intern at the show – Miriam – about a series of podcasts on the civil war. There are three in the series (The Road to the Civil War, Why They Fought, and The Civil War at 150: Questions Remain) and you can check them out here.

Civil War Interactive Writer’s Contest

Civil War Interactive is having a writer’s contest. Details here.

The Essential Civil War Curriculum

A little bird in the form of Donald Stoker passed along this link to a new Virginia Tech website put together by James “Bud” Robertson, William “Jack” Davis and J. L. D. “Laurie” Woodruff, The Essential Civil War Curriculum. From the site:

Peer reviewed by today’s foremost Civil War historians, the Essential Civil War Curriculum contains essays, bibliographies and other resources on the 400+ topics which constitute the basic knowledge that should be possessed by any serious student of the Civil War.

One of the tasks for the site is to attract historians (in their eyes, this includes professional historians, PhD students, and competent amateur historians – so this could mean you!) to contribute essays on topics not yet completed. Links in the upper right hand corner of the main page of the site will take you to the completed essays and also provide you with information on essay submissions.

It looks like an ambitious project, and I’m adding it to the recommended links here.

Elsewhere in Blogsville

 

This is the first in what promises to be an interesting series of posts over at Civil War Bookshelf. I’ve discussed before (see here and here, for example) the murky origins of Irvin McDowell’s (left) rise to power in 1861. Dmitri proposes to delve into it more deeply – I think – with the added attraction of William B. Franklin (right). Franklin was a brigade commander in Heintzelman’s division of McDowell’s army at First Bull Run, but was apparently associated with McDowell in other ways.

Check it out.

OK, We’re Tweeting

To paraphrase Bob Wiley:

Dr. Marvin! Dr. Marvin! Guess What? I Tweet! I’m a Tweeter! I Tweet!

Yep, I’m giving it a shot.  Follow us at @Bullrunnings.

Is A Puzzlement

I admit it – I’m a sucker for The King and I. In 1977 I actually got to see a revival of the musical at the Uris Theater on Broadway. Orchestra seats. Yul Freakin’ Brynner. Close enough to see all the gears and stuff and the line where his face panel met his robot head.  OK, just kidding about that last bit, but he was awesome in Westworld, too. But yes, we were close to the stage, and Brynner in his late fifties looked like he could still kick ass, even while doing the polka.  And I love the film, though my wife gets very annoyed when I correct her on occasions when she inadvertently allows her head to be higher than King’s…er, mine.  But why am I talking about this?  The Civil War Trust has a Primary Sources entry up on their website about Abraham Lincoln’s rejection of the offer of Siam’s King Rama IV (aka Mongut at left as portrayed by The Man) of war elephants to help defeat the Confederacy.  Check it out.

And now for a little singin’ ‘n dancin’:

Was AL More Like GBM Than HUG?

The recent flood of posts on various blogs resulting from the Lowry controversy has been fascinating.  Now there’s one out there that’s tangential but tantalizing – tangentializing?  Check out Dmitri’s riff on Crossroads’ retort to Opinionator’s opinion.  It’s a shame that Dmitri doesn’t allow comments (that’s his right, of course), but if you want to express your thoughts – recognizing they be thoughts on the post and not knee-jerk reactions to the poster and whatever you suspect his motivations to be – feel free to comment away!  I know this is supposed to be my blog, and you may think it inappropriate for me to entertain a discussion of another blogger’s post, but hell, it IS my blog and I can do whatever I want, so there.

Bory at West Point

The New York Times blog Opinionator on P. G. T. Beauregard as USMA superintendent, A Short Stay – and a Long Jump.  Check it out.

Patrick Clooney of Co. K, 69th NYSM

Is the man seated on the left Patrick Clooney? Photo from LOC

Brian Downey has posted a biographical sketch of a member of Thomas Francis Meagher’s company of the 69th New York State Militia.  Check it out.

Seminar on the War in 1861 and a Podcast Blog

Thanks to Craig Swain for bringing this to my attention.  The Appomattox Court House National Historical Site announced that a seminar will be held at Longwood University in Farmville, VA on Saturday, February 26, 2011, The War Begins, 1861.  There are two lectures on First Bull Run that look interesting (I’m not implying that the other lectures are less than interesting by any means).  Here’s the schedule:

Jarman Auditorium at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Schedule

9:00 a.m. Doors Open
9:25 a.m. Introduction by Dr. David Coles, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of History, Political Science, and Philosophy, Longwood University
9:30 a.m. David Ruth, The Nation Crosses the Rubicon: Fort Sumter 1861.
10:30 a.m. John Hennessy, First Manassas: Legends, Lies, and Misunderstandings.
11:30 a.m. Patrick Schroeder, The Fire Zouaves at Bull Run: Heroes or Humbugs?
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:45 p.m. Jeffery Wert, “‘He Stood out from the Great War Canvas’: Jeb Stuart.”
2:45 p.m. Mike Gorman, Richmond Again Taken: Images of the Confederate Capital.

No reservations necessary. Signs will be posted on the Longwood University campus. For directions to the campus go to www.Longwood.edu.

For more information contact Dr. David Coles at 434-395-2220 or Patrick Schroeder at 434-352-8987 ext. 32.

Longwood also has a podcast blog at That a Nation Might Live.  It’s a little confusing – you have to click-through on each post to find a link to the podcast, usually located underneath an illustration.  Check it out.