Emmy Parrish Lecture in American Studies to feature Civil War Historian

by Rebekah Hardage, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

Baylor University's department of history will host the semi-annual Emmy Parrish Lecture in American Studies featuring Dr. Gary W. Gallagher, professor of history at the University of Virginia, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in room 127 of the Baylor Law School.

The lecture, titled "The Civil War for the Union: The Real Lost Cause," will discuss the different ways people who experienced the Civil War remembered it and how the war has been portrayed by Hollywood.

"I hope my lecture will help members of the audience understand what the conflict meant to millions of Americans who experienced and, in subsequent years, tried to make sense of the greatest trauma in our history," Gallagher said.

Gallagher graduated from Adams State College in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in history. He received both master's and doctorate degrees in history, with a specialty in the American South, from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently The John N. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia.

Gallagher's book, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War, is scheduled for release in April 2008. Information and order forms for his book will be available at the lecture.

"Students can benefit the very most from hearing a special speaker who has a reputation for being on the cutting edge of research, expressing new ideas, and challenging ideas, and [Gallagher] certainly is gifted at doing that very thing," said Michael Parrish, The Linden G. Powers Professor of American History at Baylor.

Tom Z. Parrish of Waco established The Emmy Parrish Lectures in American Studies in 1991 to honor his wife, Emmy. The Parrish lectures are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael Parrish at 710-7404 or Michael_Parrish@baylor.edu.