The Civil War Centennial as Review and Preview

Abstract

The sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War is almost upon us. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, established by Congress in 2000, struck up its elaborate prelude on February 12, 2008 with the opening exercises in a two-year celebration of the two hundredth birthday of the Civil War president. Jockeying is well underway for formation of a similar commission to organize federal participation in remembrance of the most expansively remembered event in American history. In February 2007 members of the Congressional delegations of Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia introduced a bill that would set up a commission and authorize federal grants to university programs focused on the Civil War, specifically the United States Civil War Center at Louisiana State University, the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, and the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, several states have already created commissions that have launched a variety of initiatives. The Virginia commission, for instance, has awarded a $350,000 contract to the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies (which is headed by a member of the state commission) for production of a three-hour documentary film about the Civil War to be distributed without charge to every school, library, and museum in the commonwealth.1 As this political maneuvering attests, official observances of the sesquicentennial offer those interested in interpretations of the Civil War substantial opportunities to attract resources and audiences.