BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Lincoln Society of Virginia’s 3rd Annual Symposium will feature Civil War historian and writer Dr. William C. Davis. Dr. Davis will speak on “Lincoln’s Men: Lincoln and the Soldiers of the Union” which will focus on how Abraham Lincoln motivated young men into enlisting and re-enlisting in the Union Army after years of war and its growing unpopularity, Lincoln’s personal, managerial, and inspirational skills, his command of the language, and his use of other tools at his command. In the end he forged a bond with the soldiers that became a major weapon for saving the Union.
The symposium, which will be held May 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Boitnott Room of Kline Campus Center on the Bridgewater College campus, is dedicated this year to the memory of local historian, sculptor, folklorist and Society charter board member John Heatwole, who died November 22, 2006.
Dr. Phillip C. Stone, President of Bridgewater College and a Lincoln scholar, founded The Lincoln Society of Virginia in 2004 to commemorate and disseminate information about Lincoln family connections in the Shenandoah Valley, to protect and preserve Lincoln landmarks in the Shenandoah Valley – including Lincoln homes and the Lincoln cemetery – and to interpret the 16th president, his life, work and legacy, particularly in Virginia.
Dr. Davis is Professor of History and the Director of Programs for the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech. He is a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Advisory Committee, The Lincoln Forum Board of Advisors, is a past president of the National Historical Society and the former editor of “Civil War Times Illustrated.”
He was the on-camera senior consultant for 52 episodes of the A&E Network/ History Channel series “Civil War Journal,” many commercial, Public Television, and BBC productions, and has acted as historical consultant for several productions, including “The Blue and the Gray,” “George Washington” and “The Perfect Tribute.”
For more information about the Society or the symposium, contact:
Elaine Dellinger
Bridgewater College
402 E. College Street
Bridgewater, VA 22812
(540) 828-5620
edelling@bridgewater.edu