[VAcourier] Article on Lee's 200th

[Virginia Division SCV Communication List]

  200th anniversary of Robert E. Lee's birth to be commemorated

By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON
Associated Press Writer
January 18, 2007
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-sou--lees200th0118jan18,0,4113908.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia

RICHMOND, Va. -- History buffs and Confederate enthusiasts are marking 
the 200th anniversary of the birth of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the Southern 
icon that many still revere as a brilliant military strategist and a 
Virginia gentleman nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War.

Several events were planned Friday and through the weekend at key Lee 
sites, including Washington & Lee University, Lee's birthplace at 
Stratford Hall Plantation, and in Richmond, the former Confederate 
capital. Some events already have taken place, and others are planned in 
the upcoming months.

"Robert E. Lee was an outstanding general, a groundbreaking educator, 
and a profound gentleman," said S. Waite Rawls III, chief executive of 
the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond. "But perhaps his greatest 
moments came after the war, when he worked very hard to reconcile a 
country that was still deeply divided after a bitter internal conflict. 
He put aside his personal feelings and did his 'duty'--to lead the South 
back into the Union."

Lee was born to a prominent family on Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford Hall 
Plantation on the bluffs of the Potomac River in Westmoreland County. 
The 1,900-acre plantation, built in the 1730s, now is a historic site.

Stratford Hall will feature a special "Lee pilgrimage" and a historic 
interpreter portraying Lee's decision to resign from the U.S. Army upon 
the secession of Virginia from the Union. Cannon artillery salutes will 
be held, and visitors can take candlelight tours of the Lee family's 
home. Saturday's events feature "Lee for Children" tours that allow 
youngsters to hunt for key items that figured into Lee's childhood, and 
an opportunity to have their photos taken with "General Lee."

The Museum of the Confederacy is showcasing an oil painting of Lee that 
was last displayed publicly in 1868 in Paris. The gilt-framed oil 
painting is on loan from a Richmond-area man who purchased it at an 
estate sale, and more than 200 limited-edition prints have been sold 
over the last few weeks to help the struggling museum erase its deficit.

The Virginia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans planned a 
banquet to celebrate Lee's life featuring a talk by Pat Falci, who was 
the historical director for the Civil War movies "Gods and Generals" and 
"Gettysburg," and portrayed Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill in the latter. 
Guests were welcome to dress in period attire, said Grayson R. Jennings, 
a Virginia SCV leader.

While many Southern groups revere him, the glorification of Lee and the 
Lost Cause strikes a raw nerve among others in a state that still has a 
"Lee-Jackson Day" to commemorate Lee and Confederate leader Stonewall 
Jackson.

The Virginia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
last week held a news conference at the Lee statue on Monument Avenue to 
voice disapproval of state funding to plan and coordinate events for 
Lee's 200th birthday and make the anniversary integral to the public 
schools' curriculum.

NAACP executive director King Salim Khalfani doesn't have a problem with 
those who mark Lee's 200th birthday "as long as public dollars aren't 
used for promoting the Lost Cause."

"We don't want public dollars and governmental entities participating. 
They're supposed to represent all Virginians, not just Confederates," 
Khalfani said.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Lee led the Army 
of Northern Virginia in several Southern victories that earned him the 
reputation as a top military commander, but he lost the key battle at 
Gettysburg, considered by many a turning point in the war. In the final 
weeks of the conflict he took command of the entire depleted Confederate 
military, eventually surrendering to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox 
in April 1865.

After the war, Lee became president of Washington College, now 
Washington & Lee University, in Lexington.

While Lee is most remembered as a military hero, Washington & Lee 
history professor J. Holt Merchant recognizes Lee primarily for 
rebuilding Washington College's war-ravaged grounds and aiming to 
reunify the nation after the brutal war by helping young Southern men 
realize the value of education.

Lee wanted former soldiers to "Go home, get an education, marry your 
wife, rebuild your farm and get on with your life if you can," Merchant 
said.

He emphasized the practical sciences, but also expanded the school's 
history, modern languages and literature offerings, Merchant said, with 
the goal of helping young men to rebuild the South. Other plans, such as 
starting a medical school, didn't come to fruition because of a lack of 
funding and because he died just five years after becoming the school's 
president.

"He was a great general, and he compares well as any general in American 
history," Merchant said. "But Lee the educator and Lee the reconciler 
are terribly important here" and perhaps overlooked.

On the Net:

http://www.relee2007.com

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