Troubled Commemoration: The American Civil War Centennial, 1961-1965

By Robert J. Cook
Footnotes, bibliography, index, 300 pp., 2007. Louisiana State University Press, P.O. Box 25053, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-5053, $45 plus shipping.

Reviewer: David F. Riggs
David F. Riggs is a museum curator at Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown. He has a BA in history from Lock Haven University and MA in history from Penn State. His publications include Embattled Shrine: Jamestown in the Civil War and Vicksburg Battlefield Monuments.

Review:
The 1960s frequently are remembered as a decade of turbulence. Those same unsettled feelings pervaded America's observance of the American Civil War Centennial.

Britain's Dr. Robert J. Cook, a Professor of American History at the University of Sheffield, is the first person to provide an in-depth narrative and analysis of the commemoration.

Readers who remember the 1960s will enjoy comparing his objective view with their memory of it, and everyone will be fascinated by its dilemmas and its politics.

A primary objective of the centennial was to arouse national pride during the Cold War. But there were delicate issues to balance.

Southern states, which welcomed the prospects of tourism since the war was fought mostly below the Mason-Dixon Line, were wary that the anniversary might emphasize the Northern viewpoint. These fears were nurtured by the appointment of a predominantly Northern federal commission.

The South's resistance to African-American equality, despite the war's outcome, was another concern. Charleston's refusal to provide equal accommodation to a black member of the New Jersey commission in April 1961 immediately drew attention to the region's racial discrimination.

A growing civil rights movement capitalized upon this and other centennial events to demonstrate that not all of the war's objectives had been fulfilled, despite Union victory. Even so, in deference to the South, the commission gave scant attention to the Emancipation Proclamation or the role of blacks in the war effort.

Originally, the Civil War Centennial Commission envisioned a commercialized venture with numerous battle reenactments. However, the controversial reenactment of First Manassas resulted in a change of leadership and new direction. Historians assumed control and directed the commission on a more scholarly course.

But the damage was done. Public interest waned as the centennial struggled for official recognition and funding for the remaining three years.

In addition to special events, Cook analyzes the centennial's effect upon Civil War books, fiction and Hollywood. The role of historians during the 1960s is fascinating, especially that of Bell Wiley, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., James I. Robertson Jr. and Bruce Catton.

Diverse sources enrich the story. Documents from the Kennedy administration and Martin Luther King Jr. describe the complexities of politics and civil rights, while papers from numerous historians and the national and state centennial commissions illuminate crucial decisions and general operations.

Troubled Commemoration is a timely book. As we approach the war's sesquicentennial of 2011-2015, it causes us to reflect upon the successes and failures of the centennial and to contemplate the course and consequences of the forthcoming anniversary.