Press Release: October 6, 2011

National Archives at Kansas City

National Archives to Host Historians for Concluding Panel on Lee and Grant Exhibition

For More Information Contact:
Kimberlee Ried, 816-268-8072

Kansas City, (MO)…On Wednesday, October 19, at 6:30 p.m., the National Archives at Kansas City will host historians Dr. Greg Hospodor and Dr. Ethan Rafuse from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth for A Conversation on Lee and Grant. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Bryan LeBeau of the University of Saint Mary. A 6:00 p.m. reception will precede the event. Attendees are encouraged to view the Lee and Grant exhibition prior to the lecture.

Lee and Grant’s accomplishments and shortcomings were tied to the values of the regions that bred them. They lived through eight decades of incredible change. By 1870 the United States was a different country than it had been before the Civil War. It was a larger yet in some ways a smaller country, united in ways that it had never been before. The nation was no longer a loose configuration of states. The power of the central government was confirmed and strengthened. African Americans were free and former slaves were now acknowledged legally as citizens of the United States. This panel of scholars will reassess and discuss the lives of Lee and Grant within the context of their time and accomplishments.

For more information or to make a reservation for this free event call 816-268-8010 or email kansascity.educate@nara.gov.

About the speakers
Gregory S. Hospodor is an associate professor in the Department of Military History, United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary, the University of Mississippi, and Louisiana State University, where he completed a dissertation on the Mexican War, 1846-1848. Since joining the CGSC faculty in 2008, Hospodor has served as, among other things, author of the Clausewitz and Jomini lessons in the College's military history curriculum, assistant director of the department's staff ride program, and a student advisor. The Department of Military History named him its Teacher of the Year for 2011.

Bryan LeBeau is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College at the University of Saint Mary. He holds a Ph.D. from New York University and has been a professor of American history since 1982. He has held an endowed faculty chair at Creighton University, as well as various administrative positions, and he has authored seven books and dozens of articles on various topics in American history.

Ethan Rafuse received his Ph.D. in history and political science from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and since 2004 has been a member of the faculty at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he is a professor of military history. He has published over 250 articles, essays, and reviews, led dozens of battlefield staff rides and tours, and is the author, editor, or co-editor of eight books, including Robert E. Lee and the Fall of the Confederacy, 1863-1865 and Stonewall Jackson: A Biography.

Additional Information
Lee and Grant will be available for viewing at the National Archives at Kansas City, through October 22, 2011. To schedule a group tour or for additional information, call 816-268-8000 or visit www.archives.gov/central-plains/kansas-city.

Lee and Grant has been made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The exhibit was originally developed by the Virginia Historical Society and co-curated by Dr. William M. S. Rasmussen, Lora M. Robins Curator of Art at the Virginia Historical Society and Dr. Robert S. Tilton, Chairman of the Department of English, University of Connecticut, Storrs. This exhibit is toured by Mid-America Arts Alliance through NEH on the Road. NEH on the Road offers an exciting opportunity for communities of all sizes to experience some of the best exhibitions funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Mid-America Arts Alliance was founded in 1972 and is the oldest regional nonprofit arts organization in the United States. For more information, visit www.maaa.org or www.nehontheroad.org.

The National Archives at Kansas City is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota available for public access. The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. It is open to the public Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for research, with the exhibits open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, call 816-268-8000 or visit: www.archives.gov/central-plains.

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LPM/LE - KC 12-02

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