| 00:00:00 | E. |
| 00:00:01 | LEE. |
| 00:00:02 | AND THE SUPERVISORY PARK RANGER AT ARLINGTON HOUSE AND IT IS BEEN MY DISTINCT PRIVILEGE TO WORK WITH OUR SPEAKER TONIGHT TO SET UP THIS EVENT. |
| 00:00:11 | THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL EVENING, A VERY EXCITING EVENING. |
| 00:00:16 | IN MANY WAYS A VERY EXCITING MOMENT IN THE STUDY OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR AND THE LIFE OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:00:22 | LEE AND SO IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE HOPE SUCH AN EVENT HERE AT OUR NATION'S MEMORIAL TO GENERAL LEE. |
| 00:00:29 | IT OFTEN GETS OVERLOOKED AND PERHAPS IN COMPETITION WITH SUCH HOMES S VERNON, MONTICELLO AND OTHERS AND GET IT IS IN THE TOP FIVE MOST VISITED HISTORIC HOUSES IN THE COUNTRY. |
| 00:00:44 | A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH WHERE WE ARE COMING SURROUNDED BY ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WHICH GET THE PORTS OF 5 MILLION VISITORS A YEAR. |
| 00:00:54 | AND MOST PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO STUMBLE UPON ARLINGTON HOUSE AND FIGHT AS HERE AND FIGHT IT WAS THE HOME OF GENERAL ROBERT E. |
| 00:01:01 | LEE AND LEARN THE HISTORY OF THIS PLACE DID MOST OF OUR VISITORS LEAVE HERE I THINK WITH PERHAPS A SENSE OF REVELATION THEY FOUND SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING EXCITING AND YET IF YOU HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF, AND I KNOW MANY OF YOU IN THIS ROOM, WHO IS STUDY THE CIVIL WAR AND THE LIFE OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:01:20 | LEE, YOU MIGHT THINK THAT THERE IS VERY LITTLE NEW TO LEARN. |
| 00:01:26 | YOU VISIT A PLACE LIKE THIS IN YOU MAY BE SURPRISED BY CERTAIN ASPECTS OF HIS LIFE AND YET WHEN YOU REALLY GET DOWN INTO THE HISTORY OF HIS LIFE YOU REALIZE THAT, SINCE DOUGLAS FREEMAN BROKE HIS LANDMARK STUDY OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:01:41 | LEE ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO, VIRTUALLY NOTHING NEW HAS COME OUT, IT IS ALMOST AS IF THE AUTHOR AND HER OFTEN, STORY AFTER STORY HAS TAKEN IT FOR GRANTED. |
| 00:01:53 | FREEMAN DID SUCH EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH THERE'S NOTHING NEW AND SO INSTEAD IT IS KIND OF A REINTERPRETATION. |
| 00:02:00 | EVERY NEW BOOK THAT COMES OUT SEEMS TO BE A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE SAME OLD FACTS. |
| 00:02:05 | AND SO IS THERE ANYTHING REALLY NEW IN THERE EXCEPT MAYBE SOMEONE'S PERSPECTIVE OR SOMEONES OPINION, HOW THEY WANT TO SLANT IT OR SPIN THE STORY OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:02:16 | LEE AND AMERICAN HISTORY AND SO, TO SAY THAT WE HAVE COME ACROSS SOMETHING TRULY NEW IS NOT ONLY EXCITING, IS PRACTICALLY REVOLUTIONARY. |
| 00:02:33 | I HAVE BEEN AT THIS FOR SOME TIME, MANY OF YOU HAVE TO I'VE BEEN AT ARLINGTON HOUSE FOR 17 YEARS AND HAVE READ MANY BIOGRAPHIES OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:02:42 | LEE. OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS I'VE NOT BEEN EXCITED ABOUT ANY BOOK ABOUT ROBERT E. |
| 00:02:48 | LEE. THEY SEEM TO BE THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN. |
| 00:02:52 | SO TO STAND HERE AND GET READY TO INTRODUCE OUR EVENING SPEAKER IS A DISTINCT PRIVILEGE BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS TRULY AN EXCITING ONE. |
| 00:03:04 | IT IS A COMPLETELY NEW AND FRESH LOOK AT THE LIFE OF A VERY IMPORTANT MAN IN AMERICAN HISTORY, ROBERT E. |
| 00:03:12 | LEE. |
| 00:03:13 | IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO GET TO DO THIS HERE AT HIS HOME. |
| 00:03:17 | THIS IS A HOME, IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO LIVE THROUGH YET, YOU WILL AFTER THE LECTURE, AFTER THE BOOK SIGNING PITFIELD FREE TO EXPLORE THE HOUSE. |
| 00:03:27 | WE HAVE ROOMS OPEN FOR YOU THAT ARE USUALLY NOT OPEN INCLUDING WHERE ROBERT E. |
| 00:03:32 | LEE MADE HIS RESIGNATION FROM THE ARMY. |
| 00:03:37 | OR STAND IN THE PLACE WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE EXCHANGED THEIR MARRIES FASTPITCH AT GILLETE GRANT YOU WILL NOTICE THE HOUSE IS A LITTLE BIT MORE, INTO THE FURNITURE. |
| 00:03:46 | IT IS A HOUSE IN TRANSITION, A MEMORIAL IN TRANSITION. |
| 00:03:49 | JUST AS OUR CULTURE NEED TO REEXAMINE OUR HISTORY FROM TIME TO TIME, SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO WIN IT WAS OLD AND FLAKING AT THE EDGES AND REEXAMINE THAT AND RECOMMIT OURSELVES RELIEF TO PROTECT THESE PLACES AND CARE FOR THESE PLACES. |
| 00:04:12 | THAT'S JUST THE PLACES, THE HISTORY, THE HISTORY ITSELF. |
| 00:04:16 | THIS IS ROBERT E. |
| 00:04:17 | LEE'S 200 ANNIVERSARY AS HIS BIRTH. |
| 00:04:21 | BICENTENNIAL IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TIME TO BE ILL TO STAND BACK AND REEXAMINE THE LIFE OF A MAN LIKE ROBERT E. |
| 00:04:28 | LEE IN OUR HISTORY. |
| 00:04:30 | AS YOU MAY HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION RECENTLY THERE HAS BEEN SEEMINGLY LITTLE ATTENTION PAID AND PUBLICITY WISE TO THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY. |
| 00:04:40 | A BICENTENNIAL WOULD GET A LOT OF ATTENTION TO IT MAY BE WE HAVE BEEN OVERSHADOWED A. |
| 00:04:45 | BY JAMESTOWN, 400 YEARS, TWICE AS GOOD, TWICE AS BIG AS 200 RIGHT? |
| 00:04:51 | AND JAMES TEN WAS A PRETTY IMPORTANT I DON'T THINK ANYONE CAN DISMISS THAT. |
| 00:04:57 | SO, IT IS EXCITING TO HAVE BOTH OF THOSE EVENTS AS ANNIVERSARIES IN THE SAME YEAR. |
| 00:05:03 | OVER SHATTERED, HOW MUCH IS THAT OVERSHADE OCCURRING BECAUSE OF PERHAPS THE ASPECTS OF PROPERTY WE'S LIKE IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE UNEASY ABOUT WE KNOW THAT THIS PAST YEAR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA OFFICIALLY APOLOGIZED FOR ITS ROLE IN THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENT, UNPRECEDENTED, AN IMPORTANT LEAP FORWARD YOU COULD SAY IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY. |
| 00:05:33 | DOES THAT MAKE IS MORE AN EASY TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE LIVES OF MEN LIKE ROBBERY HEALY AND HIS FAMILY WHO PARTICIPATED IN THAT INSTITUTION, AND ROBERT E. |
| 00:05:44 | LEE PLAYED A ROLE, A VERY CONTROVERSIAL ROLE IN AMERICAN HISTORY, NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT HIM AS A GREAT HERO OR PERHAPS A GREAT FELON, YOU CANNOT DENY THE IMPORTANT ROLE HE PLAYED IN THIS HISTORY. |
| 00:05:59 | IT IS AN END AT COMFORTABLE WORLD FOR MANY PEOPLE. |
| 00:06:02 | BUT, PERHAPS MORE THAN THAT HAS BEEN THE IDEA THAT ROBBERY E LEE MAYBE HAS BECOME AN INTERESTED TO A LOT OF PEOPLE BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE NEW COME OUT. |
| 00:06:16 | AND WE USED TO JOKE HERE WHIP HAD PEOPLE WORK HERE, VOLUNTEERS OR OTHERS TO COME UP HERE AND COMPARED TO ROBERT EIGHTH LEAK FATHER-IN-LAW, BUILT THIS HOUSE EXTRAORDINARILY INTERESTING COLORFUL FIGURE. |
| 00:06:32 | ROBERT E. |
| 00:06:33 | LEE DID SEEM A BIT STIFF AND MAYBE THAT WAS THE WAY HE WAS PORTRAYED IN HISTORY. |
| 00:06:37 | AND MAYBE THAT WAS THE GREATEST CRIME HE EVER COMMITTED COMMITS TO REMOVE THE FACT HE WAS AN INTERESTING MAN AND HE HAD THINGS THAT COULD SPARK YOUR IMAGINATION AND COULD REALLY INSPIRE MEN, INSPIRE WOMEN. |
| 00:06:53 | THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT HIM THAT SOMETIMES GETS LOST YET WHAT WAS IT ABOUT HIM? |
| 00:06:59 | WE STRUGGLE ON A DAILY BASIS TO BALANCE THESE THINGS OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:07:04 | LEE'S LIFE TO HONOR HIM. |
| 00:07:07 | DO WE HONOR HIM BY SIMPLY HIGHLIGHTING AND FOCUSING ON HIS VIRTUES, WHICH HE HAD MANY, OR JUST LOOK AT THE POSITIVE THINGS HE DID IN HIS LIFE AND EIGHT OR PERHAPS THE NEGATIVE THINGS OR THOSE PARTS OF HIS LIFE THAT ARE MAYBE LESS VIRTUOUS THAN OTHERS, HARD TO SAY. |
| 00:07:29 | DO WE HONOR HIM BY BEING TRUTHFUL, BY BEING HONEST, RESTORING HIS HUMANITY? |
| 00:07:36 | NOT TO CRITICIZE HIM, THAT TO CORRECT HISTORY, NOT TO REVISE HISTORY, NOT TO TRY TO CHANGE TO HE WAS, BUT TO GIVE PEOPLE, GIVE THIS COUNTRY, GIVE HIS COUNTRYMEN AND WOMEN THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO HE WAS BUSY MAN. |
| 00:07:58 | AND LIKE ALL OF US, HE WAS COMPLICATED COME BY AND ONE OF THE THINGS, THE GREAT THINGS THAT ELIZABETH PRYOR IS DONE, SHE HAS RESTORED HIS HUMANITY AND HAS GIVEN US THAT PART OF HIS LIFE. |
| 00:08:14 | USING ENTIRELY NEW SOURCES, THINGS THAT OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT USED BEFORE. |
| 00:08:18 | THAT IS THE ONLY PARTLY WHAT IS EXCITING ABOUT THIS BUT MAKE IT TRULY REVOLUTIONARY. |
| 00:08:24 | I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ELIZABETH PRYOR WISHY ALSO CAME AT IT WITH A UNIQUE APPROACH IN ALL OF THE YEARS OF THE PEOPLE I'VE SPOKEN TO, THERE ALWAYS SEEM TO BE AN ANKLE OR SIDE THAT PEOPLE ARE TAKING IN DISCUSSING ROBERT E. |
| 00:08:40 | LEE THE STEPH AND VOLUNTEERS COULD SPEAK TO THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME UP HERE WITH OPINIONS ABOUT ROBERT E. |
| 00:08:47 | LEE, GOOD OR BAD. |
| 00:08:48 | AND THAT IS WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR, THAT IS WHAT THEY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT. |
| 00:08:52 | AND SO, DO WE JUST SIMPLY PLAY TO THOSE THINGS? |
| 00:08:59 | WORT TO WEED TRY TO BROADEN EVERYTHING AND MAKE EVERYTHING MORE APPEALING? |
| 00:09:08 | WELL, ELIZABETH PRYOR HAS GIVEN US A LOT OF NEWS THAT TO THINK ABOUT. |
| 00:09:14 | HER APPROACH IS, YOU CAN LOOK AT A MAN'S LIFE, YOU CAN BE CRITICAL, YOU CAN BE ANALYTICAL OF BUT YOU CAN ALSO BE FAIR, OBJECTIVE, YOU CAN BE SYMPATHETIC. |
| 00:09:27 | IMAGINE YOU CAN BE CRITICAL OF SOMEONE IN STILL LIKE SOMEONE, THAT SEEMS TO BE MISSING IN A LOT OF OUR CULTURE THESE DAYS AND YET IT IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT THING AND TO LOOK AT HISTORY THAT WAY, TO FORCES THE COUNTRY TO BE ABLE TO GO BACK AND REEXAMINE OUR HISTORY CRITICALLY COMING TO ANALYZE IT AND NOT TO JUDGE, BUT TO UNDERSTAND IS SO IMPORTANT. |
| 00:09:53 | AND IF NOTHING ELSE, ELIZABETH BRAUN PRYOR HAS GIVEN US THAT ABOUT ROBERT E. |
| 00:09:59 | LEE'S PLICATE IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE SITTING IN THIS ROOM, LISTENING TO HER BECAUSE THIS ROOM PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE HISTORY OF ROBERT E. |
| 00:10:09 | LEE'S LIKE YOU FOR THOSE OF YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE ARLINGTON HOUSE, THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF THE HOUSE IT WAS FELT THAT WITH THE FORMAL PARLOR WHERE THEY ENTERTAINED GUESTS, WHO LIVED HERE INCLUDING GEORGE WASHINGTON. |
| 00:10:29 | AND SO IT WAS HERE THAT BRIBERY DEWEY VISITED AS HE FOUR GIRL BOY WITH HIS PARENTS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO WERE SHOWN INTO THIS ROOM AND ENTERTAIN HERE AND SO IS UNQUESTIONABLE IT IS IN THIS ROOM THAT ROBERT E. |
| 00:10:42 | LEE AND HIS WIFE FIRST MET. |
| 00:10:48 | CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS. |
| 00:10:49 | THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. |
| 00:10:52 | AND AFTER THEY WERE BURIED 20 YEARS LATER THIS ROOM WAS A PARLOR WHERE THEY USE FOR RECEPTION AND, FOR DANCING AFTER THE WEDDING. |
| 00:11:00 | WAS IT IN THIS ROOM THAT THEY FIRST SHARED THEIR FIRST DANCE IS A MARRIED COUPLE? |
| 00:11:04 | THAT IS INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT IN A SOMEWHAT MORE TRAGIC AND HARD PRINTED MOMENT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR AFTER ROBERT E. |
| 00:11:12 | LEE HAD LEFT YOUR TAKEN COMMAND OF VIRGINIA'S ARMY WAS IN THIS ROOM, MRS. |
| 00:11:17 | LEE PAINTING A PORTRAIT OF ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN, PERHAPS HOPING TO RETAIN A SENSE OF FORMALITY IN LIFE WHEN A YOUNG COUSIN WROTE UP FROM WASHINGTON WHO WAS ON THE STAFF OF GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT AND TOLD HER THAT U. |
| 00:11:30 | S. TROOPS WERE ABOUT TO CROSS THE RIVER AND OCCUPY, THE END OF HER LIFE AT ARLINGTON AND THE WORLD CAME CRASHING DOWN WITHIN TWO WEEKS YOU LEFT AND WOULD NEVER RETURN TO LIVE HERE. |
| 00:11:44 | THIS WEEK, THE ANNIVERSARY OF THAT, HER DEPARTURE WE THINK IT WAS AROUND MAY 15, WE ARE NOT SURE THE EXACT DATE. |
| 00:11:55 | ELIZABETH PRIOR S PRYOR HIS HEAD AND EXTINGUISHED CAREER, WON MANY AWARDS AND ARMS CONTROL NEGOTIATIONS AND OTHER THINGS. |
| 00:12:03 | SHE STARTED HER CAREER WITH THE S AS A STAR IN WRITING ARTICLES ABOUT THE INDIANS, FORMING OPINIONS DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD THAT SHE HAS A TREMENDOUS RESUMES, BRINGS A DISTINCT PERSPECTIVE TO THIS TO LOOK AT HISTORY BUT ALSO TO BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN AT A TABLE WITH PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES IN NEGOTIATIONS OF ARMS CONTROLS, NOT ONLY GIVE YOU A CERTAIN SENSE OF BEING ABLE TO READ A CHARACTER, READ A MINE, READ A PERSON AND BRING SOMEONE ELSE JUDGMENT TO THAT, TO BENEFIT COMING TO SERVE THE COUNTRY AND BENEFIT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. |
| 00:12:48 | AND SO WITH THAT I'M NOT GOING TO SPEAK IN LONDON. |
| 00:12:51 | I WANT TO TURN THE FLOOR OVER TO ELIZABETH PRYOR BECAUSE SHE HAS A LOT OF GREAT THINGS TO SAY I AM SURE, AND AFTER WE ARE FINISHED I WOULD ASK YOU TO PLEASE IF YOU LIKE, I JOIN MS. |
| 00:13:03 | PRYOR IN THE OFFICE WHERE ROBERT E. |
| 00:13:06 | LEE CONDUCTED BUSINESS. |
| 00:13:07 | SHE WILL BE GLAD TO SIGN YOUR BOOK THERE AND AFTERWARDS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE THE HOUSE AND WE WILL HAVE STAFFER RAN TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. |
| 00:13:17 | WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ADO, MS. |
| 00:13:20 | PRYOR. |
| 00:13:30 | [APPLAUSE] >> KUTA EVENING. |
| 00:13:31 | CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME? |
| 00:13:34 | CAN EVERYBODY HERE? |
| 00:13:37 | NO, I WILL SPEAK UP BECAUSE THERE IS A FAN IN THE OTHER ROOM SO I THINK WE HAVE TO SPEAK LITTLE LOUDER. |
| 00:13:43 | IS THIS BETTER? |
| 00:13:44 | CAN YOU HEAR NOW? |
| 00:13:46 | FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR COMING AND THANK YOU MET FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL INTRODUCTION. |
| 00:13:53 | I APPRECIATE THE FACT YOU ARE HERE TONIGHT. |
| 00:13:56 | OF COURSE I'M ALWAYS DELIGHTED SOUPY AT ARLINGTON, ONE OF THE PLACES I LOVE MOST IN THE WORLD, AND A PLACE THAT HAS BEEN TREMENDOUSLY HELPFUL TO ME IN THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF MY. |
| 00:14:08 | I SAY THIS IS THE INSPIRATIONALLY HOME FOR THAT BOOK AND THAT WAS INDEED THE CASE. |
| 00:14:13 | AT THE HELP I GOT FROM THE STAFF HERE WAS SUPERB. |
| 00:14:16 | THE DOCUMENTS THEY HAVE IN HISTORY THE BILL IS WONDERFUL AND SELL IT IS ALWAYS A DELIGHT FOR ME TO BE HERE, AND OF COURSE I HEAVED A VERY MINOR ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE BEFORE JOINING THE FOREIGN SERVICE. |
| 00:14:30 | I WORK FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS FOR THE PARK SERVICE, CONTRACT WORK INCLUDING WRITING ABOUT ONIONS WHICH WAS A LOT OF FUN ACTUALLY. |
| 00:14:39 | AND I AM VERY PROUD OF THAT ASSOCIATION AS A MATTER OF FACT I THINK THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DOES A WONDERFUL JOB, LIKE ROBERT E. |
| 00:14:47 | LEE, THE WORK WONDERS WITH VERY FEW RESOURCES AND I THINK THEY DESERVE ALL THE SUPPORT AND A PLUS WE CAN GIVE THEM. |
| 00:14:56 | NOW, I KNOW THIS IS AN UNUSUALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE AUDIENCE, WHICH IS THE VERY BEST KIND, ALMOST THE MOST CHALLENGING KIND FOR ANY SPEAKER. |
| 00:15:04 | SO I DON'T WANT TO TALK EDDY TO MUCH, I WANT TO HAVE A CHANCE TO HAVE A DIALOGUE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITH YOU. |
| 00:15:11 | WHAT I THOUGHT I WOULD DO IS TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW I CAME TO WRITE THE BOOK AND THE MATERIALS IN THE BUCK, AND THEN TALK ABOUT THIS MARVELOUS BUILDING WERE IN AND HOW IT WENT THROUGH AN EVOLUTION INTO A NATIONAL SHRINE. |
| 00:15:28 | THE INSPIRATION FOR WRITING THIS BOOK WAS HERE AT ARLINGTON. |
| 00:15:31 | I HAD BEEN WORKING BEFORE IT WENT TO GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR A SHORT MACK OF TIME HERE DOING SOME RESEARCH FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE HOUSE AND I WAS ALLOWED TO USE THE SERIES OF LETTERS OF PRIVATE LETTERS IN THE LEE FAMILY THAT WHEN THE PUBLIC, THAT HAD NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED AND THAT WERE QUITE EXTRAORDINARY. |
| 00:15:49 | THESE LETTERS ABSOLUTELY RIVETED ME WHEN I READ THEM AND THERE WERE NOT JUST A FEW, THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF LETTERS. |
| 00:15:57 | I HAD NOT REALLY HAD A PRECONCEPTION OF LEAD MENU THE BASIC OUTLINES OF HIS LIFE, WHAT I CALL THE EXCESS KILOTON OF HIS LIFE I WAS NEITHER AN OFFER HIM NOR DID I HAVE THIS IDEA HE WAS A SYMBOL OF OPPRESSION OR TREASURY. |
| 00:16:12 | I THINK LIKE HIS FRIEND I THOUGHT HE WAS TOO COLD, QUIET AND GRANT TO BE OF VERY MUCH INTERESTED BUT AS I SAID I WAS ABSOLUTELY RIVETED BY THESE LETTERS WHICH SHOWED A PERSON FAR MORE COMPLEX, FOR MORE CONTRADICTORY THAN WE NORMALLY ASSUME. |
| 00:16:31 | IT WAS A MARVELOUS LETTER WRITER PD WRITES EXPRESS OF LETTERS, WHICH HE, LUSTY, BAFFLED, VULNERABLE AND FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE HE DID NOT THINK OF HIMSELF AS A HERO. |
| 00:16:44 | HE WRITES WITH A GREAT DEAL OF UNSELFCONSCIOUS THE SPIRIT AND THEIR VERY CHARMING LETTERS AND REVEALING LETTERS BECAUSE OF THAT. |
| 00:16:53 | SHOWING REALLY A PERSONALITY THAT ONLY FAR DEEPER AND RICHER BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS MORE PROBLEMATIC THAN WE THOUGHT OF HIM, QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE SIMPLE CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN WHO IS SO OFTEN PORTRAYED. |
| 00:17:07 | AND IN FACT I CAME TO BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE SENT HIM A GREAT DISSERVICE WHEN WE TRIVIALIZE HIM IN THAT WAY. |
| 00:17:15 | YOU ARE GOING TO GET TO BEAR WITH MY ALLERGY TONIGHT. |
| 00:17:18 | I WOULD DRINK A LOT OF WATER BECAUSE I HAVE A HOARSE VOICE. |
| 00:17:24 | SO IT BECAME SOMETHING OF A TREASURE HUNT FOR ME TO FIND THESE LETTERS BECAUSE I THOUGHT, IF THIS CASH OF LETTERS EXIST, WHAT ELSE MIGHT BE OUT THERE THAT HAS NOT BEEN USED. |
| 00:17:34 | I FOUND HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF DOCUMENTS. |
| 00:17:38 | TO MY AMAZEMENT DESPITE THE INTEREST IN, THERE WERE A LOT OF OVERLOOKED DOCUMENTS AND WILLFULLY AND USED DOCUMENTS. |
| 00:17:51 | THEN THIS LAST YEAR THE LEE FAMILY GRACIOUSLY AND LET ME TO USE A NEW TREASURE TROVE OF PAPERS THAT WERE THAT CLOSE TO HERE IN ALEXANDRIA VA IN DEFAULT AT THE KRACKEN HURLBERT TRUST CO. |
| 00:18:05 | AND THEY HAVE BEEN PULLED THEIR BYE LEE'S AL THE STUDDER AND HAD NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE. |
| 00:18:10 | THIS IS A PHENOMENAL GROUP OF PAPERS, VERY EXCITING DOCUMENTS, 4,000 LETTERS THAT HAD NOT BEEN SEEN BEFORE. |
| 00:18:18 | THE PROVERBIAL TRUNKS IN THE ATTIC. |
| 00:18:21 | NEXT WEEK I'M GOING TO BE GIVING A TALK AT THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THEY ARE GOING TO ANNOUNCE THEY HAVE ACQUIRED THESE PAPERS AND THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO OTHER SCHOLARS BUT I WAS THE ONLY PERSON OUTSIDE THE FAMILY'S WHO HAVE GOT INFUSIVE PITKIN IMAGINE WHAT A PRIVILEGE AND FOR ALL THIS WAS, SOMETHING AKIN TO BEING ABLE TO SIFT THROUGH A TRUCKLOAD OF EMERALDS OR RUBIES, THE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS ARE THAT THE LABEL. |
| 00:18:49 | SO I HAD ALL THESE LETTERS WHICH TAKEN TOGETHER CONSTITUTE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LEE. |
| 00:18:58 | HE DID NOT KEEP A JOURNAL BUT THESE LETTERS GIVE US HIS FEELINGS IN A VERY IMMEDIATE WAY. |
| 00:19:04 | I HAD WONDERFUL CAST OF CHARACTERS. |
| 00:19:07 | ED ONE OF THE MOST GRIPPING STORIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY BUT ALSO ONE OF THE BUZZ OVER WRITTEN STORIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND SO I THOUGHT, WHAT TO DO? |
| 00:19:17 | WHAT I DECIDED TO DO WAS TO USE THE LETTERS THEMSELVES WHICH ARE MARVELOUS READING AS DEPARTURE POINTS FOR WHAT I CALL HISTORICAL EXCURSIONS TO UNEXPLORED CORNERS OF LEE POSTURAL SO EACH CHAPTER SURGE WITH A LESSER THAT HAS AN ALMOST EVERY CASE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN BEFORE. |
| 00:19:38 | AND THEN I LET THAT LET HER TAKE US WHERE IT LEADS US LET'S TALK ABOUT HIM AS AN ENGINEER. |
| 00:19:45 | HE CALLED HIMSELF A YOUNG SCIENTIST. |
| 00:19:48 | AND PEOPLE HAVE NOT EXPLORED THAT. |
| 00:19:50 | THERE'S A LOT OF NEW INFORMATION ABOUT SLAVERY, SO THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THAT I WAS INTERESTED IN HIS CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP WHAT WAS HIS AND TO INFLUENCE THAT? |
| 00:20:02 | IS MILITARY-STYLE, THE SAME THING. |
| 00:20:04 | I TALK A LOT ABOUT THE CHANGE IN HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, HOW YOU USE THESE DOCUMENTS, CAN YOU BELIEVE THEM, HOW MUCH FOR SED GIVE ONE DOCUMENT OVER ANOTHER? |
| 00:20:15 | ONE REVIEWER CALLED THE BOOK A KIND OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND SUBJECT IN BETWEEN OUR CENTURY AND THERE'S AN ALLEGED THAT DESCRIPTION BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET BACK TO MY WAY OF LOOKING AT THESE IN SAYING, NOT JUST HERE IS THAT BUT WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS? |
| 00:20:32 | WHICH WE MAKE OF THESE DOCUMENTS WHAT ASSUMPTIONS DO WE HAVE TO OVERTURN? |
| 00:20:39 | SAID THE BOOK IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT FROM A STANDARD CRADLE TO CHRONOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY, NOR IS IT A STEP BY STEP WALK THROUGH EVERY CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD. |
| 00:20:49 | MORE THAN HALF THE BOOK IS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH BUT I HAVE THAT ATTEMPTED TO REFIGHT EVERY SKIRMISH. |
| 00:20:56 | THOSE BOOKS HAVE ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN AND THEY HAVE BEEN WRITTEN WELL I THOUGHT I DID NOT NEED TO REDO THAT BUT I WAS INTERESTED IN LARGER QUESTIONS OF THE WAY LEE MAID DECISIONS, LARGER QUESTIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS HE HAD WITH HIS MEN AND GENERALS UNDER HIM, RELATIONSHIPS HE HAD WITH RICHMOND AND THE WAY THE DECISIONS HE MADE AFFECTED HIM AND OF COURSE IN SOME CASES STILL AFFECT US. |
| 00:21:20 | NOW, HERE ARE THE AUTHORS TIPS ON READING THIS BOOK. |
| 00:21:25 | IT IS A BIG BOOK AND IT LOOKS INTIMIDATING. |
| 00:21:28 | IT IS NOT QUITE AS INTIMIDATING AS THE LEX PITHIER LESS THIRD OF THE BOOK IS NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SO ONE. |
| 00:21:35 | I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU THAT TO READ THE BILL IS BECAUSE THE AUTHOR DOES THE CHOOSIEST OF IS IN THE NETS, BUT YOU CAN HAVE READ THE NARRATIVE OF IT AND IT IS NOT QUITE A BIT EIGHT PEACE TWO GWOT AS IT LOOKS. |
| 00:21:53 | PREFACE, DON'T SKEP THE PRACTICE BECAUSE IT SETS THE STAGE FOR WHAT COMES AFTERWARDS AND TELLS THE STORY OF THE LETTERS AND WHY DO WE HAVE THESE LETTERS? |
| 00:22:03 | THIS HOUSE WAS RANSACKED DURING THE WAR WERE IN THE WORLD DID THEY PUT THESE LETTERS. |
| 00:22:08 | THERE'S A LOT OF VERY TANTALIZING STUFF ABOUT WHY WE EVEN HAVE THESE DOCUMENTS, WHICH ARE SUCH AN IN SCURTI MARY GIFT. |
| 00:22:16 | THE OTHER THING IS THE CHAPTERS CAN BE READ SEPARATELY. |
| 00:22:20 | THEY ARE MEANT TO STAND A LUMPIER IF YOU READ THEM FROM START TO FINISH YOU GET THE WHOLE STORY OF LEAK'S LIFE. |
| 00:22:26 | IF YOU ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN THE MEXICAN WAR YOU CAN PUT IT UP AND PUT IT DOWN. |
| 00:22:31 | THEY ARE WRITTEN IN IN ESSAY FORMAT SO THAT EACH ONE STANDS ALONE. |
| 00:22:41 | SINCE WE ARE HERE AT ARLINGTON AND WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS REMARKABLE HOUSE AND HOW IT TURNED FROM A LIVELY A RATHER ECCENTRIC FAMILY HOME INTO AN EMERALD POLL FOR THE NATION'S WAR DEAD MANY PEOPLE MAY BE DISAPPOINTED THE FURNISHINGS ARE NOT IN THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW AND THAT THE FURNISHINGS WERE IMPORTED HERE. |
| 00:23:02 | AS MANY OF YOU TO KNOW THE BUILDER OF ARLINGTON HOUSE HAD GROWN UP AT MOUNT VERNON AND AFTER THE DEATH OF THE WASHINGTONS HAD BROUGHT MANY OF THEIR POSITIONS HERE TO ARLINGTON. |
| 00:23:13 | SO WE ARE MISSING SOME OF THIS TREASURES TONIGHT. |
| 00:23:16 | EFFECTIVE THINK IT IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THIS HOUSE AND APPRECIATE ITS BEAUTIFUL PROPORTIONS, ITS LOVELY ARCHWAYS AND A GRACIOUSLY SIZE RAMS, MIRACULOUS FACT THAT SOME OF ITS ORIGINAL CLASSES TEAR DESPITE A LOT OF CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS TAKING POTSHOTS AT EVERYTHING THAT MOVED AROUND HERE. |
| 00:23:35 | AND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT A VISIONARY GEORGE WASHINGTON CUZ THIS WAS WHEN HE FILLED THE HOUSE DID HE IS A HOUSE IN MY SEAS FRIEND FROM THE VIRGINIA SOIL WITH THE EXTERIOR WAS BUILT BETWEEN 18 AND TWO END 1818 PARSLEY OF MATERIALS FROM THIS STATE. |
| 00:23:51 | IF YOU HAVE SOME TIME THE PRIVILEGE OF GOING INTO THE ATTIC, THERE ARE HUGE JOYCE WHICH CAME FROM THE FOREST HERE AND GIVE A SENSE OF THE SIZE OF THE TREES HERE AT THE TIME. |
| 00:24:03 | BRICKS WERE MADE FROM VIRGINIA LED, CUSTER WAS MADE OF THE LINE FROM OYSTERS FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER, HERE FROM THESE TABLES. |
| 00:24:12 | WAS MEANT TO LOOK AS IF IT WAS WARBLE, VERBALIZATION BUT IT IS ACTUALLY PLACER OVERBRED. |
| 00:24:19 | AND IT WAS BILLED BY SLAVE LABOR. |
| 00:24:22 | MANY SLAVES HAD COME HERE FROM MOUNT VERNON AND THEY HAVE TO HAVE BEEN VERY SKILLED LABORERS BECAUSE THIS IS A QUITE CHALLENGING UNDERTAKING TO BUILD A HOUSE OF THESE PROPORTIONS THIS SIZE FROM MATERIALS AT HAND THE DESIGN WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY BY GEORGE HATFIELD, ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING HE WAS NOTED FOR HIS AUSTERE CRYSTAL BUILDED, WAS YES SIR THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BUILDING THAT GAVE THEM THEIR ELEGANCE. |
| 00:24:50 | AND THEY THINK YOU CAN SEE THAT AS YOU GO THROUGH THE ROOMS HERE TONIGHT WHERE YOU ARE NOT DISTRACTED BY WHAT IT'S ON THE WALL AND SULLEN. |
| 00:24:59 | A HOUSE THIS SIZE WAS A HUGE FINANCIAL UNDERTAKING AND GEORGE WASHINGTON CUST THIS COULD NOT AFFORD TO BUILD IT ALL AT ONCE TO REBUILD THE TWO WINGS FIRST. |
| 00:25:09 | WE ARE IN THE SOUTH WING, THE FIRST WEEK OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CENTER IN IN 1817 AND SOME OF THE COUSINS TALK ABOUT IN THE YEARS INTERVENING HOW THEY USED TO CHASE CHICKENS AROUND IN THE CENTER PARK WITH THE HOUSE IS NOW. |
| 00:25:24 | THE RECORDS, HIS RECORDS SO HE SOLD A LOT OF SLAVES AROUND 1817 AND I THINK PROBABLY HE SOLD THOSE SLAVED TO FINANCE HIS BUILDING PROJECT. |
| 00:25:35 | THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT HOUSE ARCHITECTURALLY THAT ONLY BECAUSE OF ITS IMPOSING SIZE BUT BECAUSE IT IS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE FIRST DWELLING HOUSE, A PRIVATE HOME IN THE UNITED STATES BUILT IN THE GREEK REVIVAL STYLE. |
| 00:25:49 | TODAY WE ALMOST AUTOMATICALLY ASSOCIATE THIS KIND OF A GRAND MANSION WITH WHITE COLUMNS IN THE BEAUTIFUL THIS THE WITH AN ALMOST FOLKLORIC SENSE OF WHAT THE SOUTHERN WAY OF LIFE WAS LIKE. |
| 00:26:03 | WHEN HE BUILT ARLINGTON THE STYLE WAS STILL GEORGIAN, AND THAT THIS TEMPLE STYLE AND HE WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME BY NEARLY TWO DECADES IN INCORPORATING THESE GREEK ELEMENTS INTO DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. |
| 00:26:14 | MOST GREEK ARCHITECTURE IS FROM THE 18 TWENTIES. |
| 00:26:17 | WHY DID HE DO THAT? |
| 00:26:19 | DOES ANYBODY KNOW? |
| 00:26:20 | ANYBODY HAVE A GUESS? |
| 00:26:24 | YES, OKAY. |
| 00:26:28 | >> BECAUSE HE LIKED THE ARCHITECTURE. |
| 00:26:29 | >> I THINK HE DID LIKE THE ARCHITECTURE. |
| 00:26:32 | I THINK THAT IS THE MOST BASIC REASON. |
| 00:26:35 | ANY OTHER IDEAS IN ADDITION TO THAT? |
| 00:26:40 | I HEARD EIGHT MURMURER. |
| 00:26:49 | [INAUDIBLE] >> ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY. |
| 00:26:51 | THE CITY OF WASHINGTON WAS STILL BEING BUILT AT THE TIME THAT ARLINGTON WAS DECIDED HE WANTED TO EXTEND THE MONEY MENTAL QUALITY OF THAT CITY ADDED TO THE VA FOREMAN DID GEORGE WASHINGTON LOVED. |
| 00:27:03 | TO DATE ARLINGTON LOOKS LIKE IT IS NATURAL EXTENSION OF WASHINGTON AS IF IT WAS PLANNED AND IN FACT IT WAS PLANNED. |
| 00:27:11 | IT WAS PRECISELY BECAUSE GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CAUSE DECIDED THAT WAY IN THE DAYS BEFORE THE MONEY WENT WAS STILL THERE WAS AN UNOFFICIAL MEMORIAL TO THE FIRST PRESIDENT AND HE WON IT TO BE PART OF THE CEREMONIAL CITY. |
| 00:27:25 | TODAY ARLINGTON CEMETERY FLYNT A VERY SOBER ASPECT TO THIS PLACE BUT TRY TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU GO TO THESE TRENDS THAT IN THE YEARS THAT ROBERT E. |
| 00:27:34 | LEE CALLED AT HOME, THIS WAS A LIVELY ESTABLISHMENT |
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