Historian at Cornell University. Views expressed here are my own.
One element of Civil War memorialization that I'm finding fascinating for a variety of reasons is the existence of "Miss Confederacy" competitions. (Readers of Tony Horwitz's great book, Confederates in the Attic, may remember a brief mention of these.) A thread./1
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If You want to get very interesting information about the "Civil War" (while being entertained), I highly recommend: 1. Movie: "Free State of Jones", starring Matthew McConaughey. 2. Book: "Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War", by Tony Horwitz.
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I’m just quoting a South Carolina blue blood when I say, via Tony Horwitz in CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC, “that’s where the Cause (Confederacy) got most people. Prison. Downward mobility. An early grave.” Hey, don’t blame me. It YOUR history, wankers.
"In this sparkling book Horwitz explores some of our culture's myths with the irreverent glee of a small boy hurling snowballs at a beaver hat.... An important contribution to understanding how echoes of the Civil War have never stopped." --USA Today
Horwitz's chronicle of his odyssey through the nether and ethereal worlds of Confederatemania is by turns amusing, chilling, poignant, and always fascinating. He has found the Lost Cause and lived to tell the tale a wonderfully piquant tale of hard-core reenactors, Scarlett O'Hara look-alikes, and people who reshape Civil War history to suit the way they wish it had come out. If you want to know why the war isn't over yet in the South, read Confederates in the Attic to find out." --James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom