Remembering Robert E. Lee

A program commemorating the 134th anniversary of Lee’s death

Monday, October 11, 2004

Lee Chapel Auditorium, Washington and Lee University

Lexington, Va.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of History and Theater

In the autumn of 1865, six months after the surrender at Appomattox, Gen. Robert E. Lee was inaugurated president of Washington College. He served for five years until his death on October 12, 1870. In those few years, he provided the leadership which the school’s trustees had sought, reviving a foundering school and setting its course as a modern university. Lee left the institution a legacy of honor and civility, a strong sense of duty and a quest for excellence. Remembering Robert E. Lee explores the life and character of the man who was the 11th and most notable president of Washington and Lee University.

The public is invited; there is no admission fee to the two major events.

Schedule of Events

12:05 PM   Lecture, Lee Chapel Auditorium. Admission is free.

Lee’s Inner Quest

SPEAKER: Alex Wise, President of the Tredegar National Civil War Center Foundation, Richmond, VA.

Alex Wise, a W&L Law alumnus, is President of the Tredegar National Civil War Center Foundation based in Richmond, Virginia. Previously, he served two governors as Director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Commonwealth's historic preservation agency.  He earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia, M.A. degrees from George Washington University and Georgetown University, and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University Law School. The great, great grandson of Confederate general Henry A. Wise, Mr. Wise has a special interest in the Civil War.  He is a former president of the Museum of the Confederacy and a former director of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

2:30 PM   Reading and Character Interpretation, Lee Chapel Auditorium.

Christiana Bond’s Memories of General Robert E. Lee

PERFORMER: Antoinette Brennan, character interpreter and actress

A first person character reading and interpretation of Miss Christiana Bond’s much quoted memoirs, published in 1926 when she was 82, of her 1867 and 1868 encounters with Robert E. Lee, then president of Washington College. Antoinette Brennan will portray Miss Bond. Ms. Brennan is a member of The Company of Colonial Performers for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, with which she has worked for fifteen years. Ms. Brennan has researched and presented the character of Ann Wager, a teacher of slave children, in the Historic Area for many years, regularly tackling the difficult subjects of slavery and religion. This summer, she portrayed Mary Tyrone, the lead in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival at the College of William and Mary.

3:30 PM      Special Tour.  Fee: $10.00. (Limit: 15 people. Pre-registration required; call 540-458-8768)

Christiana Bond’s Memories of General Robert E. Lee

A behind-the-scenes tour of museum storage, guided by Patricia Hobbs, Director of the Lee Chapel Museum. The tour will highlight collection artifacts that illustrate aspects of Bond’s Memories of General Robert E. Lee, including his gift to her of a velvet watch case.

For information:

• call 1-540-458-8768
• e-mail Linda Donald, Site Supervisor, at ldonald@wlu.edu