Keynote Speaker

Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr.

Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation is proud to present Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. as keynote speaker on Saturday, September 21, 2002. His topic will be “West Virginia as a Child of the Civil War,” on the birth of West Virginia.

 Dr. Robertson is widely acclaimed as one of the nation’s leading Civil War historians. Winner of prestigious awards for teaching, the author or editor of more than twenty books, he has received every major honor given in the field of Civil War history. His award-winning books include The Stonewall Brigade, General A. P. Hill, Soldiers Blue and Gray, Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, and the major biography Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend.

 Dr. Robertson attended Randolph–Macon College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Emory University. He serves as Alumni Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, where he teaches the largest Civil War history class in America with an average of 250 students per semester.

 Dr. Robertson’s current projects include the recently published volume Standing Like a Stone Wall, a biography of Thomas Jackson for young readers. He is also serving as historical consultant for the upcoming film “Gods and Generals.”  Dr. Robertson appears regularly in Civil War programs on the Arts & Entertainment Network, the History Channel, C-Span, and public television, and he hosts a weekly Civil War program heard on public radio.