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Join author Kevin Levin as he shares a vivid new portrait of one of the Union cause’s great martyrs:
Robert Gould Shaw (1837–1863) is best known as the heroic colonel who led the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment—one of the first regiments of Black soldiers in the Civil War—in its famous ill-fated charge against Confederate Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. Shaw’s sacrifice has been commemorated in monuments, books, and the award-winning film Glory. But before he became a martyr for the Union cause and emancipation, Shaw was a privileged young man who showed little interest in the reform movements that defined his parents' lives or in the moral crisis over slavery that was tearing the nation apart. Volunteering to serve as a duty, he awakened gradually and fitfully to the demands of conscience and command. Only in death was Shaw transformed into the champion for freedom his abolitionist parents hoped he would be.
The first biography of Shaw in a quarter century, A Glorious Fate traces his transformation from a rebellious son into one of the Civil War’s most celebrated heroes. Acclaimed historian Kevin M. Levin also reveals the sacrifice and service of the African American men who fought and died for their freedom afresh through Shaw’s eyes. Though Shaw never fully reconciled his own racial prejudices, Levin shows how the Civil War changed the young colonel as it did the nation.
The Elson Lectures are made possible with generous funding from Ambassador and Mrs. Edward Elson.
About the Author
Kevin M. Levin is a historian and educator based in Boston. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War era, including Remembering the Battle of the Crater: War As Murder and Searching For Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth. His op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and elsewhere. A former high school history teacher, Levin continues to work with teachers and students throughout the country, leading workshops and tours of civil rights and Civil War sites.
About the Moderator
Dr. Gordon L. Jones is the Senior Military Historian and Curator at the Atlanta History Center, where he has worked since 1991. He is responsible for one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the United States. Gordon curated the 9,200 square-foot permanent exhibition Turning Point: The American Civil War, which opened in 1996. He oversaw the re-interpretation and exhibition of the 1886 cyclorama painting, The Battle of Atlanta, completed in 2019. He curated our new permanent exhibition More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era, which opened in July.
Gordon holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts at Emory University, specializing in the Civil War in popular culture. Gordon also holds an M.A. in public history from the University of South Carolina and a B.A. in history from Furman University.