BLACKSBURG, March 12, 1999. Building on the reputation of nationally renowned Civil War historian James I. Robertson Jr. and a massive collection of Civil War books, Virginia Tech announced today that it has initiated a $3-million fund drive to establish the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. (continued)

The announcement was made by Charles W. Steger Jr., vice president for development and university relations, on the first day of Civil War Weekend, an annual event that draws 350 people to the Blacksburg campus.

The center will be headed by Robertson, Tech's Alumni Distinguished Professor of History and author of the critically acclaimed biography Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend. It will operate in partnership with the history department in the university's College of Arts and Sciences.

"Under Professor Robertson's dynamic yet congenial leadership, the center will provide an ideal setting for top scholars to interact with students and the public in a common effort to shed new light on the war--new light on not merely the political and military aspects but also the more subtle social, cultural, and human implications of this pivotal episode in United States history," said history department head Albert E. Moyer.

According to Steger, the center will offer several programs. A scholars-in-residence program will attract nationally recognized Civil War scholars to spend a semester or academic year on the Virginia Tech campus, while scholarships will be used to entice the nation's best graduate students in Civil War history. The center will sponsor annual symposia, lecture series, exhibitions, and additional radio and television shows and will publish a scholarly Civil War journal. It will expand Virginia Tech's collection of Civil War books, manuscripts, and memorabilia and hire an archivist to organize, maintain, and protect the collection. It will also extend educational opportunities through digital and distance learning programs.

Robertson, tapped by President Kennedy in 1961 as the executive director of the United States Civil War Centennial Commission, has written numerous books on the Civil War, including such works as Soldiers Blue and Gray, which as nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and America Becomes One Nation, which received critical acclaim as one of the best children's books about the Civil War. He appears frequently on public television and the Arts & Entertainment Network and produces a weekly Civil War program for public radio. His annual weeklong June seminar, Campaigning with Lee, draws more than 130 participants from over 30 states. And his heavily enrolled Civil War classes have informed and entranced a generation of Virginia Tech undergraduates.

Thim Corvin, senior director of development for capital support, will direct the fund-raising effort, which Steger said will last for two years.