Waltham to mark 'Professor James McPherson Day'

Pulitzer prize-winning author James M. McPherson will be honored for promoting public awareness of American history through his Civil War writings at an awards dinner next Sunday at the National Archives in Waltham.

A professor emeritus of history at Princeton University, he will receive the 12th Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Award in a ceremony rich in military symbolism reflecting his reputation as the dean of Civil War historians.

After master of ceremonies Jack Williams of WBZ-TV opens the event, the Salem Zouaves of the 54th Massachusetts regiment will march in wearing their colorful uniforms and present Old Glory. At the ceremony's end, Amoskeag Music, a group which uses 19th century instruments to play period tunes, will perform "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the colors will be retired.

The Holmes award is given intermittently by the Civil War Round Tables of Massachusetts to the individual who does most to "preserve American history and educate the public," said CWRT president David L. Smith.

"James McPherson has been my personal choice for this award for many years," said Smith, of Waltham. "His greatest book, 'Battle Cry of Freedom,' is the bible for understanding the American Civil War."

Born in North Dakota in 1936, McPherson has written 18 books about different aspects of the Civil War including the battles of Gettysburg and Antietam, the role of African-Americans and the lives of ordinary soldiers fighting for the North and South. Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, he recently published to critical acclaim "Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief."

The state's Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the National Archives on Trapelo Road are also partners in the event.

Since 1987 the CWRT has given the award to 12 recipients including filmmaker Ken Burns, Ted Turner who produced the movie "Gods and Generals" and now to McPherson.

Founded in 1957 for discussion and research, the CWRT of Massachusetts is the oldest such organization in New England and 13th oldest in the world, said Smith.

This will be the first time the banquet honoring Holmes' military and judicial achievements will be hosted in Waltham at the New England regional headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration, said Diane P. LeBlanc, regional administrator for the Northeast Region of NARA.

"We are thrilled to have professor McPherson coming to the archives. Without question he is our country's most significant scholar of the Civil War," she said.

LeBlanc said McPherson's visit comes five months after the Waltham archives received more than 1,200 cubic feet of records relating to the Civil War.

"There's an awful lot of information that will be useful for folks researching their families' histories. We are hoping (McPherson's) visit will bring more folks across the region to our facility," she said.

Before McPherson's keynote address, Robert Hall, president of the Old Colony Round Table, will present him with a facsimile of a document discovered in the Waltham archives. Dated Nov. 23, 1863, the three-page letter authorized Massachusetts Gov. John Andrews to establish the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, which was the only African-American cavalry of the war.

McPherson will also receive a facsimile of an 1864 telegram, sent under Lincoln's name, calling for the draft of 500,000 soldiers.

LeBlanc said Thursday all 160 seats for the banquet had been sold out, principally to educators and members of Civil War round tables.

Waltham Mayor Jeanette A. McCarthy issued a proclamation declaring Sunday, April 26, "Professor James McPherson Day."

The proclamation cited McPherson for "greatly enhancing the public's understanding" of the Civil War and being a "vigorous advocate for the preservation" of historic sites.

On Monday, April 27, McCarthy, LeBlanc and Smith will accompany McPherson and his wife on a private tour of Waltham's three best known historic sites, Stonehurst the Robert Treat Paine Estate, the Lyman Estate and Gore Place.

Other guests who will speak at the banquet are historian Jay Hoar and Thomas Mills, assistant historian of the U.S. archives in Washington, D.C.

Hoar will discuss why the award reflects the achievements of Holmes who served with distinction in the Civil War and in the U.S. Supreme Court for 28 years. Mills will explain how to use archival records for genealogical research.