NORFOLK – The MacArthur Memorial and Emerging Civil War will co-sponsor a symposium that will explore the Civil War activities of the ancestors of General and Mrs. Douglas MacArthur.
The event will be on Sept. 28. The symposium is free, but registration is requested.
It will feature four speakers and will be hosted in the MacArthur Memorial Visitors Center in downtown Norfolk. Artifacts and artwork related to the war, including a hat worn by one of MacArthur’s uncles at the Battle of Gettysburg, will also be on display, according to the center.
In 1951, MacArthur referred to himself as the “reunion of blue and gray personified.”
The American Civil War was an immediate and formative experience for both of his parents and their experiences helped inspire and shape his career.
MacArthur’s wife, the Tennessee-born Jean Faircloth MacArthur, also had a significant Civil War pedigree. Between them, the couple had ties to virtually every major land campaign east of the Mississippi River, according to the center.
Registration information and a schedule of speakers can be found on the MacArthur Memorial’s website.