Race and Reunion

Archival Summary & Scope

Winner of the Bancroft Prize, Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, Merle Curti Award, and Frederick Douglass Prize, David Blight's *Race and Reunion* delves into America's post-Civil War struggle with memory and forgetting. Blight reveals how the nation's push for reunion, rooted in a romanticized view of the conflict, tragically downplayed the war's true causes and the crucial role of African Americans. He argues that white unity was achieved at the cost of segregating Black and white memories of the war. Examining themes like the Lost Cause, Reconstruction, Memorial Day, and soldiers' reminiscences, Blight resurrects forgotten African American voices and their efforts to preserve the emancipationist legacy. This sweeping history uncovers how a nation healed from civil war without justice, leaving a painful legacy of racial division that persists today.