out of the war is the understanding of what was going .n in the past not denying if you like robert gould shaw. quirks you can watch his entire class at the university of virginia tonight on lectures in history. at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern. >> this is what churchill faced that he came to power in those awful days of 1840. -- 1940. >> from his first days he practically begged for fdr's help. he was very aware of the country's isolation. even though he wanted to help save britain he was very cautious. he did not want to get involved in the war if he could help it. people in washington included have more pretty much convinced that britain would be easily defeated. how could it possibly survive when no other european country had. >> the former secretary of state madeleine albright the foremost chronicler of world war ii politics and policy. on sunday when olson will be our it will in-depth bid include talks about her most recent books. during our live three-hour conversation we will talk -- take your calls, suites and questions. watch in-depth with lynn olson live from new until 3:00 p.m. on

a bronze relief sculpture in memory of robert gould shaw of the 54th infantry is on beacon street in boston. the sculptor took almost 14 years to complete the high relief bronze monument. the veterans of the 54th, 55th, and the fifth massachusetts would come back to pay commemoration to that. in 1938, veterans would return here to gettysburg on the 75th anniversary of the battle of gettysburg, and played host to nearly 2000 veterans. most were of advanced age, the average being 94. one veteran, 92-year-old thomas walters, had made the trip from los angeles, california, to attend the gathering of veterans. he was only one of 35 african-americans to serve in the civil war and attend the festivities. he enlisted and served in company c. among the ranks of the regimental members, one would hold the title of king. escaped slave samuel boulton and listed a private in company h. he held the rank of corporal after mustering out and returning to civiian life. bolton established himself as a successful entrepreneur in the packaging of pickles in greenlawn, new york. this was so profitable that

robert gould shaw was anti-slavery, but not really burning with the abolitionists spirit the way his parents were, but, yes, that is a huge element in that. when we went to petersburg and we were down where they have the rebuild of work, we saw the little monument there that went up in 1992 the u.s. the teachers. -- the u.s. ct troops. will state the obvious -- that wasn't there. this is, i think, one of the influences of a successful part carrying overture into how we remember things. an impactlly do have on how people remember the past. that monument, i believe, would not be there if it were not for "glory." afters almost a century the monument in boston. it was not until the very end of , that youentury, 1998 got a kind of national monument, and it is an washington, d.c. it is at vermont and 10th street district, and it is in the plaza that has the names of the 200,000 black men who , andd in the army and navy then there is a sculpture in the middle. .hat is 1998 when that went up so the emancipation memory of re andr -- it's the carries forward but would not be as prominent to so

not deciding whether you like robert gould shaw memorial than you like anyone else. >> you can watch his entire class at the university of virginia tonight on lectures and history. at 8:00 p.m. eastern and midnight. here on american history tv. >> you are watching american history tv 48 hours of programming on american history a weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter at c-span for more information on our schedule and to keep up with the latest news. >> next on the civil war a panel of authors and public historians talk about how to make the civil war era relatable to modern-day audiences. they talk about battlefield preservation in the wake of the recent 150th anniversary of the conflict. it is a little under one hour. >> good evening everyone. with the gettysburg heritage center. i operate this facility and i am pleased to have you here. this fine panel of authors. these books have been brought to us. they are a publisher based out of california. we refer to them as publishers of historical distinction. military andading general history publishing company. in 2004 ar inception hav

and that is my favorite civil war monument august us saint -- to the 54th massachusetts and robert gould shaw. but it is to shaw and to the 54th, as only academics can do, there was a article a few years ago where someone attacked the saint godness monument because they said it diminished the black soldiers because shaw was on a horse. they were innocent of the fact generals are on horses and infantry man are on the ground whether they are black or white. that's why they're infantry men. it's a spectacular monument. the national gallery in washington has a beautiful plaster of it. you don't have to go all the way to boston to see it. go to the national gallery, stand in front of that monument and then come and tell me that it demeans african-american soldiers. only a academic could argue that that somehow diminishes the service of these men. 1897. it's a may asiaing monument. >> didn't shaw's family influence why he's the one that got the monument. >> did the prominence of shaw's family have anything to do -- yes. shaw without shaw's family, would the monument have gone up? no. a very well co

and that is my favorite civil war monument august us saint -- to the 54th massachusetts and robert gould shaw. but it is to shaw and to the 54th, as only academics can do, there was a article a few years ago where someone attacked the saint godness monument because they said it diminished the black soldiers because shaw was on a horse. they were innocent of the fact generals are on horses and infantry man are on the ground whether they are black or white. that's why they're infantry men. it's a spectacular monument. the national gallery in washington has a beautiful plaster of it. you don't have to go all the way to boston to see it. go to the national gallery, stand in front of that monument and then come and tell me that it demeans african-american soldiers. only a academic could argue that that somehow diminishes the service of these men. 1897. it's a may asiaing monument. >> didn't shaw's family influence why he's the one that got the monument. >> did the prominence of shaw's family have anything to do -- yes. shaw without shaw's family, would the monument have gone up? no. a very well co