The Remarkable Edwin C. Bearss

With Marc J. Pachter, author, historian, and Director  of the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery

Recorded at the Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History, January 29, 2001

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Segment Descriptions

Introduction

• Marc Pachter is Director of the National Portrait Gallery and knows a national treasure when he sees one.  Mr. Pachter shares this evening with one of our country's living treasures, Ed Bearss.

Early Life in Montana

• Ed shares stories about growing up in Montana; his early interest in the Civil War; and, explains why his name is pronounced "Barss" and not "Beerss".

Military Career, Work at the National Park Service, and his first trip to the Smithsonian

• Ed shares his war experiences; his post-war college days; his important work on raising the Cairo; and, what it was like to be a Northerner in the South.

Fame Comes to Those Who Wait

• Ed's first meeting with Ken Burns; how he copes with  fame, fortune, and recognition; why the Civil War, and history, matter.

See Ed's star performance in the popular Civil War documentary series by Ken Burns. 

Question and Answer Session

• Did you ever meet any Civil War veterans growing up in Montana?

• How do you draw on and recall so many facts?  And, is there a list of your collected work?

• Nathan Bedford Forest's reputation has been reassessed recently; are there others we should also look at and reanalyze?

• Is there a location you would like to see preserved and made into a park?

• Did you ever meet "Chesty" Puller when you were in New Britain during World War II?

• The questioner thanks Ed for "suffering fools" during his tours.