Ulysses S. Grant Association Annual Meeting At the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library
By Professor Earnest Veritas · Originally published June 2022 · pp. 31–33
Special Correspondent to The – Western Theater – The Ulysses S. Grant Association held its annual meeting March 3-5, 2022, at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library on the campus of Mississippi State University. Activities from Thursday evening to the final Association meeting on Saturday morning kept the substantial crowd of attendees busy celebrating Grant and formally kicked off the Ulysses S. Grant Bicentennial Year. The following information giving the background of the Ulysses S. Grant Association is partially abstracted from the USGA website: The USGA began at the Ohio Historical Society and moved to Southern Illinois University in 1964. USGA’s first president was Ralph Newman; the current president is James A. Bultema. In 2008, following the death of longtime executive director and managing editor, John Y. Simon, John F. Marszalek was selected as Simon’s replacement. Mississippi State University made a home for the Grant Papers at Mitchell Memorial Library. Upon the 50th anniversary of the Grant Association’s founding, the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library was established at Mississippi State University. With support from Mississippi State University, Southern Illinois University, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Grant Association has now published thirty-two volumes of Grant’s writings in The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. During this process, it accumulated over 200,000 photocopies of every known letter written by Grant in addition to many original letters written by Grant, his associates, and family. In 2017, the Grant Association and Presidential Library staff edited The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: The Complete Annotated Edition and it was published by Harvard University Press. A digital scholarly edition will follow and will show the various editorial stages of the manuscript. The USGA meets annually to celebrate the life and accomplishments of General/ President Grant and to conduct its business. This year’s meeting kicked off the Bicentennial of Ulysses S. Grant’s birth and year to change command following retirements of long-time President Frank Williams and Executive Director John Marszalek. The new President, Jim Bultema, and Executive Director, Dr. Anne Marshall, were introduced to the membership. Frank Williams, retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice, and outgoing President of the Ulysses S. Grant Association (since 1992) said, in part, in an open letter to the Association: “This is an exciting time for us as we celebrate many things. First, it is the bicentennial year of General/President Grant’s birth. After a dismal century of abuse, he is now appreciated for his leadership skills including his political courage. Second, the leadership in the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Association is changing. I am deeply honored to have served with so many great people as well as meet many of you. You have been inspiring to me and to General/President Grant’s legacy.” Since 2008 Dr. John Marszalek served as the Executive Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and Managing Editor of the Ulysses S. Grant papers. Those papers are now housed at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library on the campus of Mississippi State University. In his open letter to the Association, Dr. Marszalek said, in part: “I have great pride in the role that I played in establishing the Grant and Lincoln collections. We keep adding, day-by-day, yearby-year, ever more material and our site becomes the place to find everything that throws increasing light on Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln. The Ulysses S. Grant Association and its many books, articles, and memorabilia play an important part in the telling of this American story, and we are proud to be its guardians. We are pleased to make available to so many people the greatest collection of Grant materials in the world.” Dr. Anne Marshall is the incoming Executive Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. Dr. Marshall has been an instructor in the Department of History at Mississippi State University since
- She will share her teaching/ research load with her new position as the USGA Executive Director. Dr. Marshall will have an office in the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential library to work with the Library and the Association. In her open letter sent to the membership, Dr. Marshall stated: “My primary goal will be to expand the access and visibility of the USGA and USGPL and its collections. I also look forward to representing the USGA and USGPL within the ranks of Presidential libraries, as well as in the Civil War scholarly community. I am so pleased to be a part of this great organization and I look forward to getting to know you in the coming years.” She officially assumed her duties at the meeting of the Association at the March meeting of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. Jim Bultema is the incoming President of the Association and assumed his duties at the March meeting. In his open letter to the members, Jim said, in part: “As your President-elect of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, I want to welcome you to such an important year in the history of Grant, the Bicentennial of his birth. As we kick off the
national celebration, we can look back and appreciate the soaring popularity of a man who well deserves it. By coming together each year, members of the USGA add to his collective fame by our discussions, lectures, and books. As a result, we leave each meeting with a better understanding of Grant, which we can share with others.” The meeting got off to a grand start with the keynote talk by Stewart D. McLaurin, the president of the White House Historical Association. He opened the meeting on Friday morning in Bettersworth auditorium on the Mississippi State Campus with an impressive presentation about the White House Historical Association and its many functions with the White House. He also surprised the Association by passing out Ulysses S. Grant cigars with a likeness of Grant on the band! After Mr. McLaurin’s talk, the crowd adjourned outside to the Drill Field (so named because Mississippi State University was originally a land grant college and that required a course by taught in Military Science). There the Ulysses S. Grant memorial tree was planted by MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum and the officers and members of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. President Ulysses S. Grant (portrayed by Dr. Curt Fields) was also in attendance to celebrate the tree dedication and the kicking off the year of celebrations and observations of his 200th birthday with the USGA. The capstone event for the USGA annual meeting was the Ulysses S. Grant Scholars Symposium held in the Bettersworth auditorium during that afternoon. The format was a panel discussion by five noted Civil War authors. The panel was composed of: ✤ Dr. John Marszalek, former Executive Director and Managing Editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, and Professor Emeritus of the Department of History at Mississippi State University; ✤ Dr. Caroline Janney, John L Nau, III, Professor in History of the American civil War and the Director of the John L. Nau, III Center for Civil War History-University of Virginia; ✤ Dr. Edna Greene Medford, Professor in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences-Howard University; ✤ Dr. Anne Marshall, Associate Professor of History and incoming Executive Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association-Mississippi State
University; ✤ Dr. Joan Waugh, Professor Emeritus of History-University of California at Los Angeles. As promised the panel carried on a deep discussion of Civil War History and its present status in our culture. The future of Civil War History scholarship looks bright, indeed. The John Y. Simon award is given annually by the Association for recognition. This year the award was given to Dr. Michelle Krowl. The meeting was brought to a close on Saturday morning with two necessary functions. The first was the meeting of the USGA Board of Directors. Several new Board members were voted in and took seats. New Board members were: Dr. Lis Pankl, (Dr. Pankl is the Dean of Libraries at MSU), Stephen Cunetto, Eileen Bradner, Dr. Curt Fields, and Dr. Michelle Krowl (as Vice President), and Dr. Anne Marshall (as Executive Director). The second, and final, function was a general membership meeting where the new Board of Directors members were introduced. Suggestions for the location of the next annual meeting were entertained and noted for planning. The meeting was then adjourned. “Simply put: tell the simple truth, simply.” Professor E. Veritas
