[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 183 (Friday, November 15, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1453-E1454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO DR. JAMES I. ``BUD'' ROBERTSON, JR.

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                        HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 15, 2019

  Mr. GRIFFITH. Madam Speaker, I offer rise in tribute to Dr. James I. 
``Bud'' Robertson, Jr., longtime professor at Virginia Polytechnic 
Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, who passed away 
on November 2 at the age of 89. Dr. Robertson, sometimes called ``Mr. 
Virginia,'' was a distinguished scholar of the American Civil War.
  Dr. Robertson was a native of Danville, Virginia. He earned his 
bachelor's degree in history at Randolph-Macon College and his master's 
degree and doctorate in the same subject at Emory University.
  As the United States commemorated the centennial of the Civil War in 
the 1960s, President Kennedy asked Dr. Robertson to serve as executive 
director of the United States Civil War Centennial Commission. After 
his successful leadership of the commission, he joined the Virginia 
Tech faculty in 1967. Over the course of his career, he taught 
thousands of students, wrote more than 20 books, became founding 
director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, and educated the 
public at large on the war. His biography of Stonewall Jackson earned 
acclaim as a definitive account of the legendary general's life, but 
the experiences of the common soldiers who served on both sides, 
``Billy Yank'' and ``Johnny Reb,'' occupied much of his study as well.
  In the preface to Civil War Sites in Virginia: A Tour Guide, Dr. 
Robertson told of a cemetery at Appomattox, where a Federal soldier is 
buried next to Confederates. He wrote: ``They sleep side by side, and 
it is fitting that they do; for these American heroes who lived not so 
long ago struggled greatly against something greater than themselves. 
Often fighting for nothing more than the realization of a dream, they 
bravely marched down the undiscovered road to tomorrow. What they gave, 
we now share. What they lost, we gained. Their sacrifice is the 
nation's legacy.''
  Dr. Robertson devoted himself to the study of that legacy. He did it 
with skill and with an

[[Page E1454]]

enthusiasm that could affect anyone who heard his lectures or 
commentary.
  Among the many awards he earned over his career were three 
commendations from the Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia Press 
Association's 2004 Virginian of the Year, the Best NonFiction Book 
Award by the Library of Virginia in 1997, and the Outstanding Professor 
Award of the Virginia Council for Higher Education. In turn, Dr. 
Robertson strongly supported Virginia Tech financially and through the 
donation of a large portion of his enormous collection of Civil War 
books.
  After his retirement from Virginia Tech, Dr. Robertson resided in 
Virginia's Northern Neck. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth ``Betty 
Lee'' Robertson; his sons, James I. Robertson III and Howard Robertson; 
his daughter, Beth Brown; his stepson, William W. Lee Jr.; his 
stepdaughter, Elizabeth A. Lee; seven grandchildren; and four great-
grandchildren. I would like to express my condolences to them and to 
the Virginia Tech community on the loss of this fine scholar and 
gentleman.

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