Barton Myers to Give Inaugural Lecture Myer's talk, which is free and open to the public, is titled “A Civil War Murder(?) Mystery: The Death and Burial of Lt. John Rodgers Meigs.”

By Erica Turman
August 13, 2019

Barton Myers, the Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and History at Washington and Lee University, will give his inaugural lecture on Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium, in Leyburn Library, on the W&L campus.

Myer’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is titled “A Civil War Murder(?) Mystery: The Death and Burial of Lt. John Rodgers Meigs.”

Myers will discuss the mystery surrounding John Rodgers Meigs’ death and the events that led to Meigs becoming one of the first notable internments in what is today Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery.

Myers joined the W&L faculty in 2013. He previously served as a historian with the National Park Service at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, where he led tours at the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse battlefields. Myers has also written and edited three books and published multiple articles. He succeeds Sam Calhoun of the Washington and Lee University School of Law as the Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and History. Myers will hold the position for a three-year period.

The Class of 1960 professorship seeks to honor and recognize a W&L faculty member whose teaching and scholarship include ethics, honor, integrity, honesty and applications of ethical reasoning in addressing contemporary issues. Myers teaches courses related to the American Civil War, Southern history and military history.