During the academic year, 2024-2025, Dr. Lesley J. Gordon served as the Charles Boal Ewing Chair of Military History at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

This prestigious visiting professorship allows civilian historians to live and work on the garrison for the entire year. In the fall, she taught two sections of “The Army of the Republic: Leading Citizen Soldiers,” a required course for all incoming “plebes” (freshmen); and co-taught a senior capstone class on Civil War memory.

In the spring, she designed and taught an elective course called the “Civil War Soldier.” She also co-advised a cadet’s research as part of the Department’s “Global Gettysburg” digital history project.

There were several highlights of her time there, including a field trip to Gettysburg National Battlefield Park, the annual U.S. Grant Birthday Dinner in New York City, and the intensive 6-week faculty summer orientation.

In February, Dr. Gordon gave the keynote address, entitled, “‘The Best of All Places’: History, Art and West Point,” at the annual induction ceremony for USMA’s Phi Alpha Theta chapter. Her address emphasized the importance of perspective, observation, and spatial awareness, attributes shared by historians, artists, and Army officers alike.

The night of her talk, USMA Museum staff brought pieces of original artwork from past cadets, including Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman and James McNeil Whistler, to display.

For Dr. Gordon, a specialist in the American Civil War era, every day she walked the grounds and shared her knowledge with faculty and cadets, the sense of history was palpable.

Return to the Fall 2025 edition of Historically Speaking.