SIUE Joins “Bells Across the Land - a Nation Remembers Appomattox”
On Thursday, April 9, at 2:15 p.m. CDT, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville carillon will chime in celebration of freedom and remembrance of the fallen. SIUE will join historic sites, public buildings, city halls, temples, schools, churches and others across the country to commemorate the symbolic end of the American Civil War. “Bells Across the Land - a Nation Remembers Appomattox” is an initiative coordinated by the National Park Service.
On April 9, 150 years ago, Union General Ulysses S. Grant met with Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Court House, Va., to set the terms of surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Lee’s surrender marked the end of significant hostilities, though the Civil War dragged on until mid-June.
“It is not hyperbole to say that the American Civil War was a watershed in our nation’s history,” said Stephen Hansen, PhD and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE. “We are a much different people today than we would have been had we not fought the War. The commemoration of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox helps us remember the importance of freedom, equality and Union.”
The bells will ring first at Appomattox at 2 p.m. CDT to coincide with the end of Grant's and Lee's meeting. Bells will then resound across the country 15 minutes later for four minutes, each minute symbolizing one year of the war.
By commemorating this significant historical event, SIUE joins the nation in a celebration of freedom and of a restored Union, and a moment of silence for the fallen.
