Robert Roper, author of "Now the Drum of War," on the Whitman Family and the Civil War
1,345 views · Published 5 April 2011 · 3:57 · Indexed 10 November 2026
Channel: US National Archives · 2011 · Education
In this Inside the Vaults video short, Archivist of the United States David Ferriero interviews Robert Roper, author of "Now the Drum of War," a history of the Whitman family during the Civil War. Roper writes about Walt Whitman and his relationships and correspondences with his mother, Louisa van Velsor Whitman, his brothers George and Jeff, and his sister Hannah. Roper used the National Archives, among other resources, to collect the letters the Whitmans wrote to one another. In the process, he discovered that a letter from the Whitman family physician seeking an extension of leave for George was in fact a successful forgery penned by Walt. Inside the Vaults includes highlights from the National Archives in the Washington, DC, area and from the Presidential libraries and regional archives nationwide. These shorts present behind-the-scenes exclusives and offer surprising stories about the National Archives treasures. See more from Inside the Vaults at http://bit.ly/LzQNae.
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