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Author: Battle Hymn Of The Republic "Marches On"

Harvard University

Harvard professor and author John Stauffer is considered an authority on Lincoln and the Civil War.

His latest book charts the evolution of the wartime ballad "Battle Hymn of the Republic".

Stauffer discussed the origin of the tune Thursday at the Lincoln Presidential Museum.  The museum is wrapping up its summer series of book discussions.

Ahead of Stauffer's lecture, Peter Gray asked what inspired him to research what he calls "the song that marches on":

"I've long been interested in the power of ideas, and how [they] can shape and transform material circumstances... and songs embed profound ideas."

Peter has a diverse background in public, independent and commercial media production. Beginning in 2011, Peter served as reporter and “Morning Edition” host for WUIS. He completed his work at WUIS in 2014. Prior to his start in public radio, he covered the Illinois legislature for NBC affiliate WANDTV-17 and helped launch Phenom Features, a non-profit apprenticeship film studio. Peter hails from Oswego, Ill., where he grew up watching WTTW-11/PBS.
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