TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. James McPherson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, will give a public lecture in the Heritage Room of the Ferguson Student Center on The University of Alabama campus, Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.

The lecture, entitled “Onward Christian Soldiers: The Religion of Civil War Soldiers,” is to celebrate the launch of the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South.

Named for the wife of former history department chairman Charles Summersell, the Center is dedicated to promoting the history of the South through public lectures, research projects, conferences and internships.

Considered America’s leading historian of the Civil War, McPherson won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for “Battle Cry of Freedom,” which was a New York Times best seller. His book “Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam” was also a New York Times bestseller, and he won the 1998 Lincoln Prize for “For Cause and Comrades.” He is a professor emeritus at Princeton University.

The UA history department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All American Team.