History lovers lose a great friend: Bud Robertson

James I. “Bud” Robertson, who died Nov. 2, more than once was the speaker for the Historical Society of Western Virginnia’s History Is Served annual dinner. He last spoke in 2017, mesmerizing a full audience with the topic: “What Did Not Happen at Appomattox.” His topics were always interesting, but his soothing delivery made them more so. One history buff once said “I’d listen to him if he read the phone book.”

Robertson, an Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Virginia Tech, joined the Tech faculty in 1967, and in 1999 became the founding director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech. He retired from the university in 2011.  During the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the war, Robertson served as an executive committee member of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. He also served as executive producer of “Virginia in the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Remembrance,” a complimentary DVD provided to every school and library in the commonwealth.

Robertson was 89.