Shaping the Nation: Stories of the Lees

Ludwell Lee Montague, the author of this collection of character sketches of famous Lees, histories of Lee homes and discussions of Lee family connections to various locations, was the President of the Society of the Lees of Virginia from 1962 until he died in 1972. Most of these essays were delivered as speeches to the Society between 1951 and 1972, though one was originally a newspaper article and one or two were delivered on other occasions. Most still stand on their own historically, though new information has recently been brought to light about the parentage of the Society's progenitor, Richard Lee, the Emigrant. This new information has been provided in a footnote. 

About the Author

Ludwell Lee Montague was born August 8, 1907 in Richmond, Virginia. His father, Jeffry Montague, was city editor of the Richmond News Leader, and his mother, Harriotte Lee Taliaferro, was an artist. Ludwell spent his formative years in Richmond, but attended high school in San Antonio, Texas where his father, by then in the military, was stationed. He graduated first in his class at the Virginia Military Institute in 1928, received an M.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his Ph.D. in History from Duke University (Phi Beta Kappa). From then until the war called him to Washington, he was an Assistant Professor of History at VMI. During the war her served on the War Department General Staff and was subsequently awarded the Legion of Merit by France and the Order of the British Empire by Britain.