Your article “First Chamberlain Legacy Lecture to cover why Civil War hero still matters” (Aug. 17, 2021) had a headline that made my heart jump. There are so many things that will no doubt be covered in a series of lectures about Chamberlain. Of course, we can expect his Civil War service, his years as Maine governor and his tenure as president of Bowdoin College. Also, at some point, attention should be given to the fact that Gen. Chamberlain is a hero and a role model to people in the stuttering community.
In his youth, Chamberlain’s father wanted him to follow the family tradition and join the military, while his mother wanted him to be a minister; he knew both of these professions would involve stumbling blocks because of his speech. In their “Celebrity Corner” section, the website of the Stuttering Foundation (stutteringhelp.org) has a biographical profile on Chamberlain titled “General Battled Stuttering.” The article states the phenomenon how some who stutter are able to speak foreign languages fluently. While at Bowdoin, Chamberlain mastered nine languages besides English – French, Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic, Syriac, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He worked extensively with a speech correctionist and was able to learn techniques that both controlled his stuttering and led him to fluency.
Joshua Chamberlain was the pioneer of stuttering role models in the U.S. His story is both compelling and amazing, and certainly an important aspect of his legacy that should sometime be presented by the Chamberlain Legacy Lectures.
Adam Lichter
Springfield, Mass.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
