Podcasts about Virginia Historical Society

Source: Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood in the Virginia Historical Society, Collections, II, 295-331. https://archive.org/details/toldcontemporari02hartrich/page/316/mode/2up

For the conclusion of this season, we examine conclusions: the deaths of presidents. Not just presidents who died while in office, but those who died years after they retired from the presidency and the constant limelight. Our journey through the lives, deaths, and legacies of our presidents from 1799 to today offers surprising revelations about the constancy of mourning and the role of the president beyond the Oval Office. Beyond exploring the moment of a president's death, we explore the deeper historical context of that moment, and what we can learn about American society at the time. Presidents are more than just a man. They are figureheads of movements, international celebrities, and representatives (sometimes even unwillingly) of particular political and social values. And their deaths often reveal much not just about how Americans come together, but how they remain divided.Guiding our final conversation this season are Lindsay Chervinsky and Matthew Costello, presidential historians and co-editors of Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Lindsay Chervinsky is a historian of the presidency, political culture, and the government. Dr. Chervinsky is a frequent contributor to publications like the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, and the Washington Post. She is also a regular guests on podcasts, such as the Thomas Jefferson Hour, and created the Audible course The Best and Worst Presidential Cabinets in U.S. History. Dr. Chervinsky is currently a fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Presidential History here at SMU.She is the co-editor of Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture, the author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, and author of the forthcoming An Honest Man: The Inimitable Presidency of John Adams. Visit her website lindsaychervinsky.com and her Twitter @lmchervinsky.  Matthew Costello is a presidential historian specializing in the American Revolution and the early republic. Dr. Costello serves as Vice President of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History and Senior Historian for the White House Historical Association. He also teaches a class at American University and has received research fellowships from Marquette University, the Virginia Historical Society, the United States Capitol Historical Society, and the Fred W. Smith National Library at Mount Vernon. After completing his Ph.D. in American history at Marquette University, Dr. Costello worked on the George Washington Bibliography Project for the George Washington Papers at the University of Virginia.He is the author of The Property of the Nation: George Washington's Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President, which was a finalist for the George Washington Book Prize, and co-editor of Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture.Visit his website on whitehousehistory.org and his LinkedIn @matthewcostello.  

On March 15, 2022, Dr. Charles Bryan and VMHC president and CEO Jamie Bosket had a conversation about some of the topics covered in Dr. Bryan's latest book, "Imperfect Past Volume II: More History in a New Light." The late southern writer John Egerton observed that there are three kinds of history: what actually happened, what we are told happened, and what finally came to believe happened. It is that third type that author and former VMHC president and CEO Charles Bryan addresses in many of the essays in Volume 2 of "Imperfect Past." Bryan challenges many of the assumptions about the past his generation was taught in schools some sixty years ago. A once simplistic story has become more complex, but at the same time, more compelling and provocative. The lecture will consist of a conversation between Dr. Bryan and current VMHC president and CEO Jamie Bosket. Dr. Charles F. Bryan, Jr., is an American historian who spent most of his career in the museum field, including twenty years as president of the Virginia Historical Society. He is the author of several books, including "Imperfect Past: History in a New Light" and "Imperfect Past Volume II: More History in a New Light." The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

William Byrd II to Lucy Parke aka “Fidelia”, ca. 1705-6. In which there are a lot of old timey fart jokes. This is the second part of the Martha Washington's In-Laws series, featuring a letter from Colonial Virginian slave-holder and satirical writer, William Byrd II. Heads up, this episode contains mentions of brutal treatment of enslaved people and sexual violence. The Letter: Byrd, William, William III Byrd and Marion Tinling. The Correspondence of the Three William Byrds of Westover, Virginia, 1684-1776. Charlottesville: Published for the Virginia Historical Society [by] the University Press of Virginia, 1977. 1: 254-56. Further Reading: Paula A. Treckel, “The Empire of My Heart”: The Marriage of William Byrd II and Lucy Parke Byrd,” in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Spring, 1997, Vol. 105, No. 2, pp. 125-156. Peter Wagner, “The Female Creed”: A New Reading of William Byrd Ribald Parody, in Early American Literature, Fall, 1984, vol. 19. No. 2, Special European Issue, pp. 122-137. Cameron C. Nickels, and John H. O'Neill. "Upon the Attribution of "Upon a Fart" to William Byrd of Westover." Early American Literature 14, no. 2 (1979): 143-48. Accessed August 22, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25070929. Willie T. Weathers, “William Byrd: Satirist,” in The William and Mary Quarterly, Jan. 1947, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 27-41 Byrd, William, Wright, Louis B. (Louis Booker) (ed) and Tinling, Marion (joint ed). The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712. Richmond, Va: The Dietz Press, 1941. Lockridge, Kenneth A., and Institute of Early American History and Culture (Williamsburg, Va.). The Diary and Life of William Byrd II of Virginia, 1674-1744. Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Va., by the University of North Carolina Press, 1987.

This week, Kelsie and Brooke discuss the Reconstruction era that follows the Civil War from a woman's perspective, because it just makes more sense that way! Think about it! 620,000 soldiers, mostly male died in the war, who do you think is picking up the pieces? Support our work at www.patreon.com/remedialherstory Find lesson plans at http://www.remedialherstory.com Bibliography Collins, Gail. America’s Women. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2004. Taylor, Kay Ann. "Mary S. Peake and Charlotte L. Forten: Black Teachers During the Civil War and Reconstruction." The Journal of Negro Education 74, no. 2 (2005): 124-37. Accessed March 8, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40034538. Virginia Historical Society. “Freedman’s Schools.” Virginia Historical Society. N.D. https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/freedmens-schools. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/remedialherstory/support

Rendering Unconscious welcomes Chris Semtner to the podcast! You can support the podcast at our Patreon. Your support is greatly appreciated! https://www.patreon.com/vanessa23carl This episode is also available to view at YouTube: https://youtu.be/NzZlWF0Cwm4 Chris Semtner is an internationally exhibited fine artist whose paintings have entered numerous public collections including the Virginia Historical Society and the University of Maryland. https://chrissemtner.com Semtner has written several books and chapters on topics including literature, visual art, and history in addition to contributing articles to Biography.com, Resources for American Literary Studies, Crime Writers’ Chronicle, and The Edgar Allan Poe Review. He has curated critically acclaimed exhibits for museums and galleries across the country with his Library of Virginia exhibit Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster, earning the praise of The New York Times. His exhibits for the Poe Museum brought that institution awards and honors from TIME Magazine, USA Today, and several others. In search of innovative ways to bring Poe to new audiences, Semtner has collaborated on Poe-themed performances with groups including the Latin Ballet of Virginia, the Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery, and Engaging History Productions. Semtner has appeared on BBC4, PBS, Travel Channel, Military History, NPR, CNN, and other networks. He regularly speaks about a variety of unusual, obscure, and macabre subjects to groups of all ages around the country and as far away as Japan. His most recent book, The Poe Shrine: Building the World’s Finest Edgar Allan Poe Collection, tells the strange but true stories behind the Poe Museum’s artifacts. https://www.poemuseum.org Rendering Unconscious Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vanessa Sinclair, who interviews psychoanalysts, psychologists, scholars, creative arts therapists, writers, poets, philosophers, artists & other intellectuals about their process, world events, the current state of mental health care, politics, culture, the arts & more. http://www.renderingunconscious.org/about/ Rendering Unconscious is also a book and e-book! Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Politics and Poetry (Trapart Books, 2019) https://store.trapart.net/details/00000 Vanessa Sinclair, Psy.D. is a psychoanalyst based Stockholm, who sees clients internationally, specializing in offering quality psychoanalytic treatment remotely and online. Her books include Switching Mirrors (2016), The Fenris Wolf vol 9 (2017) co-edited with Carl Abrahamsson, On Psychoanalysis and Violence: Contemporary Lacanian Perspectives (2018) co-edited with Manya Steinkoler, and Scansion in Psychoanalysis and Art: the Cut in Creation forthcoming from Routledge 2020. Dr. Sinclair is a founding member of Das Unbehagen: A Free Association for Psychoanalysis. http://www.drvanessasinclair.net The track at the end of the episode is “I'm in love with a witch” from the album "The larval stage of a bookworm" by Carl Abrahamsson. Film by Vanessa Sinclair. https://carlabrahamsson.bandcamp.com/album/the-larval-stage-of-a-bookworm Image from the Poe Museum

On the morning of November 1, 1755, a devastating earthquake struck the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The quake leveled buildings, triggered fires, and caused a tsunami that laid waste to the urban landscape. When it was all over, thousands were dead.  The Lisbon earthquake was a disaster of epic proportions, so much so that it became the subject of the first major international disaster relief effort. People from around the Atlantic world contributed funds to Lisbon and its inhabitants, including a £100,000 donation from King George II of Great Britain.  The quake also marked a change in how people around the Atlantic world responded to disasters. Surely, many who awoke that morning to celebrate All Saints Day attributed the devastation to God's wrath, but in the era of the Enlightenment, many more still looked to reason and science as modes of explanation, and to alleviate the suffering. On today's episode, Dr. Cindy Kierner of George Mason University joins us to discuss the origins of our modern attitudes toward disasters. She is the author of the new book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood. And as you might have divined from the book's subtitle, how we now respond to disasters like the coronavirus, California wildfires, or Hurricane Katrina is the product of a long history that dates back to the 17th century. About Our Guest: Cindy Kierner received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1986. A specialist in the fields of early America, women and gender, and early southern history, she is the author or editor of eight books and many articles. Kierner is an OAH Distinguished Lecturer and past president of the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH), and she has served on several editorial boards. Her research has received support from the American Historical Association, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the American Antiquarian Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. About Our Host: Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. leads the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project.  He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press.

On the morning of November 1, 1755, a devastating earthquake struck the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The quake leveled buildings, triggered fires, and caused a tsunami that laid waste to the urban landscape. When it was all over, thousands were dead. The Lisbon earthquake was a disaster of epic proportions, so much so that it became the subject of the first major international disaster relief effort. People from around the Atlantic world contributed funds to Lisbon and its inhabitants, including a £100,000 donation from King George II of Great Britain. The quake also marked a change in how people around the Atlantic world responded to disasters. Surely, many who awoke that morning to celebrate All Saints Day attributed the devastation to God’s wrath, but in the era of the Enlightenment, many more still looked to reason and science as modes of explanation, and to alleviate the suffering. On today’s episode, Dr. Cindy Kierner of George Mason University joins us to discuss the origins of our modern attitudes toward disasters. She is the author of the new book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood. And as you might have divined from the book’s subtitle, how we now respond to disasters like the coronavirus, California wildfires, or Hurricane Katrina is the product of a long history that dates back to the 17th century. About Our Guest: Cindy Kierner received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1986. A specialist in the fields of early America, women and gender, and early southern history, she is the author or editor of eight books and many articles. Kierner is an OAH Distinguished Lecturer and past president of the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH), and she has served on several editorial boards. Her research has received support from the American Historical Association, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the American Antiquarian Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. About Our Host: Jim Ambuske leads the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia in 2016 with a focus on Scotland and America in an Age of War and Revolution. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project. He is the co-author with Randall Flaherty of "Reading Law in the Early Republic: Legal Education in the Age of Jefferson," in The Founding of Thomas Jefferson's University ed. by John A. Rogasta, Peter S. Onuf, and Andrew O'Shaughnessy (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019). Ambuske is currently at work on a book entitled Emigration and Empire: America and Scotland in the Revolutionary Era, as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mountvernon/message

On May 23, 2019, Albert Louis Zambone delivered the Banner Lecture, "Daniel Morgan, Virginian." By the end of his life, Daniel Morgan had variously been brigadier general of the Continental Army, major general of the Virginia Militia, a winner of the Congressional Gold Medal, a congressman, and architect of the "American Cannae,"" the battle of Cowpens. But the status for which he seems to have worked his entire life, from the moment he walked into the Shenandoah Valley as a homeless boy, was to be a Virginian and a member of the Virginia gentry. In this lecture, Albert Louis Zambone will focus on Morgan�s life of striving to get ahead in colonial and revolutionary Virginia. Dr. Albert Louis Zambone earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Oxford and has received a number of scholarships and awards in the field of early American history, including a Mellon Fellowship at the Virginia Historical Society. He hosts and produces the popular audience-format podcast, Historically Thinking. Zambone is the author of Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life. This lecture was cosponsored with the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia.

In preparation for a talk he recently gave at an undisclosed location, Colin talks about his career as an archivist, which began in 2007 at the Virginia Historical Society and has continued on to Smith College, the University of Arkansas Little Rock, and Stratford Hall. What's it like being an archivist, and how does a historian make the transition from graduate school to the archives world? Listen and find out! 

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture (formerly known as the Virginia Historical Society) was developed to preserve Virginia's rich colonial and revolutionary era history. Being established in 1831, a divisive time of race and politics, the society catered to the elite of American society. Over the years, the society has sought opportunities to shift its focus to engage a more diverse and complete narrative of Virginia and American history. Join Specialist Ma'asehyahu Isra-Ul as he interviews the museum's resident scholar and curator Dr. Karen Sherry about the history of the museum and its latest ground-breaking exhibit "Determined: The 400 year struggle for Black Equality". --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leadingbyhistory/support

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society, one of the oldest and most distinguished history organizations in the nation. The historical society cares for a collection of nearly nine million items representing the ever-evolving story of Virginia. Michael Plumb, is the Vice President for Guest Engagement at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. He sits down with Kat Johnson to discuss the museum’s current exhibitions and its relationship with Fire, Flour & Fork. Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast.

On May 16, 2018, Bobby Ukrop and his coauthors participated in a moderated discussion about their book, “The Diamond—Miracle on the Boulevard.” Born out of crisis, the community-wide effort to build the region’s sparkling jewel, “The Diamond,” showed what could happen with regional cooperation, a public-private partnership, and grassroots support of the citizenry. The Diamond opened on April 17, 1985, having been built in the off-season. It was a miracle! How did it happen and what can we learn about vision and teamwork from this Miracle on the Boulevard? Co-authors Bobby Ukrop, Randy Hallman, and Phil Stanton discussed their book with Jamie Bosket, President and CEO of the Virginia Historical Society.

On March 22, 2018 , Gregory J. Hansard delivered Banner Lecture at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture entitled “‘Haven of Safety’: The Kaiser’s Courteous Pirates in Hampton Roads.” During World War I, two German surface raiders sought harbor to make repairs at Hampton Roads after sinking 25 merchant ships. British and French ships nearby kept them from leaving Newport News, so more than 800 German sailors took up residence at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. They built their own miniature German village, visited family and friends, and attended social events in the community. Their presence made the shipyard a major tourist area before the United States entered the war. Historian Gregory J. Hansard presents the fascinating story of how Hampton Roads was a haven of safety for German sailors during World War I. Mr. Hansard teaches history and museum studies at John Tyler Community College. He previously worked at the Virginia Historical Society as Manager of Web and Digital Resources and as Assistant Editor of Publications. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, where he played varsity baseball, and a masters of arts in history from Virginia State University. He is the author of "German Sailors in Hampton Roads: A World War I Story at the Norfolk Navy Yard."

Fifty years ago, cutting-edge science intersected with human drama and changed the course of medical history. The Medical College of Virginia in Richmond was situated squarely in the path of the race to the first successful human heart transplant. And now, it’s history. On March 14, 2018, at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, a panel of VCU Health transplant surgeons discussed Donald McRae’s book, "Every Second Counts", which details the critical role that the late Dr. Richard Lower and the Medical College of Virginia played in the events leading up to the first human heart transplant in December 1967 and the first human heart transplant by Dr. Lower at MCV in May 1968. The panel highlighted innovations in human organ transplantation during the past 50 years. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS: Charles F. Bryan, Jr., Ph.D. — President & CEO Emeritus, Virginia Historical Society; member of MCV Foundation Board of Trustees MODERATOR: Peter F. Buckley, M.D. — Dean, VCU School of Medicine; Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, VCU Health PANEL MEMBERS: Vigneshwar Kasirajan, M.D. — Stuart McGuire Professor and Department Chair, VCU Department of Surgery, VCU School of Medicine Marlon F. Levy, M.D. — David M. Hume Endowed Chair in Surgery, VCU School of Medicine; Professor and Chair, Division of Transplant Surgery; Director, Hume-Lee Transplant Center Keyur Shah, M.D. — Section Chief of Heart Failure, Medical Director of Mechanical Circulatory Support, Associate Professor, Division of Cardiology, VCU School of Medicine Daniel G. Tang, M.D. — Richard R. Lower, M.D. Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Associate Professor of Surgery, VCU School of Medicine; Surgical Director, Cardiac Transplant and Mechanical Support This lecture was made possible by a generous grant from Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation.

On November 2, 2017, Brian Burns delivered a Banner Lecture at the Virginia Historical Society entitled “Richmond’s Gilded Age: The Grit Behind the Glitz.” In the aftermath of the Civil War, Richmond entered the Gilded Age seeking bright prospects while struggling with its own past. During a labor convention in conservative Richmond, white supremacists prepared to enforce segregation at gunpoint. Progressives attempted to gain political power by unveiling a wondrous new marvel: Richmond’s first electric streetcar. Handsome lawyer Thomas J. Cluverius was accused of murdering a pregnant woman and dumping her body in the city reservoir, sparking Richmond’s trial of the century. And after Jefferson Davis’s death in 1889, elites launched an arduous monument-building campaign. Author Brian Burns takes us on a romp through the River City as it headed toward a new century. Brian Burns recently published his third book, Gilded Age Richmond: Gaiety, Greed and Lost Cause Mania. His previous titles include Lewis Ginter: Richmond’s Gilded Age Icon and Curiosities of the Confederate Capital: Untold Richmond Stories of the Spectacular, Tragic, and Bizarre.

On August 24, 2017, 2017, Jon Kukla delivered a Banner Lecture at the Virginia Historical Society entitled “Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty.” Patrick Henry is remembered today mostly for one line from one speech that he made: “Give me liberty or give me death.” This is a shame because he was one of the leading patriots of the Revolutionary era, Virginia’s first governor after independence, a powerful voice in the early republic, and a great orator and statesman who played such a crucial role in shaping the course of Revolutionary Virginia’s history. In Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty, Jon Kukla, who has been studying Henry for years and has even lived on one of his former plantations, restores Patrick Henry to the front rank of American Revolutionary patriots. Jon Kukla has served as director of historical research and publishing at the Library of Virginia, curator and then director of the Historic New Orleans Collection, and as director of Red Hill, The Patrick Henry National Memorial in Charlotte County. He is the author of A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America, Mr. Jefferson’s Women, and Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty.

In October 2016, the World War One Historical Association hosted a World War I Centennial Symposium at the MacArthur Memorial. Greg Hansard, the Manager of Web and Digital Resources at the Virginia Historical Society, presented on the topic: “Haven of Safety: U.S. Internment of German Sailors, 1914-1917.” Hansard described the largely positive and beneficial relationship between the German sailors and the local community but also addressed the problems of internment – including escapes and sabotage. To learn more about the World War One Historical Association, visit https://ww1ha.org/.

James Kelly has worked in museums for his whole career, and he and Colin used to work together at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. On this episode, Jim talks about growing up near Philadelphia, his years in Nashville as a grad student, and his childhood obsession with Captain Hook.

On August 10, 2016, veteran Richmond Times-Dispatch sports columnist Paul Woody, and Hall of Famer Willie Lanier gave a Banner Lecture at the Virginia Historical Society. Virginia native Willie Lanier is known as one of professional football’s greatest defensive players of all time. A 1963 graduate of Maggie L. Walker High School, he was the first African American to play middle linebacker in professional football when he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967. During his ten season career with the Chiefs, he helped lead the team to victory in Super Bowl IV, won the NFL Man of the Year award in 1972, was a six time Pro Bowler, and was enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame in 1986. Join us for a casual conversation as veteran Richmond Times-Dispatch sports columnist Paul Woody chats with Willie Lanier at the Virginia Historical Society.

On Friday, April 29, James I. Robertson, Jr., delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Civil War's Most Valuable Diarist." At the Confederate States CapitalMaryland-born John Beauchamp Jones was an established editor and novelist when civil war began. He was one of the few people who envisioned the struggle as the large-scale, all-consuming war it became. In May, 1861, he accepted a high-ranking clerkship in the Confederate War Department. For the next four years he kept a meticulous, day-by-day journal. Nothing escaped Jones's eyes and ears. Verbal descriptions of individuals, confidential reports, personal opinions, rumors, weather, inflation, newspaper articles, life inside the bloated Confederate capital—all received attention. A Rebel War Clerk's Diary appeared posthumously in 1866. This mass of information has remained only partially used because of the absences of identification of persons and events, as well as lack of an index. James I. Robertson, Jr., has edited a new edition of the diary, which includes a long introduction, 2,700 endnotes, and an index containing references to individuals and subjects. Dr. James I. "Bud" Robertson, Jr., a noted scholar on the American Civil War, is Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech and former executive director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. He also served as executive director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and as a member of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. Robertson is the author and editor of numerous books, including The Stonewall Brigade, General A. P. Hill, Soldiers, Blue and Gray, Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend, and A Rebel War Clerk's Diary: At the Confederate States Capital. This lecture is cosponsored with The Virginia Antiquarian Book Fair and the Virginia Antiquarian Bookseller's Association (VABA).

On March 24 and noon, Bruce M. Venter delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Kill Jeff Davis: The Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid on Richmond in 1864." The ostensible goal of the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid was to free some 13,000 Union POWs held in Richmond. But sinister orders found on the dead body of the raid’s subordinate commander, Col. Ulric Dahlgren, pointed to a plot to capture or kill Confederate president Jefferson Davis and set the capital ablaze. Bruce Venter’s new book delves into these areas and more as he describes the political maneuvering orchestrated by Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick to get the raid approved by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Included is a new look at the authorship of the infamous “Dahlgren Papers.” Fresh evidence on the identity of the African American guide, hanged by Dahlgren, is also revealed. And new research shows that Richmond was not defended by only “old men and young boys” when Kilpatrick and Dahlgren attacked the city. In the end, various myths and legends surrounding the raid are exposed and put to rest.

On January 19 at 5:30 p.m., T. H. Breen delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation.” T. H. Breen introduces us to a George Washington we rarely meet. By nature shy and reserved, the brand new president decided that he would visit the new citizens in their own states, that only by showing himself could he make them feel part of a new nation. Washington made four grueling trips to all thirteen states. He displayed himself as victorious general (he wore his regal uniform and rode his white stallion) and as president (grand dinners, military parades, arcs of triumph, and balls—he liked to dance). He traveled by open carriage on terrible roads, in awful weather, staying and eating at lousy inns (he would not stay with wealthy would-be hosts). Washington drew on his immense popularity, even hero worship, to send a powerful and lasting message—that America was now a nation, not a collection of states. It was an enormous success. He drew the country to him. Breen takes us on Washington’s journeys. We see the country through his eyes and listen through his ears. We come to understand why George Washington is the indispensable Founding Father. He forged a new nation. Timothy H. Breen is the William Smith Mason Professor of American History Emeritus at Northwestern University. Breen received his Ph.D. in history from Yale University. He also holds an honorary MA from Oxford University. Breen is the respected author of eleven books, including Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution (1985), American Insurgents—American Patriots: The Revolution of the People (2010), and George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation (2015). This lecture is cosponsored with the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia.

On April 7 at noon, Edward G. Lengel delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Thunder and Flames: American Doughboys at War, 1917–1918." In November 1917, American troops were poorly trained, deficient in military equipment and doctrine, not remotely ready for armed conflict on a large scale—and they'd arrived on the Western front to help the French push back the Germans. Edward G. Lengel tells the story of what followed: the American Expeditionary Forces' trial by fire on the brutal battlefields of France at places like Cantigny, Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood, the Marne River, Soissons, and little-known Fismette. The picture that emerges is sweeping in scope and rich in detail, with firsthand testimony conjuring the real mud and blood of combat from the perspective of the Germans as well as the Americans and French. Lengel shows how, by trial and error, through luck and ingenuity, the AEF swiftly became the independent fighting force of Gen. John "Blackjack" Pershing's long-held dream—its divisions ultimately among the most combat-effective military forces to see the war through. Edward G. Lengel is professor and director of the Papers of George Washington project at the University of Virginia. He is the author of General George Washington: A Military Life (2005), To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918: The Epic Battle That Ended the First World War (2008), Inventing George Washington: America's Founder, in Myth and Memory (2011), and Thunder and Flames: Americans in the Crucible of Combat, 1917–1918 (2015).

On January 21 at noon, John Grady delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “Matthew Fontaine Maury: The Last Crusade.” When Matthew Fontaine Maury was commissioned as a midshipman, he boldly wrote: “Citizen of Virginia” in accepting his warrant. Although he was born in the commonwealth, his family, like thousands of others, fled to Tennessee to start over, free of debt. He rediscovered his Virginia roots and family when he came eastward to await his first orders. Maury always returned to Virginia when awaiting new orders or needed the warmth of family and old friends. At no time did the most popular American scientist of his time show his loyalty more than when he served on the Governor’s Advisory Council, a de facto War and Navy Department, following secession. What is less well known is his critical role in rebuilding the state following the Civil War. The ambitious “Physical Survey of Virginia” from the Virginia Military Institute was an investor’s guide to opportunity. There were new struggles and controversies over what role, if any, Confederate office holders and military officers would play in the state’s public life, how the races would coexist, which institution would be the “land grant college,” and the need for a National Weather Service. That became Maury’s last crusade. John Grady, a managing editor of Navy Times for more than eight years and retired communications director of the Association of the United States Army, is a contributer to the New York Times “Disunion” series and Civil War Monitor and a blogger for the navy’s Sesquicentennial of the Civil War website. He continues writing on national security and defense. He is the author of Matthew Fontaine Maury, Father of Oceanography: A Biography, 1806–1873

On March 17 at 5:30 p.m., Alex Kershaw delivered the 2016 Stuart G. Christian, Jr. Lecture entitled “The Bedford Boys.” June 6, 1944: nineteen boys from rural Bedford, Virginia, died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day. They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and among the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches at Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia community died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost—it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget. Alex Kershaw will tell the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind—the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach. Alex Kershaw, an honorary colonel in the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division, is the widely acclaimed author of several bestselling books about World War II, including The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice, The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon, The Few: The American “Knights of the Air” Who Risked Everything to Save Britain in the Summer of 1940, and The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau. His latest book is Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris.

On December 3 at noon, Gregory D. Smithers delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Cherokee Diaspora: A History of Migration, Survival, and Pride." According to the U.S. Census, almost one million Americans self-identify as Cherokees. Wherever one travels in the United States, someone is likely to lay claim to a Cherokee ancestor somewhere in their family tree. In fact, travel as far afield as Scotland, Hawaii, or even Australia, and chances are you will meet someone who insists that they are descended from Cherokee forebears. How can so many people, scattered all over the world, claim to be Cherokee? Historian Gregory D. Smithers addresses this question in his new book, The Cherokee Diaspora. He reveals for the first time the origins of the Cherokee Diaspora. Smithers takes the reader back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to uncover the importance of migration and removal, land and tradition, and culture and language in defining what it meant to be Cherokee while living in diaspora. The story of the Cherokee Diaspora is a remarkable tale of bravery, innovation, and resilience. Gregory Smithers, an associate professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University, specializes in Native American history. He is the author of The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement, and Identity.

On November 14 at 2 p.m., Mary Miley Theobald delivered a lecture entitled "Weird-but-True Things Most People Don't Know about the Roaring Twenties." Mary Miley Theobald thinks the Roaring Twenties is the most fascinating decade in American history. In this lecture, she touches on some of the surprising things she learned about vaudeville, prohibition, silent movies, and fashion while doing background research for her mystery series. Mary Miley Theobald is the author of several works of nonfiction, including Death by Petticoat: American History Myths Debunked and First House: Two Centuries with Virginia's First Families, and an award-winning mystery series set in the Roaring Twenties. Her novels include The Impersonator and Silent Murders.

On October 29 at noon, Larry Denton will deliver a Banner Lecture entitled "Unionists in Virginia: Politics, Secession, and Their Plan to Prevent Civil War." Whether the Civil War was preventable is a debate that began shortly after Appomattox and continues today. But even earlier, in 1861, a group of Union-loyal Virginians—led by George Summers, John Brown Baldwin, John Janney, and Jubal Early—felt war was avoidable. In the statewide election for delegates to the Secession Convention that same spring, the Unionists defeated the Southern Rights Democrats with a huge majority of the votes across the state. These men unsuccessfully negotiated with Sec. of State William Henry Seward to prevent the national tragedy that would ensue. Author and historian Larry Denton traces this remarkable story of the Virginians who worked against all odds in a failed attempt to save a nation from going to war. Denton is the author of A Southern Star for Maryland: Maryland and the Secession Crisis; William Henry Seward and the Secession Crisis: The Effort to Prevent Civil War; and Unionists in Virginia: Politics, Secession and Their Plan to Prevent Civil War. He lectures widely throughout the mid-Atlantic. Now retired, he lives with his wife, Susan, near Oxford on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

On November 19 at noon, Gerald M. Pops will deliver a Banner Lecture entitled "Champion of War, Champion of Peace: The Leadership of George C. Marshall." George Catlett Marshall, recognized early on as the U.S. Army’s most capable leader, overcame a number of obstacles to become Army Chief of Staff on the very day World War II began. He served as the de facto leader of America’s military until the end of the war and then went on to serve in China as President Truman’s ambassador and then as secretary of state, president of the American Red Cross, and secretary of defense. As the father of the European Recovery Act (appropriately labeled by Truman as the “Marshall Plan”), Marshall is credited with jump-starting western Europe’s postwar economic and political recovery and laying the foundation for long-term European-American relations. For this he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This lecture will focus primarily on his extraordinary leadership between September 1939 and December 1941 in preparing America for war. Gerald M. Pops is emeritus professor of public administration at West Virginia University. He is the author of several books, including Ethical Leadership in Turbulent Times: Modeling the Public Career of George C. Marshall.

On October 8 at noon, Lynn Rainville delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “God’s Acre: Why African American Cemeteries Matter.” In Hidden History, Lynn Rainville travels through the forgotten African American cemeteries of central Virginia to recover information crucial to the stories of the black families who lived and worked there for more than two hundred years. The subjects of Rainville’s research are not statesmen or plantation elites; they are hidden residents, people who are typically underrepresented in historical research but whose stories are essential for a complete understanding of our national past. Rainville studied above-ground funerary remains in more than 150 historic African American cemeteries in Virginia to provide an overview of mortuary and funerary practices from the late eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth. Combining historical, anthropological, and archaeological perspectives, she analyzes documents—such as wills, obituaries, and letters—as well as gravestones and graveside offerings. Rainville’s findings shed light on family genealogies, the rise and fall of segregation, and attitudes toward religion and death. As many of these cemeteries are either endangered or already destroyed, the book and this talk will include a discussion about the challenges of preservation and how Virginians may visit, and help preserve, these valuable cultural assets. Lynn Rainville is a research professor in the humanities and the founding director of the Tusculum Institute for local history, located at Sweet Briar College. Her most recent book is Hidden History: African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia

On September 3 at noon, Barclay Rives delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "William Cabell Rives: A Country to Serve." Defying the president and Democratic Party leaders in an 1838 Senate speech, William Cabell Rives declared, “I can never forget that I have a country to serve as well as a party to obey.” His career of public service began under the tutelage of his neighbors, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and extended beyond the Civil War he struggled to prevent. Rives was the third president of the Virginia Historical Society (1847–68), biographer of Madison, and editor of a four volume edition of Madison’s papers. Barclay Rives will discuss highlights of the life of this Virginia statesman, historian, and agriculturalist. Barclay Rives has published articles and stories in Virginia Sportsman, In & Around Horse Country, Albemarle Magazine, and other periodicals. He is the author of A History of Grace Church, The 100 Year History of the Keswick Hunt Club, William Cabell Rives: A Country to Serve, and See You at Second Horses.

On September 9 at noon, A. E. Dick Howard will deliver a Banner Lecture entitled "Magna Carta: 800 Years since Runnymede." A. E. Dick HowardIn 2015 people on both sides of the Atlantic will mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. On June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, a reluctant King John agreed to the barons' terms in a document which came to be known as Magna Carta. Though the king never meant to keep his promises, Magna Carta survived. Down through the centuries, it has been a symbol of opposition to arbitrary government. Magna Carta came to America with the English colonies' first charters. In the years leading up to the Revolution, Americans framed their arguments against British policies by drawing upon the language of the early charters and upon Magna Carta as their birthright. Having declared independence, Americans turned to writing and implementing state constitutions and, ultimately, a Federal Constitution. Magna Carta left an indelible mark on these developments. At the core of this legacy is the rule of law—the thesis that no one, including those in government, is above the law. Another principle traceable to the Great Charter is constitutional supremacy—the idea of a superstatute against which ordinary laws are to be measured. Constitutional provisions guaranteeing due process of law derive directly from Magna Carta's assurance of proceedings according to the "law of the land." And the uses successive generations, in England and America, have made of the Charter have given us the idea of an organic, evolving Constitution, one that can be adapted to the needs and challenges of our own time. A. E. Dick Howard is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, he was a law clerk to Justice Hugo L. Black of the Supreme Court of the United States. A member of High Table at Christ Church, Oxford, Professor Howard has written extensively on constitutional law and history, including The Road from Runnymede: Magna Carta and Constitutionalism in America. Recently the University of Virginia conferred on him its Thomas Jefferson Award—the highest honor the University accords a member of the faculty

On September 3, 2015, Barclay Rives delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “William Cabell Rives: A Country to Serve.” Defying the president and Democratic Party leaders in an 1838 Senate speech, William Cabell Rives declared, “I can never forget that I have a country to serve as well as a party to obey.” His career of public service began under the tutelage of his neighbors, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and extended beyond the Civil War he struggled to prevent. Rives was the third president of the Virginia Historical Society (1847–68), biographer of Madison, and editor of a four volume edition of Madison's papers. Barclay Rives will discuss highlights of the life of this Virginia statesman, historian, and agriculturalist. Barclay Rives has published articles and stories in Virginia Sportsman, In & Around Horse Country, Albemarle Magazine, and other periodicals. He is the author of A History of Grace Church, The 100 Year History of the Keswick Hunt Club, William Cabell Rives: A Country to Serve, and See You at Second Horses. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On July 23 at noon, Eric Hall delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “A Native Son Comes Home: The Life and Legacy of Arthur Ashe.” Virginia’s own Arthur Ashe was one of the world’s best tennis players in the 1960s and 1970s, winning multiple Davis Cup titles and three Grand Slam events: the U.S. Open, the Australian Open, and Wimbledon. He was also deeply committed to human and civil rights causes, most notably the antiapartheid movement in South Africa. His career as an athlete and activist straddling the civil rights and Black Power movements, Ashe fought against racism and injustice from the political center and welcomed public and private debate. This lecture will explore Ashe’s early life in Richmond and Lynchburg as well as his legacy as a public intellectual. Eric Allen Hall is an assistant professor of history and Africana studies at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. He is the author of Arthur Ashe: Tennis and Justice in the Civil Rights Era.

On August 6 at noon, Peter Wallenstein delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Quest for Loving: Race, Sex, and the Freedom to Marry." Mildred Jeter was not a white woman. Richard Loving, all agreed, was a white man. So Virginia state law not only rendered their 1958 marriage illegal but also required a penalty for it of at least a year in prison. Circuit Court Judge Leon F. Bazile chose, though, to suspend their prison sentences if they agreed to leave the state. After a few years of exile, the Lovings sought legal assistance to let them return home, and this they obtained from Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop. The court appeal elicited from the judge a declaration that “Almighty God created the races” and, intending that they never cross racial lines and marry, “placed them on separate continents.” Two young lovers, two young lawyers, and an elderly local judge—this talk explores their tangled biographies on the way toward a breakthrough Supreme Court ruling in 1967, a ruling that resonates down to the present. Peter Wallenstein is an award-winning professor of history at Virginia Tech. His many books include Cradle of America: A History of Virginia and Race, Sex, and the Freedom to Marry: Loving v. Virginia.

On August 20 at noon, Diane Kiesel delivered Banner Lecture entitled "She Can Bring Us Home: Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee, Civil Rights Pioneer." At a time when blacks faced Jim Crow segregation, menial employment opportunities, and lynch mobs, Dorothy Ferebee, a native of Norfolk, was sought after to advise presidents and Congress on civil rights matters and to assist foreign governments on public health issues. She ran one of the nation’s most influential civil rights’ organizations—the National Council of Negro Women—during the nascent racial equality movement and led one of history’s most famous public health efforts—the Mississippi Health Project—in the Deep South during the Great Depression. Dr. Ferebee was a household name in black America for forty years. In her day, she was the media darling of the then thriving African American press. Ironically, her fame faded and her relevance waned as blacks achieved the professional and political power for which she so vigorously fought. This is the first full-scale biography of this significant but relatively unknown black leader. Judge Diane Kiesel—a former reporter in the Washington, D.C., bureau of Copley Newspapers; prosecutor in the Office of the New York County District Attorney; and adjunct professor of law at New York Law School—is currently an Acting Supreme Court Justice on the New York state trial court. She is the author of Domestic Violence: Law, Policy, and Practice and She Can Bring Us Home: Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee, Civil Rights Pioneer by Diane KieselAt a time when blacks faced Jim Crow segregation, menial employment opportunities, and lynch mobs, Dorothy Ferebee, a native of Norfolk, was sought after to advise presidents and Congress on civil rights matters and to assist foreign governments on public health issues. She ran one of the nation’s most influential civil rights’ organizations—the National Council of Negro Women—during the nascent racial equality movement and led one of history’s most famous public health efforts—the Mississippi Health Project—in the Deep South during the Great Depression. Dr. Ferebee was a household name in black America for forty years. In her day, she was the media darling of the then thriving African American press. Ironically, her fame faded and her relevance waned as blacks achieved the professional and political power for which she so vigorously fought. This is the first full-scale biography of this significant but relatively unknown black leader. Judge Diane Kiesel—a former reporter in the Washington, D.C., bureau of Copley Newspapers; prosecutor in the Office of the New York County District Attorney; and adjunct professor of law at New York Law School—is currently an Acting Supreme Court Justice on the New York state trial court. She is the author of Domestic Violence: Law, Policy, and Practice and She Can Bring Us Home: Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee, Civil Rights Pioneer.

On July 2 at noon, Marc Leepson delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life.” Just about every American knows the name Francis Scott Key, but very few know anything more about him other than the fact that he wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But there was much more to Francis Scott Key. One of the most famous, admired, and accomplished men in the early American Republic, Key was a patriotic, pious, hard-working, and well-connected Washington, D.C., lawyer. He had a thriving private legal practice; argued more than a hundred cases before the Supreme Court; and served as U.S. attorney in Washington for eight years. A confidant of President Andrew Jackson, Key was a member of Old Hickory’s kitchen cabinet and handled many sensitive legal matters for the Jackson Administration. Marc Leepson’s new biography, What So Proudly We Hailed, describes in detail how Key found himself in Baltimore Harbor on the night of September 13, 1814. It goes on to recount the other important events of his life, including his role as a founding member and one of the leaders of the American Colonization Society. Marc Leepson, historian and former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, is the author of eight books, including Saving Monticello, Lafayette: Idealist General, and What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life.

On July 9, 2015, Charles F. Bryan, Jr., delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The History Crisis in America: Myth and Reality." History occupies a paradoxical and problematic place in contemporary American culture. Numerous commentators argue that we face a growing crisis of historical amnesia, and that Americans do not value and support history as much as previous generations. They worry that history is not being properly taught. Historian Charles Bryan disagrees. “Never before have a people done as much to collect, preserve, and share their history on such a scale as have Americans,” he writes. This contrarian view of the state of history in the United States should come as no surprise to the thousands of readers of his regular columns in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Dr. Charles F. Bryan, Jr., is an American historian who spent most of his career in the museum field, including twenty as president of the Virginia Historical Society. He began writing essays for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in the 1990's. He is coeditor of Eye of the Storm: A Civil War Odyssey and Images from the Storm: 300 Civil War Images by the Author of Eye of the Storm. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On June 11, Terry Alford delivered the 2015 Hazel and Fulton Chauncey Lecture, entitled "Fortune’s Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth." With a single shot from a pistol small enough to conceal in his hand, John Wilkes Booth catapulted into history on the night of April 14, 1865. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln stunned a nation that was just emerging from the chaos and calamity of the Civil War, and the president's untimely death altered the trajectory of postwar history. But to those who knew Booth, the event was even more shocking-for no one could have imagined that this fantastically gifted actor and well-liked man could commit such an atrocity. In Fortune's Fool, Terry Alford provides the first comprehensive look at the life of an enigmatic figure whose life has been overshadowed by his final, infamous act. Terry Alford is a professor of history at Northern Virginia Community College. He is the author of Prince Among Slaves, which was made into a PBS documentary in 2007, and Fortune's Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth

The Virginia Environmental Endowment Oral History Project. McCarthy, Gerald P. 2009 September 4 (1 of 3 interviews) The Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va. Length: 1:38:35 Mss 3 V81951a FA2 The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On Saturday, February 28, 2009, the community was invited to attend a conference about Richmond's African American history, "Hidden Things Brought to Light: Finding Lumpkin's Jail and Locating the Burial Ground for Negroes." Sponsored by the Virginia Historical Society, the City of Richmond Slave Trail Commission, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the half-day conference presented recent scholarship on two downtown Richmond historical sites, the Burial Ground for Negroes and Lumpkin's Slave Jail, both of which have special importance for the history of African Americans in Virginia. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On Saturday, February 28, 2009, the community was invited to attend a conference about Richmond's African American history, "Hidden Things Brought to Light: Finding Lumpkin's Jail and Locating the Burial Ground for Negroes." Sponsored by the Virginia Historical Society, the City of Richmond Slave Trail Commission, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the half-day conference presented recent scholarship on two downtown Richmond historical sites, the Burial Ground for Negroes and Lumpkin's Slave Jail, both of which have special importance for the history of African Americans in Virginia. Welcome and Introduction by Kathleen Kilpatrick, Director, Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources Paul Levengood, President and CEO, Virginia Historical Society Dr. Lauranett Lee, Curator of African American History, Virginia Historical Society The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future was a FREE, day-long conference focusing on the historic relationship between Virginia's environment and its people held at the Virginia Historical Society on March 16, 2012. The conference was sponsored by the Virginia Historical Society and made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On September 13, 2007, Dr. Levengood delivered this lecture on his book, Virginia: Catalyst of Commerce for Four Centuries. He is president-elect and CEO-elect of the Virginia Historical Society. This lecture was a program of the VHS's Reynolds Business History Center. (Introduction by Nelson D. Lankford) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

In this autobiographical lecture, Dr. Bryan reflects on the field of public history as it developed during the course of his own career. In 1988, he was appointed as President and CEO of the Virginia Historical Society. During his tenure, Dr. Bryan oversaw fund-raising campaigns that raised more than $110 million. These efforts have resulted in quadrupling the size of the Society's headquarters building and a significant expansion of educational programs statewide. In November 2008, Dr. Bryan retired from the VHS and was named president emeritus by the board of trustees. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On April 14, 2011, Nelson D. Lankford delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Crooked Road to Civil War." When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861, Virginia remained a loyal state within the Union. In the convention that met in Richmond to consider the commonwealth's relationship to the national government, union men held a strong majority. But as events unfolded, their loyalty wavered. Nelson Lankford recounts the dramatic events of that spring, when no one could foretell the future of the country, seemingly poised on the brink of dissolution. Dr. Lankford is vice president for programs at the Virginia Historical Society and author of "Cry Havoc! The Crooked Road to Civil War, 1861." This lecture is cosponsored with the Richmond National Battlefield Park. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On April 22, 2010, Lee Shepard delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Hidden Treasures: A Short History of the Mary Custis Lee Trunks." In 2002, two wooden trunks were found at Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company in Alexandria, Va. The trunks contained letters, legal papers, journals, travel souvenirs, financial records, and smaller artifacts that were collected by Mary Custis Lee, the eldest daughter of General Robert E. Lee. The collection of manuscripts and artifacts, now at the Virginia Historical Society, have been added to what is currently the largest holding of Lee family papers in any single repository. Lee Shepard will discuss and show images of items found in the trunks—including an 1810 letter from George Washington Parke Custis, the builder of Arlington House; an 1863 order from Robert E. Lee, in his own hand, announcing the death of General Stonewall Jackson; and an 1872 letter from former Arlington House slave Selina Gray to Mary Randolph Custis Lee. He will also reveal new information that we have learned not only about Robert E. Lee but also about his very interesting daughter Mary. Lee Shepard is vice president for collections at the VHS. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On February 4, 2010, Muffie Meyer delivered a lecture entitled "Dolley Madison: A Documentary." In March, the "American Experience" history series on PBS will broadcast a new documentary on the life of Dolley Madison. Today's event offers a preview of part of the documentary, along with commentary about the making of the film by the producer and director, Muffie Meyer. This event is jointly sponsored by the Virginia Historical Society and James Madison's Montpelier. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

On June 20, 2013, Dean King delivered the 2013 Hazel and Fulton Chauncey Lecture at the Virginia Historical Society entitled "The Feud: The All-American, No-Holds-Barred, Blood-and-Guts Story of the Hatfields and McCoys." The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.