History Replays Today

Shockoe Hill Cemetery and the History Pug

The graves of John and Polly Marshall

Jeffry Burden, who is on the Board of Directors for the Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery and is its president tell History Replays Today, The Richmond History Podcast about the first municipal cemetery not affiliated with a church in Richmond.  The cemetery on the north side of RVA, is the final resting place of some amazing Richmonders including John Marshall (the subject of the last episode) and his wife, Elizabeth Van Lew the Union spy, Peter Francisco, the “Giant of the Revolution”, and many Richmonders associated with Edgar Allen Poe.

Elizabeth Van Lew’s grave

Help support or find out more about the Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery here.

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Joh Marshall by Henry Inman, 1832

John Marshall House at 818 E Marshall St, Richmond, Va c. 1900

Which Richmonder do you think has had the largest influence on the United States Government?  It may be  short list but at the top of that list, or at least near the top, has got to be John Marshall.  On this episode Bobbie LeViness, Site Coordination of The John Marshall House at 818 E Marshall St discusses Marshall’s life.

Marshall built the house at 818 E Marshall St in 1790  and lived there until his death in 1835.  Since the early 1900’s Preservation Virginia has owned the house and now runs it as a museum to the man who built it.

Marshall’s amazing life includes being an officer in the Continental Army and he was the first person, and still one of only a few, to serve in all 3 branches of the federal government.  He is best know as the third confirmed Chief Justice of the United State.  He is the longest serving and is known as the “Great Chief Justice”.

You are encouraged to visit the John Marshall House which closes during some of the colder months but reopens on Feb 28, 2014 and is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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Richmond has often been called a Civil War town, but how much do we know about the average Richmonder during the tumultuous 4 years that were the Civil War?  This is the first of a series new periodic series called Civil War Life in Richmond.  The series will examine what it would be like for civilians to live in RVA.  This first episode features Historian and Park Guide from the National Park Service Mike Gorman.  Gorman was on episode 10 Lincoln in Richmond.

Topics rang from how the newspapers covered daily life in RVA to the reaction to already having a city government, housing the Virginia state government and then mixing in a federal government that was housed in the same building as the state government.

Mike Gorman maintains a fantastic website with a great mount of information about Civil War Richmond.  It can be found at mdgorman.com

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GWAR

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Some people may find some of the topics objectionable.

Bob Gorman

Bob Gorman is the Secretary and the Shop Foreman for the Richmond based, Slave Pit Inc., which is, better know as the metal band GWAR.  GWAR is much more than band.  Its a 28 year old multimedia art collective that is know for its stage show as much as its music. The group floats somewhere between musical theater, professional wrestling, and a live horror movie.  The narrative or mythos of the band is always changing but is basically, a group of aliens sent to earth as a punishment only to be trapped in the ice of Antarctica.  They would then be freed by global warming and discovered by a music producer.  They now travel the world playing music and fighting their enemies.

Bonesnapper, played by Bob Gorman

For more than 25 years Gorman has been making monsters, playing characters on stage, and acting as GWAR’s historian.  As well as continuing his work with GWAR, Gorman is currently working on a documentary and coffee table book about the group.  In this conversation with host Jeff Majer Gorman discusses the humble origins of GWAR in a run down building, their run-ins with the law, one of which ended up getting the ACLU involved, the groups two Grammy nominations, why they were turned away from the Grammies, the unexpected death of their long time guitar player Cory Smoot that resulted from a preexisting condition and a lot more.

Bob Gorman working at the Slave Pit

GWAR has just released their 13th studio album Battle Maximus, and will be going on tour in Australia in February and then will be making their first trip to Japan in early 2014.  To find out more information about GWAR where to buy their new album Battle Maximus, where to see the show or how to donate to the Cory Smoot foundation go to GWAR.NET.

All photos are courtesy of Bob Gorman.

In this episode Free University is discussed, for more information on Free University listen to the episode with Dale Brumfield and Richmond’s Independent Press.

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Gorman from the film “Phallus in Wonderland”

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The Wickham House where The Valentine opened, seen after 1933. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

On this episode, Bill Martin, The Director of The Valentine Richmond History Center discusses the history of The Valentine, which is the oldest museum in Richmond.  The museum opened its doors in 1898 in the Wickham House on the corner of Clay and 11th St.  Over the years the museum has gone through many changes as RVA and its needs for a museum have changed, including expansion.  The museum now takes up the entire block of East Grace St between 10th & 11th Streets.  Martin also tells History Replays Today about the current renovations of the museums main galleries.  The renovation is allowing Martin and The Valentine to reexamine what its means to live in a city like Richmond, that is layered with history and how that history should be taught and related to.

The Valentine Richmond History Center is a must visit for any one that wants to know anything about Richmond.  The museum (like this podcast) focuses on ALL of Richmond’s history not just the Civil War.  In fact Martin lays out why the Civil War may not even be the most important time in RVA’s history.

The Wickham House and Edward Valentine’s Studio remain open through out the renovation.  The renovations progress can be monitored every Wednesday at the “Hard Hat Happy Hour”.  The Valentine’s Community Discussions will also continue.  Find out more information on the Valentine’s calendar of events.

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The Byrd Theater in 1953, for The Byrd Collection

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Correction! In my introduction I mention that Its A Wonderful Life is playing Dec 24, 2013 and Dec 25, 2013.  I incorrectly said the times for Dec 25 are 7:15 and 9:30.  The correct time is 7:15 and 9:45.  For more info about times click here.

Todd A. Schall-Vess, General Manager of The Byrd Theater, in Carytown talks about the 85 year history of the theater.  It opened on Dec 24, 1928.  Schall-Vess discusses the opening of the theater, The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, the natural spring built into the theater,  and much more.  The Byrd is the oldest operating movie theater in Richmond. The photo to the left and below are from opening day of The Byrd in 1928.

Information about going to The Byrd can be found here http://byrdtheatre.com/

The Byrd is a staple in Carytown and has been there since before Carytown was called Carytown and even before that stretch of Cary St was called Cary St.  Information on how to support The Byrd can be found  at http://www.byrdtheatrefoundation.org/

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Benjamin Ross, Historian at 6th Mount Zion Baptist Church which dates back to 1867and started in a Confederate  horse stable by the James River.

Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1887 for the church’s collection

The Church was started by the charismatic Rev John Jasper who is most famous for his “Stars Do Move” sermon that proved the Earth was flat and that the Sun revolved around the Earth using the bible.

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The hat worn by The Rev John Jasper with the stained glass windows from the original building on Duval St in Jackson Ward., photo by Jeff Majer

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Interior of 6th Mount Zion Baptist Church, photo by Jeff Majer

Lincoln riding through the streets of Richmond

Mike Gorman talks to host Jeff Majer about President Abraham Lincoln’s historic trip to Richmond less then 48 hour after the evacuation of the Confederate Government.  The Confederates had held the strong hold in RVA for 4 years and on their way out of town the business district will be set ablaze.

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When the President appears on the banks of the James River he will be mobbed by newly freed slaves as he tries to push his way through Shockoe.

Gorman is a historian with the National Park Service and compiles sources about Civil War Richmond at www.mdgorman.com.

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Dale Brumfield

This episode of History Replays Today, The Richmond History Podcast features Dale Brumfield, the author of Richmond Independent Press, The Underground Zine Scene and a founder of Throttle.   This episode covers Richmond’s (dis) connection to Martin Luther King’s assignation, King’s version of his “I have a dream speech” to protest VA’s failure to integrate its schools, how Allen Ginsberg accidentally started a riot in the fan, why James Brown and other black musicians were banned in Richmond, why the section of Franklin St through VCU is so well preserved, local lore like a poet who lived on the Kanawha Canal and why he through a cow in the canal, & much more.

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In this special baseball episode of History Replays Today, The Richmond History Podcast there are 3 guests, John O’ Connor, Betty Dementi, and Guy Kinman.  Topics include The Diamond, The Richmond Braves, The Flying Squirrels, Babe Ruth, Chipper Jones, Tate Field, and much more.

John O’Connor, a staff writer for the Richmond-Times Dispatch, discusses the history of The Diamond.  There is a long standing debate about what to do with The Diamond and this is a look back at its somewhat short history.  John O’Connor also references Richmond’s rich baseball history before The Diamond.

Betty Dementi is the subject of the previous episode and the retired owner of Dementi Studios.  These baseball stories were not included in the earlier episode.  To see the picture referenced in the first Betty Dementi portion click.

Guy Kinman is a LGBT activist in Richmond.  There will be a future episode with more of the conversation with Kinman but I this is some unrelated baseball stories that he told.

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