VMHC Lectures

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 February 4, 2016, the Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “Richmond and the American Dream: Revolution and Reality.”

The dream that is particularly American is not the European dream for America, lived out in the first two centuries of European settlement, but rather, the dream that emerges at the time of the American Revolution. The full articulation of that dream coincides with the birth of Richmond as the capital city of Virginia. Richmond became capital of commonwealth in the midst of the Revolution. In May 1780, the legislature met in Richmond for the first time. In 1782, the city was incorporated within Henrico County. Over the next twenty-five years, the population of the capital city grew tenfold, from 600 persons to 6,000. Thus, in many ways, Richmond is a child-city of the Revolution. The subsequent 235 years of Richmond’s history represent a textbook in the dramatic, unresolved issues, which the American Revolution presented. This lecture will look at the American Dream of Revolution, its dark underside, its achievements, and at its unparalleled potential still to be realized in Richmond’s most decisive decade.

The Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell studied political science and political economy at Williams College in Massachusetts, and studied theology as a Rhodes Scholar at the Queen’s College in Oxford. He received a Master’s in Divinity and an honorary Doctorate in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. He was ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church in 1966. In 1987, he became Pastoral Director of Richmond Hill, an ecumenical Christian community and retreat center on Church Hill in Richmond. He is the author of Richmond's Unhealed History.

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 at noon, the Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “Richmond and the American Dream: Revolution and Reality.”

The dream that is particularly American is not the European dream for America, lived out in the first two centuries of European settlement, but rather, the dream that emerges at the time of the American Revolution. The full articulation of that dream coincides with the birth of Richmond as the capital city of Virginia. Richmond became capital of commonwealth in the midst of the Revolution. In May 1780, the legislature met in Richmond for the first time. In 1782, the city was incorporated within Henrico County. Over the next twenty-five years, the population of the capital city grew tenfold, from 600 persons to 6,000. Thus, in many ways, Richmond is a child-city of the Revolution. The subsequent 235 years of Richmond’s history represent a textbook in the dramatic, unresolved issues, which the American Revolution presented. This lecture will look at the American Dream of Revolution, its dark underside, its achievements, and at its unparalleled potential still to be realized in Richmond’s most decisive decade.

The Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell studied political science and political economy at Williams College in Massachusetts, and studied theology as a Rhodes Scholar at the Queen’s College in Oxford. He received a Master’s in Divinity and an honorary Doctorate in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. He was ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church in 1966. In 1987, he became Pastoral Director of Richmond Hill, an ecumenical Christian community and retreat center on Church Hill in Richmond. He is the author of Richmond's Unhealed History.

On July 24, 2008, Dr. Paul Levengood gave a banner Lecture entitled "From Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers"

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 12, 2008, Keith Gibson gave a Banner Lecture entitled "Moses Ezekiel: Civil War Soldier, Renowned Sculptor"

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 May 29,2008 Alan Crawford gave a Banner Lecture entitled "Twlight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson

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 December 4,2008 Harold Holzer gave a banner lecture entitled "Lincoln: President Elect".

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 January 21, 2016, 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

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 January 19, 2016, 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.

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 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.