VMHC Lectures

On September 9, 2015, 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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 August 20, 2015, 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.

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 August 6, 2015, 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.

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 2, 2015, 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.

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, 2015, 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.

The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.