VMHC Lectures

On Tuesday, November 11, at noon, Karen Abbott delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War." After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring. Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies’ descendants, Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little-known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.

On November 6 at noon, Mark A. Bradley delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior." Duncan Chaplin Lee was a Rhodes Scholar, patriot, and descendent of one of America’s most distinguished families—and possibly the best-placed mole ever to infiltrate U.S. intelligence operations. In his new book, Mark A. Bradley traces the tangled roots of Lee’s betrayal and reveals his harrowing struggle to stay one step ahead of America’s spy hunters during and after World War II. Drawing on Lee’s letters and thousands of previously unreleased CIA, FBI, and state department records, Bradley tells the unlikely story of a spy who chose his conscience over his country and its dark consequences. Mark Bradley is a former CIA intelligence officer and is currently serving as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division. He is the author of A Very Principled Boy: The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior.

On Tuesday, November 11, 2014, Karen Abbott delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War."

After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring. Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies’ descendants, Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little-known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.

Abbott is a featured contributor to Smithsonian's history blog, Past Imperfect, and also writes for Disunion, the New York Times series about the Civil War. She is the author of several books, including American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee (2010) and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War (2014).

This lecture is cosponsored with the American Civil War Museum.

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 November 6, 2014, Mark A. Bradley delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior."

Duncan Chaplin Lee was a Rhodes Scholar, patriot, and descendent of one of America’s most distinguished families—and possibly the best-placed mole ever to infiltrate U.S. intelligence operations. In his new book, Mark A. Bradley traces the tangled roots of Lee’s betrayal and reveals his harrowing struggle to stay one step ahead of America’s spy hunters during and after World War II. Drawing on Lee’s letters and thousands of previously unreleased CIA, FBI, and state department records, Bradley tells the unlikely story of a spy who chose his conscience over his country and its dark consequences.

Mark Bradley is a former CIA intelligence officer and is currently serving as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division. He is the author of A Very Principled Boy: The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior.

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 October 30 at noon, Rose Marie Mitchell delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Richmond’s Old Stone House and Poe Museum." Even though the Old Stone House in Richmond is often called the Poe House because the legend has grown that the writer once lived in the structure, the story is not true. Poe never lived there. How then did the connection between the man and the house eventually become a reality and not just an Idea? After countless years of interest in Edgar Allan Poe and over three years of research, Rose Marie Mitchell has gathered the facts and stories to bring it all together to show how the house and the man are connected and how the Old Stone House is worthy of preservation in its own right and certainly worthy of being a memorial site for the internationally known and respected author.

On October 15 at 5:30 p.m., A. Scott Berg delivered the J. Harvie Wilkinson, Jr., Lecture entitled "Woodrow Wilson-Across Three Centuries." One hundred years after his inauguration, Woodrow Wilson still stands as one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, and one of the most enigmatic. A. Scott Berg will speak about his newest biography, Wilson, the most personal and penetrating study about not only Wilson the icon but also Wilson the man.

On October 30, 2014, Rose Marie Mitchell delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Richmond’s Old Stone House and Poe Museum."

Even though the Old Stone House in Richmond is often called the Poe House because the legend has grown that the writer once lived in the structure, the story is not true. Poe never lived there. How then did the connection between the man and the house eventually become a reality and not just an Idea? After countless years of interest in Edgar Allan Poe and over three years of research, Rose Marie Mitchell has gathered the facts and stories to bring it all together to show how the house and the man are connected and how the Old Stone House is worthy of preservation in its own right and certainly worthy of being a memorial site for the internationally known and respected author.

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 October 15, A. Scott Berg delivered the 2014 J. Harvie Wilkinson, Jr., Lecture entitled "Woodrow Wilson-Across Three Centuries."

One hundred years after his inauguration, Woodrow Wilson still stands as one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, and one of the most enigmatic. A. Scott Berg will speak about his newest biography, Wilson, the most personal and penetrating study about not only Wilson the icon but also Wilson the man.

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 October 9 at noon, Lorri Glover delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Founders as Fathers: Going Home with Virginia's Revolutionary." Set against the backdrop of Revolutionary Virginia, Lorri Glover’s new book, Founders as Fathers: Family Values and Revolutionary Politics, offers an intimate portrait of the lives of the country’s most celebrated political leaders, revealing, for the first time, how they struggled to balance civic duties against domestic responsibilities and contended with a revolution that remade family life every bit as much as political institutions. Glover’s lecture will bring to life the surprising, profound connections between family and politics in the lives of the Virginians who became the principal architects of the American Republic: George Mason, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Lorri Glover, the John Francis Bannon Endowed Chair in the Department of History at Saint Louis University, has written several books about early American history from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth, including Southern Sons: Becoming Men in the New Nation (2007) and Founders as Fathers: Family Values and Revolutionary Politics (2014).

On October 9, 2014, Lorri Glover delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Founders as Fathers: Going Home with Virginia's Revolutionary."

Set against the backdrop of Revolutionary Virginia, Lorri Glover’s new book, Founders as Fathers: Family Values and Revolutionary Politics, offers an intimate portrait of the lives of the country’s most celebrated political leaders, revealing, for the first time, how they struggled to balance civic duties against domestic responsibilities and contended with a revolution that remade family life every bit as much as political institutions. Glover’s lecture will bring to life the surprising, profound connections between family and politics in the lives of the Virginians who became the principal architects of the American Republic: George Mason, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

Lorri Glover, the John Francis Bannon Endowed Chair in the Department of History at Saint Louis University, has written several books about early American history from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth, including Southern Sons: Becoming Men in the New Nation (2007) and Founders as Fathers: Family Values and Revolutionary Politics (2014).

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