VMHC Lectures

On May 25, 2023, author Preston Smith gave a fascinating lecture about his father’s service as the last U.S. pilot accepted into the ranks of the RAF during World War II.

In a voice both timeless and distinctly greatest generational, Richmonder Parke F. Smith wrote about being the last U.S. pilot accepted into the ranks of the RAF through their training exchange program at War Eagle Field, Los Angeles. After completing their course, he sailed to England on board the HMS Queen Elizabeth, swore allegiance to the king, and was offered a coveted spot training as a fighter pilot. From 1942 to 1946, Smith flew 129 missions in North Africa, Italy, and over the North Sea, before returning home. Amazingly—blessedly—he made it home, unlike so many of his friends and comrades. It is to them he dedicated his writing. But war stories are only the half of it. Smith writes of human connection and camaraderie formed in war's trenches, revealing enduring truths through anecdotes made even more humorous from his perspective as a total outsider. Preston Smith offers an insider’s view into his father’s unique military service, telling a story about finding home—no matter how foreign—and fighting for it with all you've got.

Parke’s son, Preston Smith, collected these writings, some discovered on old “floppy” disks, some in notebooks, and some in previously published volumes, bringing them to life as the 2020 book, Spitfire: An American WWII Fighter Pilot in the RAF. Virginians will remember the Smith family flying aerobatics for Barnstormers Airshows at King’s Dominion amusement park in Ashland, with Parke piloting a bi-plane, sons Jimmie and Preston manning the hot air balloon ascensions and assisting sky divers, and their mom knitting in the car.

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 11, 2023, Rachel Beanland gave a lecture about the historical research behind her novel about the Richmond Theater Fire, The House is On Fire.

Rachel Beanland’s latest novel, The House Is On Fire, is based on the true story of the 1811 Richmond Theater fire and is already being called “a stunning achievement” by Jeannette Walls and “a propulsive, pulse-pounding read” by Kathleen Grissom. The novel begins the night of the fire and follows four characters—white and Black, free and enslaved—who experience the incendiary event from very different perspectives. Beanland based all four characters on the lives of real people who lived through the fire and its aftermath, and in this talk, she’ll share how she used primary and secondary sources—including archival material belonging to the Virginia Museum of History and Culture—to bring these characters and others to life.

Rachel Beanland’s first novel, Florence Adler Swims Forever, was selected as a book club pick by Barnes & Noble, a featured debut by Amazon, an Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers Association, and one of the best books of 2020 by USA Today. It was also named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and was recognized with the 2020 National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction. Beanland earned her MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her family. Her newest book is The House is On Fire.

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 5, 2023, author Craig S. Chapman spoke about the first overseas deployment of American troops, in which 4,000 colonists (including 400 from Virginia) served in the British Army on a disastrous expedition to the Caribbean.

In 1740 Great Britain mounted the largest overseas expedition in its history to that time. The goal was to seize control of Spain’s West Indies possessions during the so-called War of Jenkins’ Ear. Because of the large number of sailors and soldiers required, Britain resorted to enlisting recruits from its North American colonies to serve in the king’s army. The British launched joint land-sea attacks on Cartagena de Indias (modern day Colombia), Santiago de Cuba, and Panama, but failed in all three missions. Thirteen to fifteen thousand Britons and Americans perished on the expedition, as many as would die in the entire French and Indian War. As Capt. Lawrence Washington remarked, “War is horrid, in fact.”

Craig S. Chapman is the author of "Disaster on the Spanish Main: The Tragic British-American Expedition to the West Indies during the War of Jenkins’ Ear" and two other military histories, "Battle Hardened: An Infantry Officer’s Harrowing Journey from D-Day to VE Day" and "More Terrible Than Victory: North Carolina’s Bloody Bethel Regiment, 1861–65."

This lecture was sponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars 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 May 5, 2023, Craig S. Chapman spoke about the first overseas deployment of American troops, in which 4,000 colonists (including 400 from Virginia) served in the British Army on a disastrous expedition to the Caribbean. In 1740 Great Britain mounted the largest overseas expedition in its history to that time. The goal was to seize control of Spain’s West Indies possessions during the so-called War of Jenkins’ Ear. Because of the large number of sailors and soldiers required, Britain resorted to enlisting recruits from its North American colonies to serve in the king’s army. The British launched joint land-sea attacks on Cartagena de Indias (modern day Colombia), Santiago de Cuba, and Panama, but failed in all three missions. Thirteen to fifteen thousand Britons and Americans perished on the expedition, as many as would die in the entire French and Indian War. As Capt. Lawrence Washington remarked, “War is horrid, in fact.”

Craig S. Chapman is the author of "Disaster on the Spanish Main: The Tragic British-American Expedition to the West Indies during the War of Jenkins’ Ear" and two other military histories, "Battle Hardened: An Infantry Officer’s Harrowing Journey from D-Day to VE Day" and "More Terrible Than Victory: North Carolina’s Bloody Bethel Regiment, 1861–65."

This lecture was sponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars 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 April 27, writer Christopher Graham, delivered a lecture about his book Faith, Race, and the Lost Cause: Confessions of a Southern Church.

When a young man enamored with Confederate iconography murdered worshipers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015, the rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond called his congregation to examine its own racial history and former identity as the “Church of the Confederacy.” St. Paul’s, in downtown Richmond, had been the home to wealthy and influential Virginians, and during the Civil War had hosted Confederate leaders, including Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. The people of St. Paul’s reveled in the notoriety and built its postwar identity around its Confederate connections. This book is a result of a congregational self-study, and chronicles how this church understood Christian teachings and practice regarding race relations from the 1840s to our present moment. Along the way, it reveals a few unexpected moments in the evolution of a Lost Cause institution, while contemplating the ways that people change over time and use historical imagination to manifest a present reality. In the end, we learn reasons for hope and sobering lessons for those who wish to do the right thing.

Christopher Graham is a historian, museum curator, and member of St. Paul’s. He is the author of Faith, Race, and the Lost Cause: Confessions of a Southern Church.

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 6, 2023, historian David O. Stewart delivered a lecture on the history behind his novel, The Burning Land, the second volume of his Overstreet saga.

Writing a Civil War novel inspired by an ancestor’s long and tragic service in the Twentieth Maine Infantry meant considering how war changes soldiers, those closest to them, and communities. The impact on soldiers in combat has been called “soldier’s heart” and “shell shock,” “battle fatigue” and “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Each term reflects an effort to understand the impacts of facing death, and of performing acts that most have been taught never to do, impacts that can echo through life. Sometimes fiction can bring those matters closer.

David O. Stewart turned to writing after a career practicing law in Washington, D.C. He is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several previous nonfiction books on American history, including Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America and George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father. He has also written several works of historical fiction, including the Fraser and Cook mystery series (The Lincoln Deception, The Paris Deception, and The Babe Ruth Deception) and the Overstreet Saga (The New Land, The Burning Land, and The Resolution Land [forthcoming]).

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 March 16, 2023, historian Connor Williams discussed his role as lead historian for the U.S. Congress’ Naming Commission, with particular emphasis on the process of recommending new names for the three Virginia forts—Fort Lee, Fort A.P. Hill, and Fort Pickett.

Though the Civil War’s battles were settled on the fields of our nation more than a century and half ago, the fields of our collective memories continue to be rife with conflict. This has especially proved the case over the last few years, as some Civil War monuments come down and other interpretations go up, sparking important questions. What stories should be commemorated? What features should be highlighted? What role should the Confederacy play in the history of the United States? Should we memorialize Confederates, and if so, how? How might these struggles play out on Virginia’s historic and contemporary landscape? Connor Williams will discuss how our society arrived at these questions, and where we might go from here, investigating all these issues from his recent experience, and especially through the stories of the three Virginia forts for which the commission recommended new names.

Before serving with the Naming Commission, Connor pursued his doctorate in history and African American Studies at Yale University, and he maintains an affiliation with both departments. He is currently completing A Race on the Frontier: African American Lives, Labors and Communities in Northern California, 1850–1915, a book project that examines the political struggles, economic opportunities, labor strategies, and networks of organization and support Black Americans forged throughout the Golden State between the Gold Rush and the Great War.

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 March 1, 2023, bestselling author Douglas Brinkley delivered a lecture about his newest book, "Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening".

New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties, telling a highly charged story of an indomitable generation that quite literally saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon. JFK had been jolted by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, published in 1962. Depicting the deathblow that could be dealt by artificial chemicals, specifically DDT, the book launched an eco-revolution among the American people, which went on to inspire landmark legislation during Lyndon Johnson’s and Richard Nixon’s presidencies. Brinkley records these milestones of the modern environmental movement through the first Earth Day in 1970, after which every American life would forever be touched by the environmental movement of the Long Sixties (1960–1973).

"Silent Spring Revolution" is crucial to understanding the battle to protect America’s land, water, wildlife, and air. In a fast-evolving era when the nation is witnessing new types of environmental crises due to climate change and resource exhaustion, Douglas Brinkley’s meticulously researched and deftly written book is also a clarion call, reminding us of the passionate grassroots work that still needs to be done as the spirit of the Silent Spring Revolution continues well into the twenty-first century.

Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He works in many capacities in the world of public history, including for boards, museums, colleges, and historical societies. Six of his books were named New York Times “Notable Books of the Year” and seven became New York Times bestsellers. His books include, among many others, "The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast"; "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America"; "Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America"; and "Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening".

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 16, 2023, historian Brent Morris gave a lecture examining the lives of the maroons living in the Great Dismal Swamp and their struggles for liberation.

The massive and foreboding Great Dismal Swamp sprawls more than 2,000 square miles and spills over parts of Virginia and North Carolina. From the early seventeenth century, the nearly impassable Dismal frustrated settlement. However, what may have been an impediment to the expansion of slave society became an essential sanctuary for many of those who sought to escape it. In the depths of the Dismal, thousands of maroons—people who had emancipated themselves from enslavement and settled beyond the reach of enslavers—established new lives of freedom in a landscape deemed worthless and inaccessible by whites. J. Brent Morris, author of the new book Dismal Freedom: A History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp, examines the lives of these maroons and their struggles for liberation, and tells one of the most exciting yet neglected stories of American history. This is the story of resilient, proud, and determined people who made the Great Dismal Swamp their free home and sanctuary and who played an outsized role in undermining slavery through the Civil War.

Dr. J. Brent Morris is Professor of History and Humanities Department Chair at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and Director of the USCB Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era. He is the author of several books, including Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum America; Yes Lord I Know the Road: A Documentary History of African Americans in South Carolina, 1526–2008; A South Carolina Chronology, 1497–2020 (with Walter Edgar and C. James Taylor); and Dismal Freedom: A History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp.

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 2, 2023, writer William Paul Lazarus gave a virtual lecture about his book, Virginia’s Civil Rights Hero: The Rev. Curtis W. Harris Sr.

Just three months before Curtis Harris was born, the Virginia State Legislature passed the Racial Integrity Act, which banned interracial marriage down to “a single drop” of African blood. Harris was the sixth child of an impoverished sharecropper and his wife, living in a desolate outpost of the commonwealth while the sweeping regulation was passed by the most prominent men in the state. In time, however, Harris would lead the fight against this law and many others designed to maintain the control of the white majority over minorities in Virginia and in the rest of the South. His inspirational story follows him from Dendron to Hopewell and then to the forefront of America’s civil rights battles, arm in arm with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Arrested multiple times, beaten and discriminated against, Harris persevered to change entrenched racism and become the first Black mayor in his hometown. Admired and honored, he serves as a symbol of what be accomplished by a lone individual with the courage to demand justice.

William Paul Lazarus hold an M.A. in communication from Kent State University and an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University. He has published a variety of books on Americana, including The Sands of Time: 100 Years of Racing in Daytona Beach; Guide to American Culture; and Virginia's Civil Rights Hero Curtis W. Harris, Sr.

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