VMHC Lectures

On October 15, 2009, William M. S. Rasmussen delivered a lecture in conjunction with the current exhibition The Portent: John Brown's Raid in American Memory. One hundred and fifty years ago, John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry failed utterly. But the violent event and the executions it prompted shocked the nation. They reinforced white southern fears about slave insurrection, emboldened secessionists, and made Brown a martyr in the eyes of many northerners. Ever since, Brown has been a symbol of contrast and controversy. Dr. Rasmussen is Lora M. Robins Curator at the VHS and curator of the exhibition that marks these tumultuous events leading up to the Civil War.

(Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 4, 2010, Scott Reynolds Nelson delivered the banner lecture "Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend"

According to the ballad that made him famous, John Henry did battle with a steam-powered drill, beat the machine, and died. Folklorists have long thought John Henry to be mythical, but historian Scott Nelson has discovered that he was a real person—a nineteen-year-old from New Jersey who was convicted of theft in a Virginia court in 1866, sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, and put to work building the C&O Railroad. There, at the Lewis Tunnel, Henry and other prisoners worked alongside steam-powered drills. In his book, Nelson pieces together the biography of the real John Henry. It is also the story of work songs, songs that not only turned Henry into a folk hero but also, in reminding workers to slow down or die, were a tool of resistance and protest. This lecture complements the VHS exhibition Organized Labor in Virginia. Scott Reynolds Nelson teaches history at William and Mary.

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 1, 2010, Gregg Kimball, Jackie Frost, and Sheryl Warner delivered the banner lecture "'We Shall Not Be Moved': Virginia Songs of Labor"

From the textile mills of Danville to the coal fields of Wise to the tobacco factories of Richmond, workers have rallied to songs of labor. The songs told of heavy work, unjust conditions, and union struggles and were typically performed in the musical styles of their native folk traditions. On December 2, 2010, historian Gregg Kimball along with singers Jackie Frost and Sheryl Warner performed songs by such Virginia musical luminaries as the Carter Family as well as rank-and-file workers who filled churches, labor halls, and strike lines to protest their working conditions.(Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 9, 2010, John Peters delivered the banner lecture "Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery"

One of America's great rural cemeteries, overlooking the falls of the James River, Hollywood provides a final resting place for Richmond's—indeed, Virginia's—political, business, and creative leaders, as well as 18,000 Confederate dead. Since before the Civil War, the elaborate ironwork, stone monuments, mausoleums, and natural setting have memorialized the varied lives of the individuals who have populated Virginia’s capital city. In this lecture based on his new book, Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery, author and photographer John Peters brings these stories to life once more. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 13, 2011, Susan Kern discussed her book, Jefferson's at Shadwell.In her book Susan Kern merges archaeology, material culture, and social history to reveal the fascinating story of Shadwell, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson and home to his parents, Jane and Peter Jefferson, their eight children, and more than sixty slaves. Kern's scholarship offers new views of the family's role in settling Virginia as well as new perspectives on Thomas Jefferson himself. The story of Shadwell affects how we interpret much of what we know about Thomas Jefferson today. Dr. Kern is a visiting assistant professor of history at the College of William and Mary

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 24, 2011, Ed Lengel delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Inventing George Washington: America's Founder in Myth and Memory." In Inventing George Washington, Edward G. Lengel shows how the former president and war hero continued to serve his nation on two distinct levels after his death. The public Washington evolved into an eternal symbol as the "Father of His Country," while the private man remained at the periphery of the national vision for successive generations. As some exalted Washington, others sought to bring him down to the earth, thus creating a series of competing mythologies that depicted Washington as every imaginable sort of human being. Dr. Lengel is editor-in-chief of the Washington Papers Project and a professor of history at the University of Virginia.

(Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 17, 2010, Gary W. Gallagher delivered a talk on "The Real Lost Cause: The Idea of Union in the Memory of the Civil War" at the Alexander W. Weddell Trustees Lecture. 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Only through the bloodiest conflict of our history did Americans resolve long-running disputes over Union and slavery. Ever since then, the significance of the war—its advent and its many outcomes—has stirred debate and study. In "The Real Lost Cause: The Idea of Union in the Memory of the Civil War," Gary W. Gallagher addressed the way North and South have reflected on the nature of what it meant to be a part of the United States of America. Dr. Gallagher is the Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching Professor and Nau Professor of History at the University of Virginia and the author of The Confederate War and Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 3, 2011, Daniel Crofts delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Diary of a Public Man and Abraham Lincoln." "The Diary of a Public Man," published anonymously in several installments in the North American Review in 1879, claimed to offer verbatim accounts of secret conversations with Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, and Stephen A. Douglas—among others—in the weeks just before the start of the Civil War. Despite repeated attempts to decipher the diary, historians never have been able to pinpoint its author or determine its authenticity. Part detective story, part biography, and part a detailed narrative of events in early 1861, A Secession Crisis Enigma presents a compelling answer to an enduring mystery. Dr. Crofts is a professor of history at The College of New Jersey.

(Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 10, 2011, Gregg Kimball delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "American City, Southern Place: Richmond on the Eve of War." As a city of the upper South intimately connected to northeastern cities, the southern slave trade, and the Virginia countryside, Richmond embodied many of the contradictions of mid-nineteenth-century America. Gregg Kimball depicts the Richmond community as a series of dynamic, overlapping networks, showing how various groups of residents—immigrants and natives, free people and slaves, those high born and low—understood themselves and their society within this web of experience. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and private letters, Dr. Kimball elicits new perspectives on the nature of antebellum society and the coming of the Civil War. Gregg Kimball is director of education and outreach at the Library of Virginia and the author of American City, Southern Place: A Cultural History of Antebellum Richmond. This lecture is cosponsored with the Richmond National Battlefield Park.

(Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

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 24, 2011, Douglas R. Egerton delivered a Banner Lecture entitled Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election that Brought on the Civil War. In Year of Meteors, Douglas R. Egerton recreates the tumultuous presidential election year of 1860, which upset every conventional expectation and split the American political system beyond repair. At the beginning of the year, Senator Stephen A. Douglas, leader of the Democrats, the only party with a large following in both North and South, seemed poised to win. By fall the Democratic Party had disintegrated, enabling the upstart Republicans to put an untried but canny dark horse candidate in the White House. Year of Meteors tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's rise to power and the series of events that led to secession and ultimately civil war. Dr. Egerton teaches history at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y.(Introduction by Nelson D. Lankford)

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