Virginia Historical Society Podcast

On September 6, 2012, J. Harvie Wilkinson III delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Cosmic Constitutional Theory: Why Americans Are Losing Their Inalienable Rights to Self-Governance." American constitutional law has undergone a transformation. Issues once left to the people have increasingly become the province of the courts. Subjects as diverse as abortion rights, firearms regulations, and health care reform are increasingly the domain of judges. What sparked this development? Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III argues that America's most brilliant legal minds have launched a set of cosmic constitutional theories that, for all their value, are undermining self-governance. The loser in all the theoretical fireworks is the old and honorable tradition of judicial restraint, which has given way to competing schools of liberal and conservative activism—Living Constitutionalism, Originalism, Process Theory, or the supposedly anti-theoretical creed of Pragmatism. Wilkinson calls for a plainer, self-disciplined commitment

On August 2, 2012, Bruce G. Carveth delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Edward Coles: Crusade Against Slavery." Edward Coles was a wealthy heir to a central Virginia plantation who left his family's Virginia tobacco plantation in 1819 and started the long trip west to Edwardsville, Illinois. He paused along the Ohio River on an emotional April morning to free his slaves and offer each family 160 acres of Illinois land of their own. Some continued to work for Coles, while others were left to find work for themselves. Coles later became the second governor of Illinois, the loyal personal secretary to President James Madison, and a close antislavery associate of Thomas Jefferson. In "Crusade Against Slavery," Bruce G. Carveth and his coauthor detail Coles's remarkable life story and his role in the struggle to free all slaves. Carveth is an independent writer and former editor. (Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On July 26, 2012, H. Edward "Chip" Mann delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Queen and the USA: Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee in America." Although the United States was born out of revolution against Great Britain, Americans have warmly greeted the reigning British monarch on each of her visits to this country. Queen Elizabeth II has made three state visits to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each has rekindled appreciation of the common bonds between the United Kingdom and the United States: the rule of law, representative government, and economic freedom. The Queen and the USA was published to celebrate those ties on the occasion of Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee. With illustrations from his new book, H. Edward "Chip" Mann will describe the queen's special relationship with Virginia and all of America on the anniversary of her sixty years as queen of England. (Introduction by Paul Levengood and Daphne Maxwell Reid)

On July 11, 2012, Gary W. Gallagher delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "More Important Than Gettysburg: The Seven Days Campaign as a Turning Point". Ever since the Civil War ended, it has been a popular pastime to look for dramatic turning points in that conflict. For many, the battle of Gettysburg represents the great event that tipped the balance toward the North. Key political, diplomatic, social, and military issues, however, were at stake in the summer of 1862 as Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan faced off in the Seven Days Battles. Gary W. Gallagher argues that Lee's victory had a profound effect on the conflict and that perhaps the series of battles waged on the Virginia Peninsula should be regarded as a major turning point of the war. Dr. Gallagher is a professor of history at the University of Virginia. His most recent book is "The Union War." This lecture is cosponsored with the Richmond National Battlefield Park and The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar. (Introduction by Paul Leve

On June 28, 2012, David Johnson delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "John Randolph of Roanoke." One of the most eccentric and accomplished politicians in all of American history, John Randolph of Roanoke led a life marked by controversy. The long-serving Virginia congressman and architect of southern conservatism grabbed headlines with his prescient comments, public brawls, and clashes with every president from John Adams to Andrew Jackson. The first biography of Randolph in nearly a century, "John Randolph of Roanoke" provides a full account of the powerful Virginia planter's hardcharging life and his influence on the formation of conservative politics. "John Randolph of Roanoke" tells the story of a young nation and the unique philosophy of a southern lawmaker who defended America's agrarian tradition and reveled in his own controversy. David Johnson is deputy attorney general for the state of Virginia and the author of a biography of Douglas Southall Freeman. (Introduction by Paul Levengood and Andrew Cain

On June 19, 2012, Edward Ayers delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Civil War at a Crossroads: The Seven Days." In the spring of 1862, Virginia's civilians faced a different kind of war than they had the year before. Advancing Union armies now occupied large amounts of territory in western Virginia and in Tidewater, and their presence had a dramatic effect on local populations. Pro-Confederate white Virginians became refugees as they left their homes, and enslaved Virginians began to flee to the safety of Union lines. In this lecture, Edward L. Ayers analyzed the impact of the Civil War on Virginia's civilians up through the first half of 1862. He is president of the University of Richmond and the author of In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America, 1859–1863. This lecture was cosponsored with the Richmond National Battlefield Park. (Introduction by Paul Levengood, Dave Ruth, and Cheryl Magazine)

On June 14, 2012, Patrick Mooney delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The U.S. Marines at Belleau Wood, June 1918." In 1917 the German Empire won its war on the Eastern Front by imposing humiliating terms on Russia. It then mounted a giant spring offensive on the Western Front in 1918 to crush the weakened Allied armies. U.S. Marines of the American Expeditionary Force helped blunt the German thrust and turn the tide. The pivotal action took place in June at the battle of Belleau Wood, the bloodiest fighting involving American troops since the Civil War. Patrick Mooney will describe this dramatic chapter in Marine Corps history and America's participation in World War I. Mr. Mooney is visitor services chief at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On May 3, 2012, Terri Fisher delivered a lecture entitled "Lost Communities of Virginia". Virginia's back roads and rural areas are dotted with traces of once-thriving communities. General stores, train depots, schools, churches, banks, and post offices provide intriguing details of a way of life now gone. Lost Communities of Virginia documents thirty small communities from throughout the commonwealth that have lost their original industry, transportation mode, or way of life. Using contemporary photographs, maps, and excerpts of interviews with longtime residents of these communities, the book documents the present conditions, recalls past boom times, and explains the role of each community in regional settlement. Terri Fisher is outreach and programs coordinator at the Community Design Assistance Center at Virginia Tech and executive director of the Giles County Historical Society. (Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On April 14, 2012, Dr. Lauranett Lee delivered a lecture entitled "To Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds: An Overview of the Thirteenth Amendment". This talk highlighting the historical significance of the document. Other speakers during the lecture included Edward Ayers and Senator Henry Marsh. (Introduction by Edward Ayers and Senator Henry Marsh)

On April 12, 2012, Jill Titus delivered a lecture entitled "Brown's Battleground in Prince Edward County, Virginia". When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Prince Edward County abolished its public school system rather than integrate. In her new book, Brown's Battleground: Students, Segregationists, and the Struggle for Justice in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Jill Titus situates the crisis in Prince Edward County within the seismic changes brought by Brown and Virginia's decision to resist desegregation. She reveals the ways that ordinary people, black and white, battled, and continue to battle, over the role of public education in the United States. Dr. Titus is associate director of the C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. (Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On April 5, 2012, Mitchell Zuckoff delivered the 2012 Stuart G. Christian, Jr., Lecture entitled "Lost in Shangri-La: A Story of Survival and Rescue during World War II." The Stuart G. Christian, Jr., Lecture was named in honor of the former president of the VHS (1989–91). Near the end of World War II, a plane carrying twenty-four members of the United States military, including nine Women’s Army Corps members, crashed into the New Guinea jungle. Three survivors were stranded deep in a jungle valley inhabited by cannibals. The story of their survival and the efforts undertaken to save them are the crux of Lost in Shangri-La. A riveting story of deliverance under the most unlikely circumstances, Mitchell Zuckoff’s book deserves its place among the great survival stories of World War II. Zuckoff teaches journalism at Boston University. (Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On March 28, 2012, Jeremy Black delivered a lecture entitled Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519–1871. In his latest book, prize-winning author Jeremy Black traces the competition for control of North America from the landing in 1519 of Spanish troops in what became Mexico to 1871 when, with the Treaty of Washington, Britain accepted American mastery in North America. The story Black tells is one of conflict, diplomacy, and geopolitics. The eventual result was the creation of a United States of America that stretched from Atlantic to Pacific and dominated the continent. The gradual withdrawal of France and Spain, the British accommodation to the expanding U.S. reality, the impact of the American Civil War, and the subjugation of native peoples are all carefully drawn out. Jeremy Black teaches history at Exeter University in the United Kingdom. This lecture is cosponsored with the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia. (Introduction by Nicole McMullin)

On March 16, 2012, Hon. Gerald Baliles, Ann F. Jennings, Gerald P. McCarthy, and Hon. W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr. participated in a roundtable discussion entitled "Message, Money, and Management: A Roundtable Discussion on the Future of the Chesapeake Bay." The roundtable discussion was session six of "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future," a free day-long conference on the historical relationship between Virginia's environment and its people. The conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. (Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On March 16, 2012, Roy T. Sawyer delivered a lecture entitled "Eco-History of the Tidewater: The Long View." This lecture was session five of "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future," a free day-long conference on the historical relationship between Virginia's environment and its people. The conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. (Introduction by Andrew Talkov)

On March 16, 2012, Sara M. Gregg delivered a lecture entitled "Managing the Mountains: Land Use Planning, the New Deal, and the Creation of the Federal Landscape in Appalachia." This lecture was session four of "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future," a free day-long conference on the historical relationship between Virginia's environment and its people. The conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. (Introduction by Elaine Hagy)

On March 16, 2012, Ben R. Cohen delivered a lecture entitled "Notes from the Ground: Science, Soil, and Society in the American Countryside." This lecture was session two of "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future," a free day-long conference on the historical relationship between Virginia's environment and its people. The conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. (Introduction by Andrew Talkov)

On March 16, 2012, Stephen C. Ausband delivered a lecture entitled "Byrd's Line: A Natural History." This lecture was session one of "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future," a free day-long conference on the historical relationship between Virginia's environment and its people. The conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. (Introduction by Paul Levengood)

On March 16, 2012, Helen C. Rountree delivered a lecture entitled "Before It Was Virginia: Setting the Stage." When English settlers arrived here 400 years ago, they encountered the first Virginians, the most famous of whom are the subjects of Helen C. Rountree's book, Pocahontas, Powhatan, and Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown. Today's presentation is the keynote address of "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future," a free day-long conference on the historical relationship between Virginia's environment and its people. The conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. Dr. Rountree is professor emerita of anthropology at Old Dominion University. She now concentrates full time on writing and speaking about early Virginia Indians, as well as consulting with the Virginia Council on Indians and on tribal recognition. (Introduction by Gerald P. McCarthy)

On March 15, 2012, David O. Stewart delivered a lecture entitled "American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America." A canny and charismatic politician who rose to become third vice president of the new United States, Aaron Burr seemed to throw it all away in 1805 and 1806 in an extraordinary attempt to lead a secession of the American West. American Emperor by acclaimed author David O. Stewart traces Burr from the threshold of the presidency in the contested election of 1800, through his duel with Alexander Hamilton, and then across the American West as he schemed with foreign ambassadors, the traitorous general-in-chief of the army, and future presidents, including Andrew Jackson. His immense ambition was matched by his undisguised contempt for Thomas Jefferson, a president he thought ineffective and unwise. The indecisive Jefferson finally had Burr arrested and charged with treason. Burr led his own legal defense in an historic treason trial in Richmond before Chief Justice John Marshall, wi

On February 23, 2012, Samuel K. Roberts delivered a lecture entitled "When the Sun Stood Still: Reflections on the Reverend John Jasper in His Bicentennial Year." Among the larger than life personages in Richmond during the latter years of the nineteenth century is to be counted the pastor of Jackson Ward’s Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. John Jasper. He was born a slave in the second decade of the century, and his mark on Richmond's popular consciousness lasts even to the present. In large measure, this is because of a sermon he first preached in 1878, "The Sun Do Move and the Earth Am Square." Hailed by some and vilified by others, Jasper's sermon seemed to defy modern notions of astronomy. Yet, he was asked to preach it more than 250 times, including before the General Assembly, before his death in 1901. Reflections on this enigmatic character will explore the context in which his audiences heard him, as well as that of our own. Samuel K. Roberts is the Anne Borden and E. Hervey Evans Professor o