Lectures
All lectures are held at the Jones Memorial Library and begin at 5:00 P.M.
For more details call (434) 846-0501.

OCTOBER 19, 2011
JEMMIE STEPTOE: PRIDE OF PLACE—BOTH SOCIAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL
by Elizabeth Gladwell
For 54 years, Jemmie Steptoe served as the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Bedford County, VA. Mrs. Gladwell will relate important facts about  Steptoe including his position in the community and his relationship with his neighbor, Thomas Jefferson.

NOVEMBER 16, 2011
A JOURNEY TAKEN
by Hermina W. Hendricks
Clarence W. Seay (1902-1982) became one of the most outstanding African American High School principals in the state of Virginia in the twentieth century. He served as the principal of Dunbar High School from 1938-1968. Many graduates of Dunbar became college graduates and model citizens in their communities. The Seay philosophy was "The successful school and its community are inseparable." Dunbar High School became the academic and cultural center for the African American community in Lynchburg throughout much of the twentieth century.

MARCH 21, 2012
THE HISTORY OF LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESSES
SCOTT INSURANCE
by David Barney and Walker P. Sydnor Jr.
Scott Insurance is among the most modern of companies,yet the history of this business dates from the Civil War and the firm was still a small-town insurance agency as recently as 20 years ago.
The growth of Scott Insurance from a small, family-owned agency to one of the first ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) firms in the nation, and its emergence as a regional powerhouse in the insurance business is a fascinating story.

THARP FUNERAL HOME
by Skip Tharp
Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory was begun in 1848 in the town of Liberty, now known as Bedford. As all early death care providers of the time they began in the furniture business, much of which can still be found in the area.  They also dealt in pianos and organs, tombstones, and monuments. Tharp began under the name M.P. Carder and was located in downtown Liberty until moving to its present facilities in 1936.

APRIL 18, 2012
MOSBY, THE MAN
AND THE MYTH
by Judge J. Leyburn Mosby, Jr
John Singleton Mosby, or "The Grey Ghost," as he was known during the Civil War, was raised in Nelson County, educated in private schools, and entered UVA at the age of 16. When the Civil War began Mosby served as a scout for Stuart's Cavalry. He went on to lead his partisan rangers in some amazing raids against Union supply lines and trains, and earned a reputation throughout the Union, as well as the Confederacy.

MAY 16, 2012
THE APPLE ORCHARDS
OF LYNCHBURG
by Thomas Burford
Apple seeds were planted for cider making in the early 18th century. Today new orchards are emerging in the city. The rich heritage and culture of apple production along the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains will be recounted with stories of orchardists, nurseries and the hundreds of varieties they produced, including the odyssey of one Amherst County apple that became an internationally famous apple star.

PAST LECTURES:

APRIL 20, 2011
LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESSES OF LYNCHBURG
by Holcombe (Hoc) Hughes, of the John P. Hughes Motor Company;
Billy Walker, of John Stewart Walker;
& James Elson, for Barker-Jennings
 This presentation continues a series on the history of Lynchburg’s locally owned businesses. As time passes, many local businesses are swallowed up by large companies which are managed by people in offices scattered all over the country. Gone are the days where a customer knew the owner personally, or as a trusted member of the community.

MAY 18, 2011
LYNCHBURG COMPOSERS
by Ted Delaney
The program will offer a brief survey of 19th century Lynchburg composers, musicians, and bands, with special focus on three local composers, Gennaro Bozzaotra, Charles de Nordendorf, and Louis Schehlmann, whose works were published and distributed nationally.

MARCH 16, 2011
THOMAS JEFFERSON AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS WIFE, MARTHA
by James Thompson
Martha Wayles was born in October 1748, the daughter of John and Martha Eppes Wayles. She married first Bathurst Skelton. He died September 1768. She married Thomas Jefferson 1 January 1772. Following a honeymoon of two weeks they moved into a one-room dwelling at Monticello which was to be their home until the completion of the famous main house. She died at Monticello on 6 September 1782 during the birth of their sixth child. During their ten years of marriage they were, by all accounts, very devoted to each other. For some time after Martha’s death, Thomas suffered bouts of depression. What exactly was their relationship?

NOVEMBER 17, 2010
HELEN PESCI WOOD: SOPRANO, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, TEACHER, MOTHER
by Robin Wood
Helen Pesci Wood was born in Chicago and married Robert C. Wood, Jr, Lynchburg attorney and moved to Lynchburg. For many years, she was the soprano soloist for Court St. Methodist Church and was assistant professor of music at Lynchburg College. Mrs. Wood was a dramatic soprano, having made her debut in Kimball Hall in Chicago, and sang in operas and concerts all over the US and Canada. For many years, she was a performer with the Palace Orchestra for concerts in the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. She also organized and directed the Grass Roots Opera Company and both directed and performed in musical productions of the Little Theater of Lynchburg.  Come hear her son tell about this outstanding musician, teacher, and mother.

OCTOBER 20, 2010
LYNCHBURG WOMEN’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE PAST 90 YEARS
by Marie Waller
1920-2010 – It has been 90 years since the 19th Amendment was ratified and the League of Women Voters was founded. Join us as we take a stroll through Lynchburg history to review the accomplishments, political and otherwise, of our own.

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010      
THE IRISH IN EARLY LYNCHBURG
 by Kimball Payne
The presentation will cover the topic of Irish immigrants in early Lynchburg, using the presenter’s great-great grandfather, Michael  McLaughlin, as an example and putting his sixty years in the city in context by describing individuals and projects to which family lore connects McLaughlin.

“THE HISTORY OF HOSPITALS IN LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA”
May 19, 2010
by George Dawson & Dr. Peter Houck
George Dawson & Dr. Peter Houck, of Centra Health, will discuss the history of Lynchburg’s hospitals.

“THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC, LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA:
THE GOLDEN AGE OF LIVE PERFORMANCES”
April 21, 2010
by Dr. James M. Elson
Dr. Elson is the author of the 1993 published work of the same name and was the Academy of Music Theatre, Inc.’s first executive directory (1984-1988). He will present a history of the near-quarter century (1905-1928) when the great stars of the theater and music world came in person to the Hill City to perform on the stag e of the Academy’s acoustically perfect auditorium. His presentation will be illustrated by slides of pictures taken from his book on the Academy and will consider some of Lynchburg’s other theatrical venues during the early Twentieth Century.

“THE HISTORY OF LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS IN LYNCHBURG”
March 17, 2010
by Representatives of Five Locally Owned Businesses
Bert Dodson, for Dodson Bros. Exterminating Co, Ebo Fauber for Fauber Architecture, Mike Baer, for Baer & Sons Memorials, Hal Craddock, for Craddock-Terry Shoe Co.) & Ted Delaney for Diuguid Funeral Home) will continue a program given in October 2008. Representatives of five more Lynchburg locally owned businesses will make a brief presentation about the history of the company and answer questions from the audience. Invite a friend to come and join in reminiscing about days gone by.

“A CREATIVE DYNASTY OF VIRGINIA WOMEN”
November 18, 2009
by Andrew Gladwell, Exhibition Designer, Virginia Historical Society
This lecture discusses a unique combination of art, women’s and family history and the presentation of fine arts and performance art. The program highlights a century of artistic accomplishment by Julia Anne (Morrison) Blount (1831-1877); her daughter, Sallie Lee (Blount) Mahood (1864-1953); her daughter, Helen Gray (Mahood) McGehee (1892-1980); and her daughter, Helen Gray (McGehee) Umaña (b. 1921).

“JEFFERSON DAVIS AND THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR”
October 21, 2009
by Dean Knight, Supervisor of White House Operations, Museum of the Confederacy
This lecture will discuss events and topics concerning the end of the Civil War with special focus on the role of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis. Some of the questions to be addressed in the lecture are: When exactly did the war come to an end, and who, or what, ended it? What was Davis’ idea of the role he had in leading the Confederate war effort, and ending it? What makes the end of this war different from the ending of other wars in which the US has been involved?

“HURRICANE CAMILLE”
September 16, 2009
by Ed Tinsley
Forty years ago, on the night of August 19 and 20, 1969, Nelson County was hit by Hurricane Camille with destructive high winds, and an estimated 40 inches of rain fell in less than eight hours. Businesses, homes, and out buildings washed away. More than 900 buildings were destroyed in Nelson County. Twenty-two members of one family perished in the flooding, and official state records say that 53 died in the Davis Creek area alone. Mr. Tinsley will present slides of the event and give details of this great tragedy.