UPCOMING LECTURES & CONFERENCES
BY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Thursday,
Feb. 4 at 7 PM. The Battle of Bristoe Station "Myths and Memory"
by author and Bristoe Station
Battlefield Site Manager Bill Backus will discuss the many myths
surrounding the Battle of Bristoe Station. The Battle of Bristoe Station was
the last major battle of the Civil War in Prince William County. Backus' recent
book "A Want of Vigilance" will also be for sale. Old Manassas
Courthouse 9248 Lee St., Manassas, VA, 703-792-4754. Free, donations
accepted.
Tuesday,
February 9, at Noon. National
Archives William G. McGowan Theater. The Social Life of DNA: Race,
Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome with Alondra Nelson.
A journey into how the double helix has wound its way into contemporary social
issues around race. She explains how DNA-based techniques are being used in
myriad ways, including the unfinished business of slavery: to foster
reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink
and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery
reparations. Author and journalist A'Lelia Bundles will join Nelson. A book
signing follows the program. FREE.
Wednesday,
February 10, at Noon.
National Archives William G. McGowan Theater. The Long Emancipation: The Demise of
Slavery in the United States.
Answers to questions about who ended slavery, how, and why remain fiercely
contested more than a century and a half after the passage of the 13th
Amendment. In The Long Emancipation, Ira Berlin offers a framework for
understanding slavery's demise in the United States. Freedom was not achieved
in a moment, and emancipation was a shifting but persistent struggle that
involved thousands of men and women. A book signing will follow the program.
FREE.
Thursday,
Feb 11 at 6:30 - 8:30 PM.
This presentation to the Harvard Club at Hogan Lovells is by our very
own Jon Willen, MD. He will discuss the life and fascinating career of Dr.
Zabdiel Boylston Adams who served in the Civil War both as a surgeon
in the 32nd Massachusetts and an infantry officer in the 56th Massachusetts.. A
full three-course buffet dinner with wine and beer will begin the program and Jon
has instructed that if you register as a friend of his the cost will be $40
otherwise the charge is $65. For more information and to register for the
event: http://www.harvard-dc.org/article.html?aid=1118
Thursday,
Feb 18 at 7 PM. National
Archives William G.
McGowan Theater. Why Lincoln Still Matters. A panel of distinguished
scholars who will share personal reflections on the importance of the life and
work of President Lincoln for today's world. Panelists include Lincoln scholars
Harold Holzer (moderator), Martha Hodges, Craig Symonds, and Lucas Morel.
Book signings will follow the program.
Reservations
for McGowan Theater evening programs are recommended. Use the new online event
registration system from the Foundation for the National Archives to reserve
your seats:
1.
Register at www.archivesfoundation.org/events/
2.
Print your email confirmation and bring it with you.
3.
To reserve by phone, call 202-357-6814.
Walk-ins
without reservations will be admitted, depending on available seats.
Friday,
February 19 at 7 PM. Politics
& Prose Our own Fergus Bordewich returns to DC to present on his latest
book, The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a
Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government. FREE.
Saturday,
February 27 at 2 PM. Historic
Blenheim “’Behind the Scenes’ with Elizabeth Keckley”--Lillian
Garland will portray Elizabeth Keckley, a former enslaved woman, who became
a professional dressmaker and a confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. FREE.
TOURS:
Saturday,
February 6 from 10 AM to 4 PM.
Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall holds its next quarterly Open House of Grant
Hall’s historic third-floor courtroom, located on the Fort McNair side of
the Joint Base in southwest Washington D.C., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
Saturday, Feb. 6. The courtroom is the site of the military tribunal, held from
May through June 1865, of those thought responsible for the plot to assassinate
President Abraham Lincoln. FREE.
Saturday,
March 5 from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pain and Mercy in Virginia's Civil War
Hospitals Bus Tour.
Hospitals similar to the Mansion Hotel Hospital as seen in PBS's new drama,
Mercy Street, were found throughout Virginia. Now learn the history behind the
show by visiting some of these historic hospitals and learn what it was like
for the wounded soldiers and medical staff working in them. Begin the tour at
Ben Lomond, one of the first hospitals established during the war. Then travel
to Alexandria to visit some of the hospitals and apothecaries there. You will
hear stories about soldiers of both north and south and learn about their
experiences while in Alexandria. Ben Lomond Historic Site, 10321 Sudley Manor
Drive, Manassas, VA, 703-367-7872. $80 per person (lunch included)
IN THE MEDIA:
Don’t miss
“Mercy Street” on PBS, Sundays at 10 PM. A PBS original series
inspired by real people and events, Mercy Street goes beyond the front lines of
the Civil War and into the chaotic world of the Mansion House Hospital in
Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia.
5 Myths
about Reconstruction: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-reconstruction/2016/01/21/0719b324-bfc5-11e5-83d4-42e3bceea902_story.html
