Augusta Resolves

 250 years ago, the men of Augusta County came together and signed the Augusta Resolves. This document, while one of many throughout Virginia, pushed the county towards rebellion. Join the Frontier Culture Museum, the Augusta County Clerk of Courts Office, and the Augusta County Historical society this February to commemorate the signing of the Augusta Resolves. Learn not only about the document, but about some of the men whose signatures adorn the page.

Be sure to join us at 1:00 PM for a panel about Resolves from across Virginia and how the Augusta Resolves, and the men from Augusta county fit into this step towards revolution.

This event is general admission and is included in the Annual Pass!

Meet the speakers:

Tammy Mannarino –enjoyed the nomadic childhood of a “Navy-brat” before her family settled in Fairfax County, Virginia. She graduated from James Madison University and spent most of her career at the National Security Agency in the field of Information Systems Security. She and her husband split their timebetween Staunton, Va and the Mount Vernon area where she researches, writes and presents local history on her website, BackyardMountVernon.com . She is a founding board member of the Mount Vernon Regional Historical Society. She was appointed to the Fairfax County History Commission in 2020 and currently serves in the position of Secretary.

Steve Landes – was sworn in as the 17th Clerk of Circuit Court for the County of Augusta after winning a Special Election in November 2019. Steve was re-elected to a full eight-year term in November 2023. Before being elected as Clerk of Court he represented the 25th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, which included portions of Albemarle, Augusta, and Rockingham Counties for twelve terms. He was Chairman of the House Education Committee and Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. In addition, he was a member of the Rules and Privileges and Elections Committees.

A lifelong resident of the Valley, Steve is a graduate of Buffalo Gap High School in Augusta County, and he received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. He and his wife Angela live in Fort Defiance. They have a son Roth, who is a graduate of Virginia Tech, and is a District Manager for Aldi. Steve is a Member of the Virginia Court Clerk’s Association, and Co-Chairman of the Legislative Committee and a Member of the Public Relations Committee. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, and the State Historical Records Advisory Board. Steve is Past District Governor of the Woodrow Wilson Ruritan District, is a two-time Past President and a Member of the Weyers Cave Ruritan Club. He is a Member of the General Daniel Morgan Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. Steve and Angela are both Members and Past Elders of Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church.

Steve worked as Community Liaison for Home Instead Senior Care of Staunton, Virginia. He also worked as Vice President of Market Development for Blue Ridge Bank, and prior to that he worked as Community Relations Coordinator for DuPont Community Credit Union. He also worked as Executive Director of NewBiz Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley’s small business incubator. Steve was a Life Insurance Agent and Registered Representative with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. In addition, he worked at Davis & Davis Marketing, Inc., a Staunton-based marketing, and advertising firm, as a Media Buyer and then as an Account Executive. He was a Member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates, representing the House of Delegates, and served on the Education Commission of the State. Steve served as Vice Chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, and was a Member of the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board. He also served as a House Budget Conferee. Steve served as Legislative Assistant to former Delegate A.R. “Pete” Giesen, Jr., and he served as former Congressman Bob Goodlatte’s District Director and District Representative

Sam McGinty – is the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Military Programs Supervisor. Having spent more than 10 years as a museum professional and historian, Sam specializes in the history of the American War of Independence, and on the rifle culture of western Virginia in the 1770s. Sam previously worked for Colonial Williamsburg from 2014-2017, as a Military Interpreter, while studying psychology and classics at Randolph-Macon College. In 2017, he accepted a full-time position at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia. Over his 7 years at FCMV, Sam studied frontier history, historic clothing, tailoring, and the military history of western Virginia.  As the primary researcher for FCMV’s recreation of Crockett’s Western Battalion, Sam traveled across the Commonwealth, hunting down the details on often forgotten and elusive figures of Virginia’s revolutionary past. As a somewhat proficient tailor, Sam served as lead tailor and costumer at FCMV from 2021-2024, and spearheaded the physical reconstruction of uniforms and equipment for public and educational programing for Crockett’s Western Battalion, which will be available throughout the Commonwealth in the lead up to Virginia’s Semiquincentennial and beyond. Sam also serves as the President of Crockett’s Rifles, a progressive focused Revolutionary War living history organization, founded in 2025, focused on highlighting the stories and spirit of the American riflemen who helped to shape American liberty. In returning to Colonial Williamsburg, Sam has worked to revitalize the Department of Military Programs through well researched, thoughtful interpretation, fostering a tangible, experiential learning environment for guests and staff. He’s been honored to take stewardship of the Public Magazine, the Guardhouse, and of the more than 60 years of institutional history and legacy of Military Programs at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.