Lecture Series
Our Lecture Series happens four times a year with different speakers from various areas of the country. All lectures are recorded and posted here after the event. The Lecture Series is generously sponsored in part by the American Frontier Culture Foundation.
2024 Lecture Series
“Appalachia on the Table: Reading a Region’s Cuisine with Erica Abrams Locklear”
Presented by: Erica Abrams Locklear
Presented by: Erica Abrams Locklear
“The Rise of Slavery in the Valley of Virginia and its Enduring Presence on the Landscape of Lexington and Rockbridge County”
Presented by: Don Gaylord
Presented by: Don Gaylord
“Beyond the Mountains, the Sun: The (In)Visibility of First Peoples and the Creation of the Back Country”
Presented by: Dr. Carole Nash
Presented by: Dr. Carole Nash
“A Common Place: Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley”
Presented by: David Ehrenpreis
Presented by: David Ehrenpreis
2023 Lecture Series
“Virginia’s Proclamation Line: Mapping the Frontier in the Era of the American Revolution”
Presented by: Dr. Max Edelson
Presented by: Dr. Max Edelson
“Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South”
Presented by: Dr. Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr.
Presented by: Dr. Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr.
“Reclaiming Two-Spirits: How Native Americans Revitalized an Almost Lost Tradition”
Presented by: Dr. Gregory Smithers
Presented by: Dr. Gregory Smithers
“Brooding Over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women, ‘Wild Justice’ and Lethal Resistance to Slavery”
Presented by: Dr. Nikki Taylor
Presented by: Dr. Nikki Taylor
“Alexander Spotswood’s Germanna: A Gateway to Colonial Virginia’s West”
Presented by: Dr. Eric Larson
Presented by: Dr. Eric Larson
“Race,Removal and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States”
Presented by: Dr. Samantha Seeley
Presented by: Dr. Samantha Seeley
2022 Lecture Series
“The Untold Side of the Settler Story”
Presented by Dr. Rebecca Weaver-Hightower.
Presented by Dr. Rebecca Weaver-Hightower.
“Smoke Signals: The Importance of Pipe-smoking in Native American Societies of the Southern Appalachians”
Presented by Dr. Dennis Blanton
Presented by Dr. Dennis Blanton
“Juneteenth: The Culture and Politics behind Freedom Days in America”
Presented by Chloe Porche, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Virginia
Presented by Chloe Porche, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Virginia
“‘An Inundation of Barbarians’: The Battle of Kings Mountain, the American Revolution, and the Origins of Appalachian Stereotypes”
Presented by Dr. David Hsiung
Presented by Dr. David Hsiung
“Virginia Beer: From Colonial Days to Craft’s Golden Age”
Presented by Lee Graves, local author.
Presented by Lee Graves, local author.
2021 Lecture Series
“Igbo/West African Masquerade Culture and the Dynamics of African Diaspora Carnivals”
Presented by Raphael Chijioke Njoku.
Presented by Raphael Chijioke Njoku.
“The Dynamics of Regional Cloth Production and Consumption in Early America”
Presented by Dr. Andrienne Hood.
Presented by Dr. Andrienne Hood.
“Jousting with History on a Stick: What Commemorations of Mary “Bowser” Richards Denman Reveal About How to Center African American Women in U.S. History”
Presented by Dr. Lois Leveen.
Presented by Dr. Lois Leveen.
“Enlightenment ideals of the Founding Fathers and the impact on education in America”
Presented by Professor Brian Dotts.
Presented by Professor Brian Dotts.
“A Story of How We Tell Stories: The Poetics of Contact”
Presented by Jarrett Chapin.
Presented by Jarrett Chapin.
“‘Beginning at a white oak and runs E: 130 poles….’: North Carolina’s Frontier during the French and Indian War”
Presented by Jason Melius.
Presented by Jason Melius.