We (especially those of us working in the Public History Field) often hear the phrase, “History is written by the victors.” This idiom rings particularly true when trying to do any in-depth research of the many Native Indigenous Tribes that dwelled here in North America, before and after colonial contact…
William Shakespeare writes in his play, The Tempest, “What’s past is prologue.” It is a sentiment that links us to our history. Even if we don’t know our history very well, the past still informs what we believe and how we act today…
… Religious Freedom is a hallmark of our American Republic. However, these freedoms have been sorely tested over the years, especially in the case of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…
… We rarely think of religion in connection with the observance of Independence Day in the U.S…
Did your mother teach you not to talk about religion and politics in polite company? If so, she would have blushed at the amount of debate during the ratification of the Constitution concerning these topics, which raged between 1787 and 1789…
On May 19, 1973, John C. Parker marked the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of Historic St. Luke’s Restoration’s executive committee by noting the limits of a memorial tablet honoring the Jordan sisters, Ella, Susan, and Elizabeth…
When Americans generally think about colonial education, we often imagine men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison pouring over books in their personal libraries. Hardly ever do we reflect on how literacy and education came into contact with those who American society did not consider “elite”. Indeed, I often get looks of confusion or bewilderment when I tell people that I study the history of Black literacy in Colonial Virginia…
When we talk about the concept of race in the 21st century, we are discussing a socially constructed idea. For the most part, we are talking about skin color when we use the term today. But, at the dawn of the 17th century, race typically identified a group of people with a common ancestor. That group, just as we see in families today, could be quite diverse…
When I speak with people about Bishop James Madison of Virginia, often the initial response is one of confusion. “I didn’t know that James Madison was a bishop,” some have replied, confusing the clergyman with his cousin of the same name, the third president of the United States. But Bishop Madison is a significant historical figure in his own right as the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia…
Joseph Bridger Hodsden was born on March 29, 1776 and died on November 19, 1815. He married Mary Wilson Pasteur on November 23, 1799 and in fifteen brief years managed several farms, fought in the War of 1812 and fathered nine children. His last child, Julia Ann Hodsden, was sadly born after her father had passed away…
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