Today we usually only think of witches at Halloween… ugly wicked hags who wear pointy black hats and fly around on brooms. It is interesting, however, to look at the historical truth — which doesn’t begin in Salem, Massachusetts. Did you know that we had supposed witches and devils here in Virginia long before they appeared up in Massachusetts?…

Over the past few months, the difficult decisions we have all had to make and the stressful times that have united us, have put the meaning of “community” into perspective for me. We are all part of many communities, both small and large, that connect us and influence our lives every day…

On June 6, 1855 a steam ship known as the Ben Franklin came into port in Norfolk, Virginia for repairs. The ship had traveled from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, a place Yellow Fever was known to be prevalent. Local authorities were concerned about the possibility of Yellow Fever onboard because of the ship’s origins and interviewed Captain Byner upon arrival…

In July of 1775, just three months into the conflict with England that would become known as the American Revolution, George Washington took command of the patriot army. He faced not only the greatest military power in the world, but also the scourge of Variola. He had a difficult decision to make: Should he inoculate the army?…

Several years back, I wrote a book about a 1721 Boston smallpox epidemic and the introduction of inoculation into colonial America entitled The Pox and the Covenant. The fact that there are parallels between that epidemic and our current pandemic should not surprise us given the immutable character of human nature. However, that fact should also give us comfort that we can endure…

A 1972 New York Times article referred to Jamestown as “the blunder that started America.” The author, H.H. Morris, certainly had a lot of fodder to support his claim that Jamestown was a complete and utter failure…