Dr. Karen Gray, volunteer historian at C&O Canal National Historical Park, will give the next Speaker Series talk for Historic Shepherdstown Commission on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Her talk will focus on “The C&O Canal: Surprising Truths and Colorful Myths.” This overview of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal history and engineering will look at some of the canal’s most persistent myths and little understood truths. Dr. Gray will distinguish the four very distinct eras of the canal’s history and explain such little understood physical characteristics as its three canals and river navigation stretches.
https://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.png00Jill Craighttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngJill Craig2021-05-23 11:44:002022-07-01 20:33:52Speaker Series, 2021 – Karen Gray, The C&O Canal: Surprising Truths and Colorful Myths
The Historic Shepherdstown Commission Speaker Series will feature Kevin Pawlak, Historic Site Manager for Prince William County’s Historic Preservation Division, on May 12 at 7pm.
Pawlak’s presentation will be based on his 2015 book titled Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital, September 1862.
In September 1862, Western Maryland became the focus as Robert E. Lee’s thus-far victorious Confederate army advanced north across the Potomac River to deal the final blow to a United States that seemed to be on its last leg. Lee began his campaign with the goal of defeating a Union army on northern soil and gaining independence for the eleven states of the Confederacy, while U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan, commander of the Union Army of the Potomac, struggled to keep the United States as one nation instead of two. This decisive campaign culminated along the banks of Antietam Creek, stopping the Confederacy’s quest for independence and helping to grant freedom for enslaved people. The Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single-day battle of the war, changed the course of the Civil War and of the United States itself. It also turned Shepherdstown into “One Vast Confederate Hospital.”
Pawlak is a 2014 graduate of Shepherd University, where he majored in History with a concentration in Civil War and 19th Century America and minored in Historic Preservation. He is a Certified Battlefield Guide at Antietam National Battlefield and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, He is on the Board of Directors for the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association, the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and the Friends of Ball’s Bluff Battlefield.
In addition to his book about Shepherdstown, he has written “To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862”, with Robert Orrison, published in 2018, and “Antietam National Battlefield”, published in 2019. He is a regular contributor to the “Emerging Civil War” online blog, and is currently working on a study of George B. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac in the Maryland Campaign.
May is also Historic Preservation Month, and HSC’s annual Historic Preservation Award winners will be acknowledged before Pawlak’s talk. Austin and Carmen Slater will receive the Preservation of Historic Structures Award for their restoration of the Christian Clise House. Bruce Massey and Jerry Bock, the inspiration behind the Shepherdstown Tour of Historic Churches, will receive the Preservation of Historic Legacies Award, also known as the Dr. James C. Price Award. Finally, longtime HSC board member Vicki Smith will receive the Service to Historic Shepherdstown award.
https://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.png00Steve Pearsonhttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngSteve Pearson2021-04-29 17:05:292022-05-16 10:47:15Speaker Series, 2021 – Shepherdstown In September 1862 – A Confederate Hospital
On Wednesday, October 16, Dr. Randall Tremba will be the final speaker in Historic Shepherdstown’s 2019 Speakers Series. His talk is entitled “Dr. Price, Mrs. Williams and Her Corgi Plus Other Tales and Characters of Shepherdstown.” He will be telling stories selected from his collection gathered over 45 years. In the process, he will provide a picture of the town and the many changes it has seen over nearly half a century.
The talk will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd campus. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Randall Tremba was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. He took a bachelor of arts in philosophy at Wheaton College, Illinois (1969), a master’s of divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California (1973), and a doctor of ministry at Princeton Seminary (1992). He was installed as minister of the Shepherdstown (WV) Presbyterian Church in July 1976. Forty-one years later he retired. In between, he married Paula, became a parent (Jonah, Nathanael, Amanda) and a grandfather, founded the Rumsey Radio Hour (1990), and co-founded the Shepherdstown Good News Paper with Ed Zahniser (May 1979).
Light refreshments will be served after the talk.
Historic Shepherdstown will announce the speakers for the 2020 Speakers Series early next year. For more information about the October 16 event, contact the Historic Shepherdstown Commission office at [email protected] or 304-876-0910.
On Wednesday, September 11th, Historic Shepherdstown will present “Artisans of the Lower Shenandoah Valley,” a panel discussion by four experts on the history of decorative arts in this area. Located at the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd campus, the free event will begin at 6:45 with Historic Shepherdstown’s annual meeting followed by the talks from 7 to 8:30. Light refreshments will be served afterwards.
Matthew Webster, former Shepherdstown resident, now Colonial Williamsburg’s Director of the Grainger Department of Architectural Preservation and Research, will lead the discussion. He assembled this group of young speakers, saying that they are “up and coming stars in their field. I have seen their lectures develop from research and each is highly regarded. This is a great opportunity for them and Shepherdstown.”
The three additional speakers will be: Kate Hughes, Decorative Arts Trust Curatorial Intern and Research Scholar of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Katie McKinney, Colonial Williamsburg’s Assistant Curator of Maps & Prints; and Nicholas Powers, Curator of Collections, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.
The titles of the individual talks will be:
Matt Webster: “But with a Banner Left”
Kate Hughes: “Piedmont’s Portraits: Patrician Image-Making in the Lower Shenandoah Valley” (Piedmont refers to the old Briscoe home in Jefferson County.)
Katie McKinney: “William Roberts’ ‘Excursion over the Mountains’: Backcountry Landscapes ‘by the Pencil of a Virginian’ “
Nicholas Powers: “Frederick Kemmelmeyer: Hessian Mercenary to American Artist” (Kemmelmeyer’s last signed portrait was of Shepherdstown’s Catherine Weltzheimer.)
Each talk will take place at 7 p.m. at the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education.
https://i0.wp.com/historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/20180912_panel_.png?fit=985%2C338&ssl=1338985Kelsey Hotalinghttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngKelsey Hotaling2019-08-12 15:05:242022-05-16 10:46:10Speaker Series, 2019 – Four Experts to Discuss Artisans of the Lower Shenandoah Valley
In his talk, “Rediscovering the History of a Long-Forgotten Shepherdstown Log Farmhouse,” Mr. Goss will describe his determined efforts to research the history of the log home near Shepherdstown he and his wife Lynne purchased in 2011.
Local author Joseph Goss, will present the second talk in Historic Shepherdstown’s 2019 Speakers Series on May 22 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Shepherd University’s Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. The talk is free and open to the public.
Having been told that the house was built in 1780, Mr. Goss set out to discover the cabin’s first owner, its age and boundaries, and to lay bare some of the house’s unexplored secrets. It was not an easy task. However, his fascination with discovering the building’s mysteries eventually led Mr. Goss to write the story of what he had learned. His recently released book, Frontier Cabin Story: The Rediscovered History of a West Virginia Log Farmhouse, will be available for sale at the Byrd Center that evening.
In his introduction to the book, Mr. Goss writes of his convictions about why this story needs to be told: “I believe the past owners and residents are an essential part of the history, spirit and energy of the house. I hope that this project will honor them and the other pioneers, both men and women, European and enslaved African American, who settled the frontier.”
Joseph Goss is an engineer who earned degrees from UC Berkeley and Stanford University. He served in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan in the 1960’s. He spent much of his career working to rehabilitate the aging water and sewer infrastructure of the DC region. He and his wife divide their time between the log farmhouse and the DC suburbs.
In addition to Mr. Goss’s talk, Historic Shepherdstown will mark Preservation Month in May by presenting its annual Preservation Awards. The Awards are given to local citizens who have contributed to historic preservation in Shepherdstown. In addition to the Preservation Awards, Historic Shepherdstown will present their first “Contributions to Historic Shepherdstown” award at the meeting.
Light refreshments will be served after the event.
For more information, contact the Historic Shepherdstown office at [email protected] or 304-876-0910.
https://i0.wp.com/historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Joseph-Goss-photo.jpg?fit=2208%2C3929&ssl=139292208bts4hsmhttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngbts4hsm2019-05-15 21:16:492022-07-31 08:58:36Speakers Series, 2019 – Joseph Goss, Rediscovering a Local Log Farmhouse
Dr. Jerry Bruce Thomas will present “Images From the Right Bank: The Lives and Times of the Botelers of Fountain Rock” at Shepherd University’s Byrd Auditorium on November 14, 2018 at 7 p.m.
The Auditorium is located in the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd campus. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will follow the talk.
Shepherdstonian Alexander Boteler was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives before the Civil War, a member of the First Confederate Congress, a Confederate officer, the owner of Boteler’s Cement Mill, an avid artist and cartoonist, an early supporter of building a Rumsey monument in Shepherdstown, and one of the founders of Shepherd College. In other words, he was a man engaged in the major events of his time with many interests and enthusiasms and a surprising talent.
Dr. Thomas’ interest in Alexander Boteler has led him to conduct considerable research on Boteler’s life and times, and a book is in process.
Dr. Thomas is a native of Wyoming County, WV. He received his BA from West Virginia University and his MA and PhD in American History from the University of North Carolina. After more than 30 years on the faculty at Shepherd University, specializing in courses in World Civilization and Recent American History, he retired in 2009. The University Press of Kentucky published his An Appalachian New Deal, West Virginia in the Great Depression in 1998. West Virginia University Press published a new edition (2010) as well as An Appalachian Reawakening: West Virginia and the Perils of the New Machine Age, 1945-1972 (2010). Thomas formerly served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Historic Shepherdstown Commission.
Dr. Thomas’ talk is the last in Historic Shepherdstown’s 2018 Speakers Series. The 2019 schedule will be announced early next year.
https://i0.wp.com/historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Jerry-Thomas.jpg?fit=698%2C712&ssl=1712698bts4hsmhttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngbts4hsm2018-10-29 14:17:052022-07-01 20:47:46Speaker Series, 2018: Images From the Right Bank: The Lives and Times of the Botelers of Fountain Rock
On Wednesday, October 10, Historic Shepherdstown will present Dennis Frye, recently retired Chief Historian at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, speaking on “Antietam Shadows: Mystery, Myth & Machination.” The free event will take place in the auditorium at the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd campus. It will begin at 6:45 p.m. with Historic Shepherdstown’s annual meeting, followed by the talk at 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments will follow.
Mr. Frye has been studying Antietam and the first invasion of the North for nearly 50 years. From his earliest days as a National Park Service volunteer at the Dunker Church (he is a Dunker), and as a native of the area, Dennis has immersed himself in the Civil War, publishing many books on the subject. He is also a prominent Civil War battlefield preservationist. He was one of the founders of what is today the Civil War Trust. The Trust, which has spearheaded the saving of much battlefield land, awarded Mr. Frye with their highest honor, the Shelby Foote Award.
Mr. Frye’s talk, based on his recent book, also called “Antietam Shadows,” challenges many of the commonly held beliefs about the Battle of Antietam. Of this book, he has said: “I’m challenging my peers. I’m challenging myself. I’m challenging what we have accepted as fact, what we have accepted as reality.” He has also said that he hopes the talk will stimulate debate as he explores uncertainties and unknowns.
On November 14, Historic Shepherdstown will sponsor the last talk of the 2018 Speakers Series. Jerry Thomas, Shepherd University Professor Emeritus of History will speak on “From the Old South to the New in the Lower Shenandoah Valley: The Life and Times of Alexander Robinson Boteler, 1815-1892.” His talk will take place at 7:00 p.m., also at Shepherd’s Byrd Center.
For more information, contact the Historic Shepherdstown Commission office at [email protected] or 304-876-0910.
Historic Shepherdstown will feature a talk by Karen Good Cooper entitled “Shenandoah Valley’s Germanic Heritage” on June 13 at 7 p.m.
The talk will take place in the auditorium at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd University campus. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served after the presentation.
With a main street called German Street and a town museum full of German crafts, it’s hard to miss Shepherdstown’s German heritage. Ms. Cooper will provide a broader context in her talk. The Germans brought their own ideas, methods, and customs. Who were they? Why did they come? What happened as they formed their communities and as their children began to move away? Ms. Cooper says the talk is designed to make people think about how the “Shenandoah Deutsch” affected so much of how we behave and how we work together.
Karen Cooper is a 10th generation Shenandoah Valley resident and the head of the Board of Directors for the Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum and its parent organization. She graduated from Western Maryland College and has an MA in history from James Madison University. She has been studying local history and genealogy for fifty years and served as the founding president of the Shenandoah County Historical Society.
The 2018 Speakers Series will feature three additional programs:
September 12, Matthew Webster, Kate Hughes, Katie McKinney, all of Colonial Williamsburg, and Nicholas Powers, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley,” Artisans in the Lower Shenandoah Valley.”
October 10, Dennis Frye, Chief Historian, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, “Antietam Shadows: Mystery, Myth & Machination.”
November 14, Jerry Thomas, Professor of History Emeritus, Shepherd University, “From the Old South to the New in the Lower Shenandoah Valley: The Life and Times of Alexander Robinson Boteler, 1815-1892.”
All of the talks will take place at 7 p.m. at the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education.
For more information, contact the Historic Shepherdstown Commission office at [email protected] or 304-876-0910.
https://i0.wp.com/historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/fraktur_crop.jpg?fit=2127%2C1192&ssl=111922127bts4hsmhttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngbts4hsm2018-06-09 19:24:482022-08-01 11:32:23Speakers Series, 2018: Shenandoah Valley’s Germanic Heritage, Karen Good Cooper
Local historian and Washington family descendant Walter Washington and architectural historian John Allen will kick off the Historic Shepherdstown Commission’s 2018 Speakers Series on April 18 at 7 p.m. Their talk is entitled “History and Architecture of the Washington Family Homes of Jefferson County.”
Walter Washington restored and maintains Harewood, the historic home of his ancestor Samuel Washington, brother of George Washington. He is currently President of Friends of Happy Retreat, the home of Charles Town, WV founder Charles Washington. He is also a former chair of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission and former board member of the Jefferson County Historical Society.
John C. Allen, Jr. authored Uncommon Vernacular: The Early Houses of Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1735-1835, a comprehensive and meticulous exploration of the county’s historic houses. He is also former chair of the Jefferson County Historical Landmarks Commission.
The talk will take place in the auditorium at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd University campus. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served after the presentation.
The 2018 Speakers Series will feature four additional programs:
June 13, Karen G. Cooper, Shenandoah County Historical Society and Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum, “Germanic Heritage in the Shenandoah Valley.”
September 12, Matthew Webster, Kate Hughes, Katie McKinney, all of Colonial Williamsburg, and Nicholas Powers, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley,”Artisans in the Lower Shenandoah Valley.”
October 10, Dennis Frye, Chief Historian, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, “Antietam Shadows: Mystery, Myth & Machination.”
November 14, Jerry Thomas, Professor of History Emeritus, Shepherd University, “From the Old South to the New in the Lower Shenandoah Valley: The Life and Times of Alexander Robinson Boteler, 1815-1892.”
All of the talks with take place at 7 p.m. at the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education.
https://i0.wp.com/historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/harewood_200px.jpg?fit=1000%2C677&ssl=16771000bts4hsmhttps://historicshepherdstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hsc_logo_dummy.pngbts4hsm2018-04-07 14:38:202022-08-01 11:37:58Speakers Series, 2018: Walter Washington and John Allen, “History and Architecture of the Washington Family Homes”
On November 8 at 7 p.m., Doug Perks, Jefferson County Museum Historian and WV History Hero, will present “Changing Faces—Mr. Jefferson’s County” as the finale of the Historic Shepherdstown Commission’s 2017 Speakers Series. The talk will take place in the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd University campus. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will follow the talk.
Perks will feature historic and recent photos from his collection and the archives of both the Historic Shepherdstown Commission and the Jefferson County Museum. The focus will be on on Shepherdstown and the surrounding area. The purpose of the presentation is to illustrate how the viewscapes in and around Jefferson County have changed over time.
For relative newcomers, this talk will provide a chance to see into the past of their historic adopted county. For long-time residents, it may spark some memories or recall some storied events.
Historic Shepherdstown’s 2018 Speakers Series schedule will be announced early next year.
Historic Shepherdstown’s 2017 holiday ornaments featuring the James Rumsey Monument will be on sale at the event, as will Entler Hotel magnets. For further information, contact Historic Shepherdstown at [email protected] or 304-876-0910.
