EXHIBITS

Oct. 1–31 – Balch Library Exhibit: Wynne Saffer Personal Collections. Margaret Mercer Room, Thomas Balch Library, 208 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA. For more information, please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov.

Now through Nov. 30 – Larry Roeder Art Show. The Leesburg Commission on Public Art (COPA) is pleased to announce a new art display that is available for viewing at Leesburg Town Hall (25 West Market Street). A variety of ceramics, oils, charcoal drawings, photographs, and multimedia, created by local artist Larry Roeder, will be on display through November 30, 2021. Roeder’s work can also be seen online at www.artbyroeder.com. Larry comes from a long line of artists and received training in Germany, Missouri, the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC and the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria.  Both abstract and representational art is shown.  One charcoal rendering is of Edwin Washington of Leesburg, the first Black youth documented to have gone to school while keeping his job during Reconstruction.  The public is encouraged to stop by and see the art during normal business hours at Leesburg Town Hall.

LECTURES, SEMINARS, TOURS & OTHER EVENTS:

Sat.-Sun., Oct. 2 & 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Brunswick Railroad Days. With live music, food, street vendors, carnival games, crafts and a petting zoo. The Brunswick Heritage Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days of the festival, so visitors can learn more about the town’s railroad history. “There would absolutely be no Brunswick without the B&O Railroad,” said James Castle, director of the Heritage Museum, told the Frederick News-Post. Train rides will be offered at 1:00 each day, headed for Buck’s Lodge, a popular vacation spot around the turn of the century. Tickets for the train ride are $10 for adults, and $15 for children ages 3 to 12. Masks and social distancing will be required. For more, see the article on Brunswick and the B&O in the Frederick News-Post.

Wed., Oct. 6, at 5:30 p.m. – Harpers Ferry Civil War Round Table, Tour of Second Battle of Kernstown. (In-Person Event, Registration Required) Our guide to the Battlefield will be historian and retired Army Officer Larry Turner. Turner joined the Kernstown Battlefield Association in the fall of 2015, began giving guided tours of the battlefield and the Pritchard house in 2016, and was voted to join the Board of Directors in 2017. His background and research have led him to special expertise in Civil War artillery weapons and fuses. The tour will involve less than a mile of walking, with an 80-foot elevation gain. Motorized help for those with mobility impairments will be available. In case of rain, the presentation will move indoors, and in that case masks will be required. We will be making a contribution to the Kernstown Battlefield Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Please bring $5 (exact change appreciated) to help with that expense. Reserve your space by email to ccraig@laurellodge.com. Kernstown Battlefield is at 610 Battle Park Drive, Winchester, VA. (From I-81 South, take exit 310 for VA 37 toward US-11/VA 642/Kernstown. Turn right at the end of the ramp and exit immediately onto US 11. Turn left at the bottom of this ramp. In 1.4 miles, turn left just before the Subaru Dealer on Battle Park Drive. Look for the entrance sign to the Battlefield. The driveway is to the left of the sign. Use caution approaching Saratoga drive to the right as residents there don't stop at the stop sign at Battle Park Drive.) We will meet at the artillery building.

Thurs., Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. – “Preservation for Home Archives” (virtual class, pre-registration required). Contract Archivist and former Thomas Balch Library Reference Associate Gabrielle Sanchez will introduce participants to the basics of preservation and discuss the best ways to house and protect personal archives. Topics will include proper ways to handle letters, books, photographs, and other media; common conservation needs; threats to paper and electronic media; and the dangers of non-archival storage products. Pre-registration is required for this event. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov, or register online.

Fri.-Sat., Oct. 8 & 9, at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Fall Fest at Catoctin Furnace. We will continue the decade long autumn tradition in Catoctin Furnace. Stand around the copper kettle and help stir the apple butter while it boils this year! Join us for apple butter boiling, blacksmithing, and museum touring … plan your perfect day at Fallfest! Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., 12610 Catoctin Furnace Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788. 240-288-7396. info@catoctinfurnace.org

Sat., Oct. 9, at 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Grand Reopening of the Sharpsburgh Museum of History. (In-Person Event). Come celebrate with us! See artifacts once belonging to Sharpsburg's Founder Joseph Chapline. Day to include Plumeria Pig BBQ, Jeff Taulton, John Schultz, Living History Demonstrations, Door Prizes, Exhibits open all day, and something for the whole family. 106 East Main Street (2nd Floor), Sharpsburg MD

Sun., Oct. 10, at 2:00 p.m. – Daniel Dangerfield and the Underground Railroad (in-person program). Learn the story of Daniel Dangerfield, a self-emancipated man who grew up enslaved in Loudoun and worked in his youth at a mill in Aldie. Captured in Pennsylvania, his sensational court hearing led to his release and eventual productive life in Canada. Discover how his story is part of heightened tensions over slavery in the 1850s and the growth of the international anti-slavery network. Presented by historian Dr. Deborah A. Lee and co-sponsored by NOVA Parks, the Black History Committee of Thomas Balch Library, and Gary Clemens, Clerk of the Loudoun County Circuit Court. Aldie Mill, 39401 John Mosby Highway, Aldie, VA. Free admission, but seating is limited. Registration required at bit.ly/Ddangerfield.

Thurs., Oct. 14, at 6:30-8:00 p.m. – “The Ground Holds Secrets: Courthouse Archaeology” (virtual program). Join the Clerk of the Circuit Court Historic Records team, County Archaeologist Stephen Thompson, and Principal Planner Heidi Siebentritt from Loudoun County’s Department of Planning and Zoning, for a virtual program on the history of the courthouse complex and the role of archeology in county development. Sponsored by: Gary M. Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Historic Records Division; and the Loudoun County Department of Planning and Zoning. For more information, go to https://www.loudoun.gov/2165/Historic-Records-Deed-Research

Thurs., Oct. 14, at 7:00 p.m. – Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White, with Dr. Patricia Sullivan (virtual event, registration required). The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education will welcome historian Patricia Sullivan for a virtual book talk. History, race, and politics converged in the 1960s in ways that indelibly changed America. In Justice Rising, a landmark reconsideration of Robert Kennedy’s life and legacy, Patricia Sullivan draws on government files, personal papers, and oral interviews to reveal how he grasped the moment to emerge as a transformational leader. ​When protests broke out across the South, the young attorney general confronted escalating demands for racial justice. What began as a political problem soon became a moral one. In the face of vehement pushback from Southern Democrats bent on massive resistance, he put the weight of the federal government behind school desegregation and voter registration. Bobby Kennedy’s youthful energy, moral vision, and capacity to lead created a momentum for change. He helped shape the 1964 Civil Rights Act but knew no law would end racism. When the Watts uprising brought calls for more aggressive policing, he pushed back, pointing to the root causes of urban unrest: entrenched poverty, substandard schools, and few job opportunities. RFK strongly opposed the military buildup in Vietnam, but nothing was more important to him than “the revolution within our gates, the struggle of the American Negro for full equality and full freedom.” This lecture will be held via Zoom. Please register here to receive a Zoom link. Patricia Sullivan will be at Four Seasons Bookstore on Friday, October 15 from 2-3PM to sign books and meet the author where you can chat with her about Justice Rising.

Thurs., Oct. 21, 7:00 p.m. – "America’s Good Terrorist: John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid." Presented by Dr. Charles Poland and the Frederick County Civil War Roundtable. John Brown is a common name, but the John Brown who masterminded the failed raid at Harpers Ferry was anything but common. His failed efforts have left an imprint upon our history, and his story still swirls in controversy. This new biography covers Brown's background and the context to his decision to carry out the raid, a detailed narrative of the raid and its consequences for both those involved and America; and an exploration of the changing characterization of Brown since his death. The Roundtable meets at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine (NMCWM), 48 East Patrick Street in Downtown Frederick. The meetings are open and free to the public. For more information, email Matt Borders, mborders@comcast.net.

Wed., Oct. 27 at 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. – The Powell Family Papers with Alison Herring (virtual event). Alison Herring is an independent historian engaged in researching and working towards the publication of the Powell Family Papers held at William & Mary.  Herring learned of the Powell Family Papers while volunteering in an online transcription project at the university’s Swem Library. The collection includes a large volume of documents that belonged to Selina Lloyd Powell, her husband Charles L. Powell, and their six children. In her research, Herring also uncovered the story of Ariana Bingham and her four children, all enslaved by the Powells. The two families lived near Upperville and in Leesburg before the Civil War, and the collection provides rich details of life at that time. Their paths diverged in 1851 when the Powell’s moved west to Henry, IL and Ariana and her children were sold to the Delany’s at Welbourne Farm. The Powell’s later returned to Virginia and opened a boarding school for girls in Winchester on the eve of the Civil War. Closing the school in 1862, they fled the area, living separately for the next three years and supporting themselves by teaching young women around the state. Their separation produced a large volume of letters documenting their experiences, the people they encountered, and the events they witnessed. Herring found their stories compelling and tracked down the old houses where they lived and taught, reuniting their letters with those who live and work at those sites today. Thomas Balch Library. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov, or register online.

Thurs., Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m. – History on Tap: Spooky Scaries. Get into the Halloween spirit with the Historians on Tap as they share a series of weird, wild, and wacky local history stories! Costumes encouraged! Flying Ace Farm Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Ln, Lovettsville, VA This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area.

Sat.-Sun., Oct. 30 & 31, at 7 p.m. – Haunted History at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. On the creepiest weekend on the calendar, tour this historic structure, exploring the building’s history as they walk through the darkened galleries and offices. Staff and volunteers will share stories of Civil War embalmers, the building’s most infamous tenants, and their first-hand accounts of paranormal activity that has given the building the reputation as being the most haunted building in Frederick. In addition to a trip through the museum galleries, the tour provides exclusive access to the third floor where numerous sightings have occurred. 48 East Patrick Street was built in the 1830s. Before it became the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, the building was a furniture shop and a site of Civil War embalming, as well as home to many Frederick residents and their businesses. The past still echoes through the halls of the building. The haunting sights, sounds, and sensations from the building have been reported for decades by the people who lived and worked in the building over many years. Join us to hear our staff and volunteer’s stories first-hand. You are invited to bring your own cameras and ghost-finding apps – who knows what you’ll capture! Flash photography is prohibited. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $20 for Museum members. https://civilwarmed.donorshops.com/product/Halloween-Haunted-History-2021/haunted-history-2021-general-public-tickets