Our 2020 monthly lecture series:

Postponed until further notice: 

April 19 -  Loudoun County: Federalist Stronghold in Virginia, by Nancy Spannaus. It is well-known that Alexander Hamilton’s vision of America’s future as an industrialized nation was not broadly popular in Virginia, where the opposition was led by Thomas Jefferson. But not all Virginians shared Jefferson’s animosity. Here in northern Virginia, especially Loudoun County, Hamilton’s Federalist Party enjoyed solid support. In her lecture, Nancy Spannaus, author of Hamilton Versus Wall Street, will discuss how leading Loudoun Federalists pressed for Hamilton’s program. Loudoun produced two of the most prominent Federalists in the state, Levin Powell of Middleburg and Charles F. Mercer of Aldie. Their lengthy careers enrich the picture of Virginian politics on the crucial issues of the time—and even today. Nancy will be joined by Franklin Bell, who has done extensive research on Mercer’s career.

May 17 -  Secrets of Catoctin Mountain: Little known stories and hidden history in Frederick and Loudoun Counties, by James Rada.

June 14 – “’I am persuaded they will do great execution’: The Maryland and Virginia Rifle Companies of 1775,” by Travis Shaw

July 12  –  Climatic Change in Loudoun County, by Eugene Scheel

The mission of the Lovettsville Historical Society is to foster a sense of place and community by preserving, protecting, and educating about the history and heritage of Lovettsville and the German Settlement.  The  Society is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions and membership dues are tax deductible under Internal Revenue Code Section 170.  
 

It can get pretty boring during a “Stay at Home” edict due to the novel coronavirus these early weeks of 2020. With the beauty of a western Loudoun spring, we can telecommute, telestudy, go sit on the porch, go for a walk with family (keeping our distance otherwise!), watch television, read that good book you’ve put off tackling. Then there’s the Internet--what an amazing number of offerings are available!

If you’re curious about our local or community history, perhaps wanting your kids to be, there are several sites on the Internet and Facebook well worth a visit. Let’s start with your very own Lovettsville Historical Society website at www.lovettsvillehistoricalsociety.org. Our volunteers have produced a gem. Why do I like it so? First, there are old photographs—omigosh, I love climbing into these! Want to see the 1898-1955 Brunswick bridge? Want to see what Broadway in Lovettsville used to look like? Go play! Then there are articles on Lovettsville and northern Loudoun history—local German history, Civil War history, architectural history, nearby Maryland and West Virginia history—a very nice collection! There are hour-long videos of some of the most popular presentations given during the Lovettsville Lecture Series—very nicely done courtesy of the historical society. There are several video documentaries that introduce us to Lovettsville’s history, even one on the 1940 airliner crash here. You can hear our elder residents remember this section of Loudoun as it once was. And you will learn a great deal! Just pop over to this website and take a gander—you’ll want to come back. Something good to do if you can’t sleep at night!

I like the Mosby Heritage Area Association website as well: www.mosbyheritagearea.org . This is the history area that Loudoun, Clarke, Fauquier, Warren, and parts of Prince William County are a part of. Their mission is local history and its amazing historical landscape, much like the Lovettsville Historical Society’s mission, only a bigger area. Their website has three crucial parts. In “See it” you can find a number of tours that you can go on when things get better or that you can do right now virtually. You can find history scavenger hunts by county. There are blog articles on a number of famous people, places, and events that took place in our region. There are both scenery and history tours by topic. “Save it” talks about historic preservation and what is at risk locally. “Pass it On” provides tools for families, teachers, students, home-schoolers, and visitors to pass this historical landscape wealth along, including activities. Lots of Loudoun history to be had here!

Facebook-wise, the staffs of the Loudoun Museum and the Mosby Heritage Area have been visiting places and interpreting them with their stories several times a week, pasting videos on their Facebook pages for you to view. If you are on Facebook, you may want to “friend” them so you receive these engaging posts. The Loudoun Museum has been offering panels of local historians lately, sort of like going to a “History on Tap” that the Loudoun County Public Libraries have begun to offer, using their historical partners/colleagues speaking from the comfort of their homes. This way, you can imbibe history and your “favorite beverage” at home. These are a hoot—the historians give each other a hard time and are quite witty--but they are very insightful. Go to their Facebook pages, and you’ll see these archived. The most recent one I enjoyed was on how we fared locally in epidemics/pandemics of the past. These historians know their stuff!

Just across the river is another heritage area run by the State of Maryland, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, exploring the before, during, and after stories and places of our neighboring Frederick and Washington counties, plus Carroll County to the northeast. Their web site, www.heartofthecivilwar.org
has videos, stories, blogs, and tours to explore just across the Potomac.

Our own local history library, the Thomas Balch Library of History and Genealogy can be reached online at https://www.leesburgva.gov/government/departments/thomas-balch-library/databases-electronic-resources. There are a number of useful databases and resources there.