I have been struck by the two types of Virginians that we have been
nominating.  The first type can be classified as the "Inward-facing
Virginian", someone whose importance was greatest (if not confined) to
Virginia.  In earlier centuries I would put Byrd and Mahone in this
category.  The second category would be the "Outward-facing Virginian",
whose importance for Virginia itself might be minimal, but had great
importance for the rest of the United States.  Into this category we
might put George Marshall, who certainly thought he was a Virginian;
and maybe also Booker T. Washington (yes, his later life was lived
outside Virginia; but he was born in slavery here, was shuffled about
by the war, and was educated at Hampton--it's easier to think of him as
a Virginian than to call Frederick Douglass a Marylander).  A final
category--which has to be unknown to any state but Virginia--would be
those who are "Virginia-haunted", who have minimal if any connection
with the Dominion, but insist that they really are Virginians:  Woodrow
Wilson, George S. Patton and Alan Tate all come to mind, and I'll bet
there are others.

In the 18C I would nominate Patrick Henry as the greatest
"Inward-Facing Virginian", and, almost inevitably, Thomas Jefferson as
the greatest "Outward-Facing Virginian".  Those are sort of inevitable
picks, but as much as I'd like to name William Byrd II, I can do no
other.


Al Zambone

----------
Albert Louis Zambone
St. Cross College
University of Oxford
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]


On 17 Jan 2006, at 08:20, Brent Tarter wrote:

> The last two weeks we have had some discussions about the greatest or
> most important Virginians of the 19th and 20th centuries. This week
> let's think about the 18th century, including other people than George
> Washington who might very well run away with the prize.
>
> Brent Tarter
> The Library of Virginia
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Visit the Library of Virginia's web site at http://www.lva.lib.va.us
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
> instructions
> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html