I am thinking about boycotting the 250th anniversary of the creation of Loudoun County, because as I remember it, Loudoun did not vote for General William Mahone in the 1889 gubernatorial election. (Just kidding!) Harold S. Forsythe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brent Tarter" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 4:08 PM Subject: Loudoun County's 250th Anniversary News Release For Immediate Release: February 15, 2007 Contact: Alexandra S. Gressitt, Library Manager, (703) 737-7195 Kathleen R. Leidich, Assistant to the Town Manager, (703) 771-2709 Thomas Balch Library Announces Lecture Series Honoring Loudoun County's 250th Anniversary The Thomas Balch Library is pleased to announce that it has received grant funding from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy to underwrite a series of five public programs to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the establishment of Loudoun County. Admission is free to these programs. They will be held at the Balch Library (208 W.Market Street) at 2:00 PM on the following Sunday afternoons: April 15th, May 6th, June 17th, September 16th, and October 21st. The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy, an affiliate organization of the National Endowment for the Humanities, provided $2,000 in grant funding to support the 5-program lecture series. With the assistance of Loudoun Historical Society, Loudoun Restoration and Preservation Society and Friends of The Thomas Balch Library, Inc. the lectures will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoons at Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg. Each lecturer will address the situation on the Virginia frontier in 1757 when Loudoun County was formed. At the time of its establishment the jurisdiction stood on the western border of the British Empire and faced the threat of French and Native American forces who raided west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and drove English-speaking settlers back toward the sea. In fact, Loudoun County is named for John Campbell, the fourth Earl of Loudoun, who served as commander-in-chief of British armed forces in North America when the county was created. The programs will be video-recorded and subsequently published by Loudoun Historical Society and Friends of The Thomas Balch Library, Inc. as a memento of the County's 250th anniversary and the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the English in Virginia. "We are delighted to receive this grant funding to help us promote historical programming for the Town and County", remarked Library Manager Alexandra Gressitt, "it has given us the opportunity to bring together several local historical organizations and combine efforts in celebrating Loudoun County's 250th Anniversary. This opportunity builds a foundation for future cooperative ventures." Participating scholars and their lecture schedule are as follows: April 15 - Dr. Carl J. Ekburg, Professor Emeritus of the University of Illinois, will comment on the "French Challenge to British North America." Dr. Ekburg, who holds his doctorate in history from Rutgers University, and is the author of numerous volumes on eighteenth century colonial history, including his forthcoming Stealing Indian Women: Native Slavery in the Illinois Country (University of Illinois Press.) May 6 - Dr. Paul Mapp from the history department at the College of William and Mary will speak on the subject, "The Seven Years' War and Changing British Imperial Objectives." Author of the recent article in the William and Mary Quarterly "Atlantic History from Imperial, Continental, and Pacific Perspectives," Mapp earned his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University and currently teaches a course in Williamsburg on "The Seven Years' War In A Global Context." June 17 - "Caught in the Middle: The Indigenous Response to Foreign Imperial Designs" will be the topic addressed by Dr. Timothy Shannon. An Associate Professor of History at Gettysburg College, Shannon has published widely on the response of Native Americans to the arrival of the Europeans and their armies on indigenous homelands after 1492. Most recently Cornell University Press issued his Indians and Colonists at the Crossroads of Empire: The Albany Congress of 1754. September 16 - Warren Hofstra, the Stewart Bell Professor of American History at Shenandoah University, will present "When a World War is the Home Front: The Seven Years' War on the Virginia Frontiers." Hofstra, who holds his doctorate in history from the University of Virginia, is a specialist in Virginia's frontier experience and among many publications is the author of The Planting of New Virginia (Johns Hopkins Press, 2004). October 21- "The Imperious Laird: John Campbell, Loudoun's Namesake" will be the topic of a presentation by Dr. Douglas Foard. A retired history professor and former director of the Loudoun Museum, Foard also served for more than a decade as Executive Secretary of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society. For further information contact Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg at 703/737-7195. Kathleen R. Leidich, AICP Assistant to the Town Manager Town of Leesburg (703) 771-2709 [log in to unmask] 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