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March is Women’s History Month, and the first day of this month marked no better time to meet Ann Woodlief, a former English professor at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University), an author, a genealogy buff, and a Huguenot descendant. But, her interest in Virginia’s Huguenots goes well beyond a minor hobby as she’s the National Librarian (600+ volumes, mostly focused on Virginia and the Huguenots), President of the Virginia branch, and Webmaster for the Manakin Huguenot Society.
Ann’s book about the James River is on-line, since it since it was originally published in 1985 and it is now out of print. In River Time: The Way of the James offers Ann’s perspective on this river with more than a passing nod to how impersonal this body of water may seem at times, yet how many nuggets of history its waters often reveal.
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Posted by river queen at 3:02 PM PST
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Botetourt county native, Debra Alderson McClane, has published her book, Botetourt County (VA) (Images of America). McClane pulled images from local libraries, the Botetourt County Museum, and from resources in Fincastle to create this picture history of county towns and communities, Armed Forces members, industry and commerce, schools, churches and social groups, historic homes and natural resources within Botetourt County. She also spoke with many local historians and life-long county residents for two years prior to the book’s publication.
The author comes from a long-time Botetourt County family. The Alderson family moved to the area in 1770 when John Alderson, a Baptist minister, settled here. Her parents reside on a farm in the Trinity area that has been in the family since the 18th century. Her father, John Alderson, runs a well-known insurance agency in Daleville.
McClane, a 1983 graduate of Lord Botetourt High School, said she is proud of her heritage and was delighted to be able to share it. She realized that with the Jamestown 2007 commemoration, the publication of a new Botetourt County book was prudent. When she saw an advertisement for writers for Arcadia Publishing, she decided to get to work.
McClane, along with her husband Patrick, co-authored The Architecture Of James Gamble Rogers II In Winter Park, Florida prior to the book about Botetourt County.
Source: Main Street Newspapers
Posted by river queen at 2:41 PM PST
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In what could be a huge tourism boost, town and county officials are working together to explore the possibility of relocating Richmond’s Museum of the Confederacy to Appomattox. Beckie Nix, Director of Tourism for the Town of Appomattox met earlier this month with town officials, county officials and other citizens to discuss preparations for the relocation of the Richmond-based museum.
The current location of the museum is located at 1201 E. Clay St. in downtown Richmond, but the museum has been hamstrung by a budgetary and logistical problems, which have prompted museum officials to seek another location. Nix and County Tourism Director Anne Dixon are spearheading the possibility of relocating the museum. According to Public Relations Manager Megan Miller, the museum is expected to have a new location by 2011.
The year 2011 would be the Civil War’s 150th anniversary.
Read more: Altavista Times Journal
Posted by river queen at 2:41 PM PST
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Lynn Rainville, an archaeology and history professor at Sweet Briar College in Amherst County, has created a project that catalogues and maps rural cemeteries in two Virginia James River counties. The site, African-American Cemeteries in Albemarle & Amherst Counties, provides a focus on graveyards where markers are often the first to disappear.
‘A lot of these cemeteries contain un-inscribed gravestones,’ said Rainville, also a visiting researcher at the University of Virginia. ‘If you do have them on your property, unless you start looking for it, you might very well miss it.’
As development becomes more common, Rainville said it’s going to be important that developers and landowners know where these cemeteries are.
‘If they were hidden before, the bulldozers discover them,’ said Scot French, a U.Va. history professor who leads the Virginia Center for Digital History.
While French said there are laws in place to deal with people who knowingly destroy cemeteries, the Rainville Web site makes it easier for developers to avoid gravesites.
Rainville connects readers to the history of slavery and segregation in Virginia, a vital resource in the wake of Virginia’s apology this past week for its role in slavery.
Rural cemeteries in Virginia are vanishing from record and memory when landowners die or when development occurs. Rainville’s project serves as vital map to a world that could easily be lost and forgotten. In that light, they are always searching for more information about historic black cemeteries in either Albemarle or Amherst County Virginia. If you have any additional information about the cemeteries contained in this website or if you know of others located within the two counties, please contact them.
Source: AP on Topix
Posted by river queen at 1:54 PM PST
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