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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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I haven’t posted much lately because I got caught up in a great book about the James River by Bob Deans. The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James isn’t a book about genealogy, but Deans offers an excellent overview about everything that happened along the James River from Clovis tips to the Civil War. So if you want to read about what happened when and receive a solid general education about this area’s history, then Deans’ book is for you.
If you aren’t satisfied with this short and enthusiastic review about this book, read my review at Goinhome to learn more. You can also visit the book’s Web site to learn more. Enjoy!
Posted by river queen at 7:47 PM PST
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William M. Kelso has been the chief archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery project from the beginning. His book, Jamestown, the Buried Truth, is a lucid and enthralling history of the excavations and of the reinterpretation of the events of the first few years of the Virginia colony. So clear and informative is the text that the volume is one of the best books ever on how students of the past, whether archaeologists or other kinds of historians, do their work. Brent Tarter, Richmond Times Dispatch.
Once thought to have been washed away by the James River, James Fort still retains much of its structure, including palisade walls, bulwarks, interior buildings, a well, a warehouse, and several pits, and more than 500,000 objects have been cataloged, half dating to the time of Queen Elizabeth and King James. Artifacts especially reflective of life at James Fort include an ivory compass, Cabasset helmets and breastplates, glass and copper beads and ornaments, ceramics, tools, religious icons, a pewter flagon, and personal items. Dr. Kelso and his team of archaeologists have discovered the lost burial of one of Jamestown’s early leaders, presumed to be Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, and the remains of several other early settlers, including a young man who died of a musket ball wound. In addition, they’ve uncovered and analyzed the remains of the foundations of Jamestown’s massive capitol building.
Refuting the now decades-old stereotype that attributed the high mortality rate of the Jamestown settlers to their laziness and ineptitude, Jamestown, the Buried Truth produces a vivid picture of the settlement that is far more complex, incorporating the most recent archaeology to give Jamestown its rightful place in history and thus contributing to a broader understanding of the transatlantic world.
Posted by river queen at 3:41 AM PST
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Roar of the Heavens: Surviving Hurricane Camille by Stefan Bechtel is a page-turner that will enlighten readers on Hurricane Camille’s horrific impact on Nelson County on 19 August 1969. As Camille hit the mountains of western Virginia she also collided with two other weather systems that squeezed millions of tons of water out of the storm like a sponge. It didn’t just rain; the air held nearly the maximum amount of water theoretically possible, becoming a solid body of descending liquid as lightning flashed sideways. Eight hours and more than two feet of rain later, 124 people in rural Nelson County were dead. Many of them, taken by the devastating floods, would never be found. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by river queen at 8:50 PM PDT
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