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History Calendar for week of Jan. 6, 2013

January 8, 2013 12:10 am

Please enter information online at events.fredericksburg.com. Select "History" category. You may also email
Email: tandc@freelancestar.com (subject: History Calendar), or fax 540/373-8455. Deadline: noon Thursday preceding Tuesday publication. 540/374-5461.

"All the 'Burg's a Stage." 6-8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 10. Join Christopher Uebelhor, director of collections and exhibitions at Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, for "Culture and Cocktails." He'll offer a peek at music and theater items--instruments, programs, playbills, more--in the museum's collection that have never been exhibited or have been in storage for years. Enjoy informal setting, friendly discussion, light fare and open bar in museum's Catherine W. Jones McKann Center, 1001 Princess Anne St. Free. Museum members only; advance registration required. Contact Melanie Johnson, 540/371-3037, ext. 400, or
Email: mjohnson@famcc.org for details or to register.

Winter Birding: Mixed-Species Flocking. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County. At this historic site on Virginia's Northern Neck, Dr. Andrew Dolby of the University of Mary Washington will describe benefits of flocking for birds, with special emphasis on mixed-species flocks. From tropical rainforests to temperate forests, birds of all ecosystems seek protection and increase their foraging success by seeking company with others. Pre-registration suggested. $10. 804/493-1972; stratfordhall.org.

Religious Freedom Day. 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 13. Dignitaries commemorate 236th anniversary of drafting, in Fredericksburg, of Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. The statute inspired Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The annual event starts with a one-mile parade, departing Fredericksburg train depot at 1:15 p.m., proceeding north on Caroline Street, turning west onto Amelia Street, north on Washington Avenue, and finishing at Religious Freedom Monument at Washington Avenue and Pitt Street. Bishop E.W. Jackson and Herb Titus, both of Chesapeake, will speak. Pastor Douglas W. Kittredge of New Life in Christ Church will give the invocation. Father Don Rooney of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church will give the benediction. Del. Bobby Orrock will be master of ceremony. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw will deliver the city's proclamation for the anniversary.

"Lincoln's War at Washington's Boyhood Home." Monday, Jan. 14. Area resident Paul Nasca, an archaeologist with Historic Alexandria who helped unearth remains of George Washington's family home in Stafford, will address Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table. Brock's Riverside Grill, Sophia and Lafayette streets. Social time 6:30 p.m., dinner 6:45, program 7:30. rvcwrt.org. Public welcome. Come just for the program--it's free--or make dinner reservations, 3
Email: dognight@bigplanet.com.

"The 1942 Expansion of Quantico Marine Corps Base." 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 17. Stafford historian-author Jerrilynn Eby MacGregor sketches physical and social impacts on families, communities as U.S. government confiscated homes to enlarge the base's training facilities and maneuver areas during World War II. Federal officials notified residents of Stafford's northern fifth that they had two weeks to vacate their properties and move furniture, cattle, farm equipment, families sacrificed for war effort. Eby MacGregor will give an illustrated address to the Stafford County Historical Society when it meets in Board of Supervisors chambers at George L. Gordon Jr. Government Center, 1300 Courthouse Road. Free. Everyone welcome. staffordcountyhistoricalsociety.org.

"The Union Army's 'Valley Forge' 1863: 93 Days That Saved America." Thursday, Jan. 17. Local historian Al Conner, president of Civil War Round Table of Fredericksburg, discusses army's pivotal experiences in Stafford. At University of Mary Washington's Jepson Alumni Executive Center, 1119 Hanover St. Bar opens 5:45 p.m., social 6 p.m., dinner 6:45 p.m., program 7:30 p.m. Reservations required; 540/361-2105. Coats, ties for men; equivalent for ladies. civilwar roundtablefredericksburg.com.

Robert E. Lee's Birthday Celebration. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19. Mark Lee's 206th birthday at Stratford Hall. Attractions include Civil War 150 HistoryMobile, book-signing by Dr. James "Bud" Robertson in Gift Shop at 4 p.m., living-history portrayal of Robert E. Lee, live music and complimentary tours of Great House. Free admission. 483 Great House Road, Westmoreland. 804/493-8038; stratfordhall.org.

"Becoming Confederates: Paths to a New National Loyalty." 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 24. Historian Gary W. Gallagher will speak at Central Rappahannock Regional Library's headquarters branch, 1201 Caroline St. in Fredericksburg. Gallagher will discuss Robert E. Lee's loyalties to Virginia, the United States, the South and Confederacy during sectional discord of mid-19th century. One needs to think of Lee, he'll emphasize, as a complex person whose loyalty to Virginia did not always guide his actions. Dr. Gallagher's lecture is sponsored by Stratford Hall, home of the Lees of Virginia and birthplace of Robert E. Lee, and the regional library. Free. 804/493-1972, stratfordhall.org or librarypoint.org, 540/372-1144.

"Julius Caesar," The Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series. 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 24. Philip Freeman, author of "Julius Caesar" and professor of classics at Luther College, launches annual series at University of Mary Washington in George Washington Hall's Dodd Auditorium. Free. umw.edu/greatlives; 540/654-1065.

Selected Pieces from the Larry D. Silver Art Collection. Through Jan. 31 at Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, Catherine W. Jones McKann Center, Mansard Gallery. As Fredericksburg reflects on roles it has played in our nation's history, native son Larry Silver shares part of his collection of historical paintings. Museum open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 12-5 p.m. Sunday. Giclee prints for sale in The Museum Store. Ellen Killough, 540/371-3037, ext. 134; famcc.org.

"We Can Never Go Back." Signature show of Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center for statewide celebration of Civil War sesquicentennial. At Fredericksburg's Old Town Hall/Market House, the museum partnered with National Park Service to create vignettes that help tell stories of Fredericksburg's residents during four years of war; famcc.org.

ELSEWHERE

Lest We Forget: A Conference on Enslavement and Emancipation. Feb. 21-23 at The Hylton Chapel, Woodbridge. First in an annual series of conferences on African-American history in Virginia. Keynote addresses (including University of Mary Washington professor Douglas Sanford and Dr. Lauranette Lee of the Virginia Historical Society), forums, dramatic plays and guided tours of historic sites related to the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Free. 703/792-4754; manassasbullrun.com.

65th annual Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum. Feb. 22-27. Four full days of lively discussions, lectures and programs delving into new research in decorative arts. "What's Old Is New Again: Celebrating Antiques in America" opens with gala Friday evening reception and closes with a dinner on Tuesday. Optional lecture Thursday, three optional bus tours Friday, and five optional workshops Wednesday, Feb. 27. On Saturday, Robert Leath, vice president for collections and research at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., will present "Scarlett Has an iPad: New Directions in Southern Decorative Arts" and Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg's vice president of collections, conservation and museums and Carlisle H. Humelsine chief curator, will offer "The Evolving State of Knowledge: Southern Furniture at Fifteen." history.org/conted; 800/603-0948.