Between September 2009 and May 2010, the Jefferson County Historical Society and the Men's Club of Shepherdstown are hosting a series of presentations by local experts on aspects of Jefferson County History.

The presentations are free and open to the public and will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the War Memorial Building, 102 N. German Street, Shepherdstown, WV. They are preceded at 6 pm by a social hour at the same location for members of the Society and the Men's Club. Persons interested in joining either of these organizations are welcome to come early and complete membership forms.

Watch for monthly bulletins about each of the following presentations as well:

For more information about the presentation, contact Curt Mason at cmasonwhf@aol.com. To learn more about  the Historical Society, please visit their web site jeffersonhistoricalwv.org.

February 22^th 2010 Lecturer Jim Taylor

In the fifth of the series, on February 8th, the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society (BHPS), will present the second public showing of Road Trip to History – African Americans of Jefferson County, West Virginia, a recently released 27-minute video. Prior to the showing Mr. Jim Taylor, president of the BHPS, will introduce the video as well as other members of the society in attendance. After the showing, members of the BHPS will entertain questions from the audience. 

In September 2000, Mr. Taylor, Nathaniel Downing (deceased), George C. Rutherford and James A. Tolbert met to discuss a way to bring to light the significant events in the history of African-Americans that had occurred in Jefferson County.  As a result of that meeting they formed the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society (BHPS), whose mission is to research and preserve information about the county’s rich black history.

Over the past 10 years, the Society has created visual exhibits and published several books documenting the County’s rich African-American history.  More recently, stimulated by the PBS series “Road Trip to History,” the BHPS contracted with Jefferson County film-maker Wayne Bronson to create a half-hour documentary video featuring Jefferson County’s African-American history, which will also be shown on PBS television stations in Virginia and West Virginia.  Much like the “Road Trip” productions of Charles Town and Shepherdstown histories, the black history video will document the many significant events which have occurred in Jefferson County, including  Martin Delany’s contributions to the Civil War (among them he was the first and highest-ranked black field officer in the U.S. Army) and African-American participation in the John Brown raids and the Niagara Movement meetings at Harpers Ferry, which ultimately led to the formation of the NAACP.  Mr. Taylor will also discuss the BHPS’s plans for several more research and publications projects including a book on the impact of women on the county’s African-American history and another summarizing a number of interviews with elderly black residents of the county conducted about 20 years ago.

Niagara Movement leaders at Harpers Ferry, ca 1906.

(Historic Photo Collection, Harpers Ferry NHP) -- photo not displayed

December 8^th 2009 Lecturer Doug Perks

Historian Doug Perks is the Recording Secretary for the Jefferson County Historical Society and the new Director of the Charles Town Library. He has been a director of the Historic Shepherdstown Commission, president of the Harpers Ferry Historical Association, and a member of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission. Doug designed the Parks As Classrooms Educator's Guide and the Niagara Movement Educator's Guide for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; coordinated the J. R. Clifford Youth Discovery Tent during the August, 2006, Niagara Movement Centennial Commemoration at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; and coordinated the School House Ridge Elementary Program - a hands-on education experience in Civil War History for all Jefferson County 5th grade students. He has also developed and coordinated Burr Farm Days for all Jefferson County 4th grade students and the Prepared For Success- the History of Storer College program for Jefferson & Berkeley County 8th grade students while serving as education coordinator for the Harpers Ferry Historical Association. Doug presents community lectures on local history, and writes the Mr. Jefferson's County column for the Guardian, the newsletter of the Jefferson County Historical Society.

“All Quiet Along the Potomac” is the title of a lecture series developed by Mr. Perks that will examine what happened in Jefferson County, Virginia during the American Civil War. The first in his series, entitled “I Am a Son of Virginia, and Her Destiny Shall be Mine,” will examine Jefferson County as she and her citizens struggle whether to remain with the Union or secede. “The Picket Guard - All Quiet Along the Potomac” was the title of a poem written by Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers published in Harper’s Weekly, November 30, 1861. But at that time nothing was further from the truth for the citizens of Jefferson County, Virginia.

To have a more complete understanding of the American Civil War one needs to examine not only what happened on the battlefields, but also what happened at home. Jefferson County, Virginia’s experience during those four years wasn’t any worse or any better than any other place in The Valley of the Shenandoah, east of the Blue Ridge, or North of the Potomac. By taking a look at what happened in the county during that time and by using where possible the words of the men and women who shared the experience, we are given an opportunity to better understand that the American Civil War changed not only the lives of the men who fought “The War,” but also changed the lives of the men, women, and children who remained at home.

November 9^th 2009 Lecturer Bill Theriault

Biographical information not avalable for the November lecturer.

October 12^th 2009 Lecturer Dennis Frye

In the second of the series on October 12, Dennis Frye, Chief Historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, will discuss the circumstances surrounding the 100th anniversary of the raid, trial and execution of John Brown.

Writer, lecturer, guide, and preservationist, Dennis is a prominent Civil War historian and is the Chairman of the John Brown Quad State 150th Commemoration. Dennis has made numerous appearances on PBS, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and A&E as a guest historian, and he helped produce television features on the Battle of Antietam and abolitionist John Brown. Dennis served as an Associate Producer for the Civil War movie Gods and Generals, during which he recruited and coordinated nearly 3,000 reenactors for the film. Dennis also is one of the nation’s leading Civil War battlefield preservationists. He is co-founder and first president of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and he is co-founder and a former president of today’s Civil War Preservation Trust, where he helped save battlefields in twelve states.

Dennis is a tour guide and lecturer in demand, escorting Delta Queen steam boat excursions and leading tours for organizations such as the Smithsonian, National Geographic, numerous colleges and universities, and more than 80 Civil War Round Tables. Dennis also is a well-known author, with 60 articles and five books. His latest book is entitled Antietam Revealed. Dennis resides near the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland, and he and his wife Sylvia have restored the home that was used by General Burnside as his post-Antietam headquarters.

In his presentation, entitled “John Brown Raids...Again,” Dennis will examine the 1959 controversy swirling around the actions and persona of John Brown, which occurred 100 years after he launched his war against slavery at Harpers Ferry.  Plans for the Brown centennial at that time raised emotions to a feverish pitch, placing Harpers Ferry on center stage before a national audience once again.