Programs

Lectures, Programs, and other Events - 2013

(These are held at the Museum unless otherwise noted. Lectures are free, check with the museum for cost of other programs)

 

• “Big Bits of Dayton History” .

This Featured Exhibit, opening in October, has replaced the Morrison exhibit.

Also see "The Apples of Rockingham."

View several of the significant artifacts from Dayton's history that relate some of the important factors that have influenced the character of the Town of Dayton. The actual printing press that provided most of the many publications printed in Dayton over the years. A horse drawn buggy that was manufactured here. In fact - they still are. The original Fire Hose Reel used by the Dayton Fire Company and a story of a major fire that occurred in Dayton. Come and enjoy learning some of Dayton's past.

 

• “Mary Caples Morrison (1907-1995) Harrisonburg Artist” .

This new Featured Exhibit opens in January.

She was a trained sculptor, self-taught painter – 1920s – 1990s – and she was highly regarded. She made her home in Harrisonburg and was married to Claude Moore Morrison, who was the founder of the Harrisonburg Parks & Recreation. Morrison painted local subjects – Old Order Mennonites, Harrisonburg families, buildings – and provided an important historical record. She influenced local artists through classes at The Harrisonburg Recreation Department.

 

Note: The Civil War "Hopkins Letters" will continue to be displayed.

 

• Lincoln Birthday Ceremony.

Date: On Lincoln's Birthday February 12, 2013. 2:00 p.m. Speaker: Mr. Phil Stone.
For many years a ceremony has been held at the Lincoln Cemetery. The cemetery is in a field next to the old Lincoln Home located six miles north of Harrisonburg on Rt. 42, on the right side of the road. This event is held no matter what the weather is. It is an informal event with the attendees standing around the cemetery as Mr. Stone gives an oral address concering the life of Abraham Lincoln. Parking is along the field and a walk af several hundred yards is required.


• "Massanuten Caverns: Gem of the Shenandoah."

Date: Thursday, February 21, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Cheryl Metz.


A history.

 

• "Brickmaking and Bricklaying in the Valley."

Date: Thursday, March 21, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Mike Pulice of the Department of Historic Resources.


 

 

Note: The Cromer Trumbo House will be open Friday, April 5 from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M..

 

• "Keiffer Funk; Singers Glen and Shape Notes."

Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Dale MacAllister.


 

• Brocks Gap Heritage Day.

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2012. (11 am - 4 pm) Fulks Run Elementary School

There will be 130+ posters of old photos of family groups, churches, schools, and local landmarks. Other researchers will attend to gather and share information. This is the 23rd annual celebration of this event.

Covers all areas of Brocks Gap—Runions Creek, Genoa, Fulks Run, Bergton, Criders, Dry River, Yankeetown, Palos, and Hoover.

Free and open to the public

Sponsored by Pat Turner Ritchie, 540 662-1475 or patritchie@verizon.net and Garnett & Lena Albrite Turner.

There will be four special programs during the day.

11:30 Pie Safe Designs and their Making. Jeffrey S. Evans is founder of Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Inc. Auctioneers and Appraisers in Mt. Crawford, VA. He formerly served as president and head of the Catalogued Auction division of Green Valley Auctions, Inc. (1979-2008). Jeff and Kurt C. Russ, former director of Washington and Lee University's Laboratory of Anthropology and independent scholar from Lexington, began a research project in 2010 of pie safes in the Shenandoah Valley. The culmination of their research will be a pie safe exhibit in 2014 at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. http://thevirginiasafeproject.com/ or http://jeffreysevans.com/

12:15 Local Men who were killed in action during World War II. Delegate Joe T. May is a Broadway native and engineer and inventor who has served since 1994 in the Virginia General Assembly. He will share his research in the service history of several men with Brocks Gap connections who gave their lives for their country in Europe during World War II. http://www.joetmay.com/home/

1:00 Russel F. “Frankie” Whetzel, KIA. Nancy May Hoover is a Broadway native and a retired director of the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative and was chair of the regional association of the Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives and was president of the Broadway-Timberville Chamber of Commerce. The subject of her program, Russel F. Whetzel, was a Bergton native and was killed in action during World War II.

2:00 Antique Textile Expressions in Contemporary Language. Priscilla Blosser-Rainey and Vicki Hottle Mongold. Both women are Rockingham County natives with ties to Brocks Gap and they share a strong interest in antique textiles and crafts. They will display some of their textile collections and discuss how many of our modern-day expressions, like “dyed in the wool” and “black sheep of the family” came into being.

The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society will be there with books for sale and information about the Heritage Museum and programs.

 

• 10th Virginia Infantry Encampment and Spring Drill.

Date: April 20 and 21, 2013. (Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday 1 pm - 5 pm) The 10th Virginia Infantry Living Historians return to The Heritage Museum grounds offering an authentic look at 1862 camp life and the 10th Virginia common infantry soldier.


 

 

Note: The Cromer Trumbo House will be open Friday, May 3 from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M..

 

• "In Her Own Words".

Date: Thursday, May 16, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Kirsten Eve Beachy.


Civil War stories of Brethren and Mennonite women in the Shenandoah Valley. When the war approached bringing with it the threat of forced military involvement, these women took a stand and developed their own "Underground Railroad". Beachy tells many interesting stories of how women resisted participation in the war.

 

• "Court & Market Days Festival" - Special Event - More information

Date: Saturday, June 1, 2013. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Turner Pavillion - Harrisonburg.


Monthly Court Days of the 19th century provided plenty of action in and out of the courtroom. Residents came from all over the county to catch up on the news and conduct business. The Court & Market Days Festival offers the same opportunities in a fun and historical atmosphere. Programs during the day recreate the mid 1860’s through children’s activities, music, dancing, artisan demonstrations, tours, and drama. Festival vendors and the Harrisonburg Farmers Market provide plenty of opportunity for shopping and socializing. Now sponsored by The Heritage Museum, the Court & Market Days Festival is a rich and historical event drawing thousands of visitors each year.

 

Note: The Cromer Trumbo House will be open Friday, June 7 from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M..

 

 

Note: The Cromer Trumbo House will be open Friday, July 5 from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M..

 

• "Civil War Surgery: Status and Advances and the Valley Surgeon, Hunter Holmes McGuire."

Date: Thursday, July 18, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Dr.Irvin Hess.


 

 

Note: The Cromer Trumbo House will be open Friday, August 2 from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M..

 

• "Civil War Hospitals."

Date: Thursday, August 15, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Dale MacAllister.


 

• "Rockingham Chancery Court Records."

Date: Thursday, September 19, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Carl Childs, Local Records Services Director, Library of Virginia.
Discover Rockingham County history through first-hand accounts found in 18th-20th century court records recently digitized by the Library of Virginia. Each of Virginia's circuit courts created chancery records that contain considerable historical and genealogical information. Because the records rely so heavily on testimony from witnesses, they offer a unique glimpse into the lives of Virginians from the early 18th century through the First World War. The Chancery Records Index is a result of archival processing and indexing projects overseen by the Library of Virginia and funded, in part, by the Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

 

• HRHS Annual Banquet & 2013 Replica Raffle Drawing


Friday, October 18th, 2013, 6:15 pm. Location: The Terrace at Rocktown, 2061 Evelyn Byrd Ave.
Single Ticket: $40 - Pair of Tickets: $75
Program - "Born in Battle: Military and Political Events in a New State [West Virginia], 1863"
Speaker: Joseph W. A. Whitehorne is a retired United States Army officer who served as a staff historian in the United States and Europe. After retiring from the army, he was a professor of history at Lord Fairfax Community College until retiring again in 2012. He is the author or co-author of numerous military history articles and nineteen books. His honors include the Andrew Watts Prize from the University of Pennsylvania and the Moncado Prize from the American Military History Institute. - The formation of West Virginia is one of the great untold – or under-known – stories of the Civil War, one with roots that stretch back long before the war itself. And in Joseph Whitehorne’s hands that story is absolutely fascinating – a web of colorful personalities, regional rivalries, geography, culture, politics, and war. It’s a perfect program for the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War: shining a light on a part of history that deserves much more attention, and one that epitomizes the “brother vs. brother” nature of the war. Dr. Whitehorne’s talk is one of the most engaging programs you’re likely to hear during the Sesquicentennial.

 

• "The Union Fishook Breaks !"

Date: Saturday, November 9, 2013. Noon - 2:00 p.m. Lunch & Lecture. Cost: $15.
Speaker: Jeremy Hilliard, 10th Virginia Living Historian.
"The 10th VA at Culps Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg."

 

• "The Apples of Rockingham"

Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2013. 7:00 p.m. Exhibit Opening
- Member reception at 6:30 p.m.
Special guests and presentation, plus hard cider tastings, courtesy of Showalter's Orchard.

 

View programs in 2012

 

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