Valentine’s Day at the Wilson Library
The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum will host a “Victorian Valentine’s Day Celebration” for girls seven to twelve years of age on Saturday, February 4th. Two sessions will be offered from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Museum building.
Participants will enjoy hands-on activities including creating fashionable hats suitable for the most elegant Victorian Tea Party, making scented sachets, and going on an exciting scavenger hunt. As part of the festivities, crafts, games, social dances of the period, and etiquette of both the Victorian era and present day will be highlighted. Girls are invited to bring any doll for the event that they would like. Read more
Birthday open house at Wilson Library
Celebrate Woodrow Wilson’s 155th birthday at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
Tour his birthplace, which will be decorated with period decorations for the holidays.The dining room table will be set for the dessert course reminiscent of the mid-19th century. The kitchen will illustrate how the desserts including fruitcake, poundcake and ginger cookies were made.
Light refreshments will be served in the President’s Shop in its brand-new location on 20 N. Coalter St. There will be an unveiling of a Woodrow Wilson postmark featuring artwork by Carmella Pyanoe, a student at Shelburne Middle School in Staunton, and guests can purchase first day stamped envelopes. The drawings of 14 finalists of the Woodrow Wilson Postmark Student Art Contest will also be on display.
More information online at www.WoodrowWilson.org.
Veterans Day at Woodrow Wilson Library
In recognition of President Woodrow Wilson’s involvement in the formation of Veterans Day, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum is presenting a free Veterans Day program, open to the public, on Friday, Nov. 11, at 10:30 a.m. in the Presidential Library gardens, weather permitting.
The program will be held in the Woodrow Wilson Museum if there is inclement weather. University of Virginia Professor Edward G. Lengel, a noted military historian, will be the guest speaker. Dr. Lengel is the author of To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne 1918, an award-winning book on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the last battle of World War I. Woodrow Wilson portrayer Judd Bankert will present excerpts of President Wilson’s announcement of the Armistice. There will also be a brief ceremony featuring cadets in the honor guard firing battery from Mary Baldwin College. A moment of silence to remember all veterans will be observed at 11:00 a.m. In addition to the program, all veterans, active military members, and their families will receive free tours of the Presidential Library that day.
On Nov. 11, 1918, President Wilson announced the armistice, or temporary halt of fighting in World War I, which took effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The following year, he proclaimed that Nov. 11 would forever be Armistice Day in the United States. The day evolved into Veterans Day, when all veterans are remembered and honored and on which, for years, the entire country observed a moment of silence at 11 a.m. This year’s program will be on the 93rd anniversary of the Armistice.
Free admission to the Presidential Library for veterans and their families includes guided tours of President Wilson’s Birthplace and self-guided tours of the Woodrow Wilson Museum, which features the World War I trench exhibit and President Wilson’s 1919 Pierce-Arrow limousine. On Friday, Nov. 11, the Presidential Library will be open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wilson Library hires local educator to head up museum program
Tracey Michael joins the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum as the new museum educator. Michael will be responsible for developing and presenting programs for students, expanding outreach to schools, and coordinating general public programming. She will continue and expand the work of recent staff retirees, Karen Church and Ellen Abernethy.
Don Wilson, President and C.E.O. of the Wilson Presidential Library said, “We were impressed not only with Tracey’s experience with students of all ages, but also with her innovative ideas for programming at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum.”
Michael is a licensed educator who taught history at Buffalo Gap High School, Augusta County School System, from 2005-2011. She also worked as program coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Harrisonburg and as head counselor at the Fredericksburg YMCA, creating lesson plans and providing interactive and educational activities for elementary school children.
A graduate of Bridgewater College, Michael has a B.A. in History & Political Science, with a minor in Education. She was also a participant in the multi-year Teaching American History Grant program, held at the Wilson Presidential Library and funded by the U.S Department of Education.
The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum in Staunton offers educational programs for school aged audiences that follow the Virginia Standards of Learning requirements. It is also open for tours of Wilson’s restored birthplace, self-guided tours through a museum and period garden, and a President’s Shop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday – Saturday, and 12 – 5 p.m. on Sundays. The WWPLM’s archival collections are accessible through its e-Library or by appointment. For additional information, visit www.woodrowwilson.org or call 540.885.0897.
Former White House press secretary to speak in Staunton
Marlin Fitzwater, press secretary for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, will reflect on his White House experiences at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 in John Lewis Auditorium at Lee High School in Staunton. The program will be a conversational interview conducted by Don Wilson, President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, who worked with Fitzwater in Washington. This special Conversation with Marlin Fitzwater is jointly hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum and Staunton City Schools, with sponsorship by StellarOne, and is free to the general public.
As the only press secretary in history to be appointed by two presidents, Fitzwater stood next to Reagan and Bush during Cold War summits, economic downturns, and eight military conflicts including the Persian Gulf War. He gave over 850 press briefings in six years, winning praise from both the news media and the public for his honesty and good humor.
Personable and down-to-earth, Fitzwater has a unique insight into the White House and Washington which he shared as a writer and consultant for the television show The West Wing. The New York Times said of Fitzwater, “He may look like a tweedy, out-of-shape bureaucrat on the podium, but his persona is a blend of W. C. Fields, Huckleberry Finn and the comedian Gary Shandling.”
Today, Fitzwater is an author and television analyst on politics and the media. His bestselling Call the Briefing is a memoir of his time in the White House. Death in the Polka Dot Shoes, his third and most recent book, is a novel about a waterman on the Chesapeake Bay. He is also co-author of Empires Fall, a stage play about a meeting between George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
A Conversation with Marlin Fitzwater launches a new series of public programs by the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum. The WWPLM is located at 18 N. Coalter Street in Staunton and includes Wilson’s birthplace, a museum, gardens, and a library and archive. For additional information visit www.woodrowwilson.org or call 540-885-0897.
Delegation from France to visit Wilson Library
A delegation from France will visit the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum on Friday, September 16, to discuss ways to commemorate the centennial of World War I. The delegation includes Serge Barcellini, Controller General of the French Military Forces, and Frederic Castier, former Liaison Officer between the US Army Europe and French authorities.
WWPLM trustees and staff met the French delegation during a members’ tour of France’s World War I battlefields in October 2010. Wanting a Franco-American collaboration for the war’s centennial, Barcellini and Castier agreed to assist with a session at the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History in Richmond, September 14. The session, Challenges Faces Collaborative Commemorations, will be moderated by Don Wilson, President and CEO of the WWPLM and will explore possible approaches to the centennial of World War I.
Wilson says, “World War I was transformational for both Wilson’s presidency and America’s global role. Through a collaborative commemoration, both nations can gain a better understanding of the war and its impact on modern society.”
Honoring American participation in World War I is of great interest to Castier, who frequently serves as a guide for the American battlefields of World War I such as Catigny and Meuse-Argonne. Castier is a consultant for Encore Interpretive Design of Tennessee and Projects Coordinator for the Meuse General Council. He is also president of an historical association dedicated friendship between France and the United States and commemorating America’s role in both world wars.
In addition to his long career in the French Administration, Barcellini is a lecturer at the prestigious University of Sciences-Po in Paris. He is a recipient of the Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and the author of a book and numerous articles on the politics of memory.
20th century presidency class among OLLI offerings
The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum (WWPL) is pleased to partner with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Virginia (OLLI at UVA) to present “Late 20th Century Presidents and Their Families: Personal Observations and Reflections,” a three-meeting class taught by WWPL President and CEO Don W. Wilson beginning in October at the Presidential Library. Dr. Wilson is former Archivist of the United States and leader of several federal Presidential Libraries, in addition to the WWPL. The class is one of 13 courses OLLI at UVA will offer in Staunton during the fall session, which begins in September. OLLI is also offering 52 classes in Charlottesville this fall.
In the Presidency course, Dr. Wilson will provide participants with first-hand observations of the U.S. Presidents from President Eisenhower to President George W. Bush and their immediate family members. The class will meet at the Presidential Library on three consecutive Monday afternoons, from October 24 through November 7, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
OLLI at UVA brings together people from various backgrounds who share a common interest in learning and intellectual stimulation. Formed in association with the University of Virginia in 2001, the Institute was inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s own deeply-held belief in, and practice of, education as a lifelong enterprise which invigorates the mind and enriches life. OLLI expanded to the Shenandoah Valley in 2010. All classes except the Presidency class will meet at the R.R Smith Center for History and Art in Staunton or the Lifetime Education Building at Augusta Health in Fishersville. Students can take up to four classes for $100.00.
A Kansas native, Dr. Wilson received his undergraduate degree from Washburn University and his Masters and Ph.D. in American History from the University of Cincinnati. He served as Historian and Deputy Director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas, Associate Director of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and first Director of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Michigan. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed Dr. Wilson as the seventh Archivist of the United States. He was confirmed by the United States Senate, and held the position until 1993. As Archivist, Dr. Wilson oversaw the National Archives and Records Administration, which has custody of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Emancipation Proclamation. From 1993 to 1999, as the Executive Director of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, Dr. Wilson was responsible for the establishment and development of that presidential library, which opened in 1997. During his service at these presidential libraries, Dr. Wilson served as a history professor at Kansas State University, the University of Michigan, Washburn University, and Texas A&M University.
For more information about and to register for the Presidency class and all of the OLLI at UVA classes, see the website at www.olliuva.org, or call or email OLLI at (877) 861-9207 or olliuva@virginia.edu. For more information about the WWPL, see the website at www.woodrowwilson.org or call or email the WWPL (540) 885-0897 or info@woodrowwilson.org.
