Category: History

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Miller Center Forum: The Panama Canal Treaties and The Rise of the Right

Adam Clymer served as the New York Times’ National Political Correspondent, Polling Editor, Political Editor, Weekend Senior Editor, Chief Congressional Correspondent, Washington Editor, and Washington Correspondent before retiring in 2003. He also wrote Op-Ed articles, obituaries, and an Outdoors column during his tenure there. Clymer has also worked for the Virginian-Pilot, the New York Daily News, and the Baltimore Sun. He is the author of Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right (University Press of Kansas, 2008) and Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography (William Morrow, 1999). In addition, Clymer co-authored The Swing Voter in American Politics (Brookings Institution Press, 2008) and Reagan: The Man, The President (Macmillan, 1981). He was President of the Washington Press Club Foundation and Chair of the Harvard Crimson Graduate Council. In 2005, the University of Vermont awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Clymer spoke at a Miller Center forum on September 19th, 2008

 



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Bill Bergen on The Siege of Petersburg

Regular listeners of our podcast or our live streaming feed might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.

On September 20th, 2008, one of the speakers —Bill Bergen— appeared at the Senior Center to talk about the June 1864 through March 1865 Siege of Petersburg, Virginia. This fascinating nine-month-long siege operation—which pitted Robert E. Lee’s 60,000-man Army of Northern Virginia against U.S. Grant’s force of 120,000 — featured numerous large-scale actions including the famous Battle of the Crater (on 30 July), the Assault on Ft. Stedman (on 25 March), the Battle of Five Forks (on 1 April), and the following day’s Breakthrough Attack led by Union Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright. Bill Bergen has been a student of the Civil War since learning about Abraham Lincoln in the first grade. Bill is an assistant dean at the U.Va. School of Law, and, as far as he knows, the only graduate of Vassar College to become a Civil War military historian. He has led numerous battlefield tours, lectured widely on the Civil War, and is a regular instructor at U.Va. annual Civil War conference. Author of "The Other Hero of Cedar Creek: The ‘Not Specially Ambitious’ Horation G. Wright," he is currently working on a study of the relationship of politics to generalship in the
Army of the Potomac.

 



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James Monroe addresses crowd at Community Chalkboard

On August 20, 2008, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression brought a time machine to the Community Chalkboard at the eastern end of the Downtown Mall. A crowd assembled was transported to the year 1828 to hear from James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States.

The Presidential time machine appears to operate once every August. In 2007, James Madison himself leapt from the past in order to give his view of history.

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2004 radio feature on the Cavalier Marching Band

Four years ago, the Cavalier Marching Band made its debut at Scott Stadium thanks to a generous donation from Carl Smith. I was producing a lot of stories for WVTF back in those days, and had a lot fun producing this one which aired shortly before the 2004 season began.

I borrowed the format from a profile of the Norfolk State University Spartan Legion that I had done two years earlier for With Good Reason. In the interest of reviving UVA spirits after Saturday’s game, I thought it might be nice to post this here.

What do you think? Has the Marching Band become part of the Scott Stadium experience?

I would like to do a follow-up on this in the future, but of course, there are very few places to sell a story like this. In a perfect world, the Charlottesville Podcasting Network would have some funding source that could be used to support the production of new programming. Perhaps some of this new programming could find its way to the radio.

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St. Maarten’s Cafe turns 24: Jim Roland tells the story

St. Maarten’s Cafe, a staple of the Corner, is celebrating it’s 24th anniversary this month. On this installment of WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now!”, owner Jim Roland tells the story of how the restaurant came to be, and explains the secret of his success. He also comments on the Amethyst Initiative, a proposal to lower the drinking age back to 18.

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Scott Harris of the New Market Battlefield Park

Regular listeners of our podcast or our live streaming feed might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.

On August 20, 2008, one of the speakers–Scott Harris–appeared at the Senior Center to talk about the May, 15th, 1864 Battle of New Market in the Shenandoah Valley. Scott received his B.A. with honors in History and Historic Preservation from Mary Washington College in 1983, and got his Master in History and Museum Administration from William and Mary in 1988. He is currently the director of the New Market Battlefield Park which commemorates the fascinating battle and highlights the participation of the 257 Virginia Military Institute cadets who helped capture a Union battery of artillery.

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UVa Remains Leader in Graduating Black Students

In today’s show, adapted from an article written by Anne E. Bromley, Senior Writer, Editor for UVa’s Office of Public Affairs, we discuss UVa’s outstanding graduation rates among African-American students at all public universities in the nation.

For the 14th straight year, the University of Virginia’s African-American students posted the highest graduation rate among those at all public universities in the nation, according to the annual compilation published in the winter 2007-08 issue, of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The journal reports that U.Va.’s graduation rate of 87 percent makes it “the leader by far in successfully graduating black students” at flagship state universities.

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.


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The return of Rick Britton’s history talk on Coy Barefoot

Local cartographer and historian Rick Britton joins Coy Barefoot every Friday on WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now!” to talk about Charlottesville and Albemarle County history. This week on the show:

  • Rick previews a new class he’s teaching at the Senior Center this fall on Thursdays on the early history of Albemarle County and Charlottesville, from the 1720’s to the 1850’s. Call 974-6538 for more information
  • This week’s quiz features questions about area rivers, Indian alliances, the destination of the Three Notched Road, James Monroe’s military history, James Madison’s career, and who was Charlotteville’s namesake married to?
  • Rick previews an upcoming story he’s writing about who really won the Revolutionary War – the Federalists or the Jeffersonian Republicans? Apparently, partisanship in America can be traced back to that question being asked shortly after the surrender at Yorktown.



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Mincer’s celebrates its 60th anniversary

Mincer’s on the Corner just celebrated its 60th anniversary, and Bob Mincer joins Coy Barefoot on the July 19, 2008 edition of WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now!” He and Coy talk about the many stories in Mincer’s history, beginning with how the mainstay got its start selling tobacco pipes in a small space in the location that’s now Littlejohn’s kitchen.

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McGill historian Gil Troy on Leading from the Center

After 8 long years of partisan politics and endless discussions of a red-state/blue-state divide in this country, many Americans are anxiously awaiting the end of a presidency defined by fringe politics, one that persistently and systematically moved away from the will of the center. According to historian Gil Troy, great American presidents can be defined by their willingness to move away from partisan extremes to the center. Troy’s new book is called Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents. He also explains the concept of a ‘muscular moderate.’

“It’s an ability to compromise while also having core values,” Troy said. “If you look at the greats – Lincoln, Washington, the Roosevelts, Reagan, Kennedy, the ones who were effective – they were able to have a certain sense of their core values, their defining principles, their fundamental beliefs. But at the same time they knew that as leaders of a very complicated country… they had to be nimble and they had to adapt.”

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Reconsidering the Presidency

In today’s show, written by Brevy Cannon, General Assignments writer for University of Virginia Media Relations, we look at a recent Center for Politics event, “Reconsidering the Presidency” held at the University of Virginia in April 2008.

“The vast and ever-increasing amounts of money spent on U.S. political campaigns are a detriment to our democracy. And, contrary to public opinion, the Electoral College is a quirk of American politics that should not be tampered with…”

Those two opinions were shared by three former governors, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Lowell Weicker of Connecticut and Virginia’s Doug Wilder, during the Center for Politics event, “Reconsidering the Presidency” in April 2008…

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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The Career of Philander D. Chase, senior editor of the Papers of George Washington

In today’s show, written by Matt Kelly, Writer for the UVa News Department, we look at Philander D. Chase, who recently retired as senior editor of the Papers of George Washington, housed at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library.

Philander D. Chase has spent 35 years in George Washington’s world — and he’s not done yet. “Being a documentary editor is a life, not a career,” Chase said.

Chase, 65, recently retired as senior editor of the Papers of George Washington, housed at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library. Chase said he will miss the “research, writing, collaboration and interacting with the public…

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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