Poet Laureates of Virginia

True beauty is never fleeting, which is why poetry

demands thoughtful reading - as well as the gift of time.[i]

On Saturday, September 21 at 1 pm the Massanutten Regional Library’s Main Branch is offering a public program featuring Sofia Starnes, the current Poet Laureate of Virginia.  Virginians and the Commonwealth, one of a few states to so honor poets, have a long history of providing encouragement, community, and support for poets and for those who enjoy reading poetry.   The umbrella for local poets and poetry readers is the Poetry Society of Virginia, established in 1923 and in its 90^th year.  

The Harrisonburg Guards Part 2

The Harrisonburg Guards (continued)

The following account found in the August 1879 issues of the Rockingham Register newspapers provided a glimpse of the lighter side of Guard duty.

The Guards’ Encampment at Rawley Springs[i]

            Coinciding with the first load of watermelons in early August 1879, about thirty “boys” of Harrisonburg went to Rawley Springs for a three-day encampment.  The Rawley Springs, about 12 miles west of the Courthouse, was a popular resort known medically for its fortifying and curing iron water and recreationally for its many diversions.  On Thursday, August 7, - a “delightfully cool day, - the boys left Harrisonburg in good spirits” for their encampment.  The newspaper reported that “the journey to Rawley Springs was passed in joking and laughing, and repartee, it affording the boys special amusement to observe the physiognomy of toll keepers [along the Rawley Pike and they] would approach or drive through without either ceremony or pay.”   When they arrived at the Dry River crossing at the entrance to the Resort, the Company was greeted by the Rawley Springs brass band under the leadership of Prof. Schoff of the U.S. Naval Military Academy Band. The Guards marched to the Springs to the especially composed “Harrisonburg Guard Quickstep.”  A multitude of fair ladies on the verandahs of the Virginia, Baltimore, and Washington Houses greeted the “boys” with applause.   Major Pitman, the manager of the Resort, and Mr. Carey and Mr. Lee, the clerks, welcomed them and showed them to their accommodations at the Washington House.  In the evening at the “customary dance” in the large ballroom, the young men had a chance to obtain introductions to the ladies.

The Harrisonburg Guards Part 1

Picture of the Harrisonburg Guards between 1886 and 1900 from collection of Massanutten Regional Library.

The Harrisonburg Guards

The following article focuses on the Harrisonburg Guards but also presents a picture of the region transitioning from the destruction of the Civil War and the confinements of Reconstruction to the creation of a new social order.  The portrait of Harrisonburg in 1877 shows a relatively prosperous, tolerant, and forward-looking segment of the South.  The Guards Unit may seem to be a relic of the past, yet the formation of the unit reveals an engagement in the new South and the re-formed Union.

 

Do you know this man??

 

 

Can you identify this man??  This hand drawn pencil sketch was found behind another picture of a little girl in a blue dress.   Our dear patron, Ms. Preston, purchased the lovely little girl for her daughter’s room sometime in the 1960s.  She purchased it at the little antique shop, Mrs. Saufley’s,  in Mt. Crawford.  Recently, Ms. Preston  was cleaning the painting and decided to remove the backing.  Surprise!!!  This well rendered image was staring at her. 

Is this your grandfather or some other relative?  We want to know and we have a surprise for you if you do know.  The picture was on display at the Main Library in downtown Harrisonburg.   It is currently at our North River Branch in Bridgewater.  Please let someone at the that branch know if you have information or contact Cheryl Metz in the Reference Department, or at 434-4475 x129 or cmetz@mrlib.org.

 

Lincoln Homstead in Virginia

But I thought Lincoln was born in a log cabin house in Kentucky? That was my thought process when I first heard about the Lincoln Homestead and its location in the Rockingham County. So does our 16th President have any true ties to Virginia?

According to the March 24, 1887 newspaper Rockingham Register, he does. The paper ran a front page article entitled: “Lincoln’s Ancestors in Virginia.” The article is John T. Harris Jr.’s argument that the Lincolns, according to deeds in the courthouse that “survived the Federal army during the civil war”, did not leave Virginia until 1781. The article was written in response to the newspaper Century’s article by “Nicolay and Hay” that stated the Lincolns left in 1780.[1] Quite a convincing article.

Kate Green Paul: Local Participation in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (continued)

Kate Green Paul is #4

               
Following our pervious overview of local participation in the Chicago’s World Fair at the national level, we continue with the organizations and contributions on the state and local levels. Because of her position on the National Women’s Board, Kate Paul was called upon to take part in local undertakings. Reading the newspapers reports at that time (and today we would find the writing very sexist), the prominence of many women in the preparations for the event was ground breaking. 

An act of the General Assembly, passed on March 4, 1892, created the Board of World’s Fair Managers of Virginia. An appropriation of $25,000 was approved, but no one considered the amount enough to accomplish all the plans. The governor appointed a ten member board to secure exhibits on the resources, products, and general development of the Commonwealth of Virginia to show at the World’s Columbian Exposition. The Board had authority to take all the “necessary steps to secure a complete and creditable display of interest to the state including the solicitation, collection, transportation, arrangement, exhibition of all objects sent to the Exposition.”  

Kate Green Paul: Local Participation in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

Kate Green Paul is #4

(This article is a postscript to the Massanutten Regional Library’s first summer adult program on June 10 that features author Katie Letcher Lyle, who is the great-granddaughter of Kate Paul.)

  Recent books, for example, Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City (2004) and Justin Martin’s Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted (2012), focused popular attention on the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. While excellent, these books do not provide the reader with an understanding of the scope and widespread participation of Americans in this event. Few people know about Rockingham County/Harrisonburg resident population’s participation in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. In the local histories of this period, Mrs. Kate Seymour Green Paul’s membership on the Board of Women Managers of the World’s Fair was often noted. Kate Paul’s position gave area residents a “place at the table” with regard to national, state, and local exposition planning. The existence of the Board also called attention to the role of women in this event and in society in general 120 years ago.

 When the planning for the Fair began in 1890, Kate Paul was 43 years old, a mother of five living children that ranged in age from 2 to 12. In 1874, she married John Paul, who was then the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Rockingham County, later U.S. Congressmen and now, in 1890, the US judge for the Western District of Virginia. Kate Paul’s familiarity with the political arena provided her with connections that along with her own talents and interests made her well-suited for membership on the Board of Lady Managers of the Chicago World’s Fair.