Long Branch is pleased to host the Virginia Historical Society’s traveling exhibit “An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia” from September 5 through September 19. The exhibit will be on view during Clarke County’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Weekend (Sept. 5 – Sept. 7), which is an event-packed weekend designed to honor and examine the impact of the Civil War on Clarke County.

The exhibit probes Virginia’s particular role in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865 and the ways in which this historic period has influenced our modern day definitions of freedom, liberty, patriotism, and nation. Virginian society, much like the rest of American society, was drastically re-shaped during this period. The exhibit will explore all of these ideas.

Long Branch’s own executive director, author and historian Nicholas Redding, will give a lecture on Friday at 7pm to supplement the exhibit. Entitled, “Those Who Have Born the Battle: The Aftermath of the Valley Campaign,” the lecture will examine the Valley Campaign of 1864. The military operations that took place between May and October shaped the course of the war and the residents of the Shenandoah Valley specifically. The lecture is part of the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park guest lecture series created to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

 

The exhibit and lecture will be accompanied by other lectures and events in Berryville, Virginia. Clarke County High School, the Barns of Rose Hill, the Josephine School Community Museum, and Clermont Farm will each host an event pertinent to Clarke County’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Weekend. All events—including the Virginia Historical Society’s Traveling Exhibit and Mr. Redding’s lecture—are free to the public.

See the full schedule of events on the Long Branch Events page: https://www.visitlongbranch.org/event/clarke-countys-civil-war-sesquicentennial-weekend-saturday-programs/

 

– Katie Williams, Long Branch Plantation Intern