Great Lives Celebrates Centennial
Even the five-year-old Great Lives lecture series is getting in on UMW’s 100-year anniversary
The Centennial Edition of the annual Great Lives program, which began as a class on important historical figures, will focus on exceptional people whose lives have coincided with the existence of the University from 1908 to 2008.
Endowed by the family of the late Carmen Culpeper Chappell ’59 and presented by UMW’s Department of History and American Studies, the Chappell Lecture Series is called Great Lives: Biographical Approaches to History.
Already featured this year were programs on Mary Ball Washington, for whom the University was named; the Roosevelts – Franklin D. and Theodore; and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Listed below are the remaining lectures, all of which take place on Tuesday or Thursday evenings at 7:30 in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium. The sessions are open to the public free of charge.
Feb. 12 – “Ella Fitzgerald” by Douglas Gately, director of the University of Mary Washington Jazz Ensemble
Feb. 19 – “James Farmer” by Timothy O’Donnell, director of debate and associate professor of speech at UMW
Feb. 21 – “Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler” by Robert Gellately, Earl Ray Beck professor of history at Florida State University and author of Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler
Feb. 26 – “Douglas MacArthur” by Porter Blakemore, associate professor of history at UMW
Feb. 28 – “Eisenhower and Marshall” by Mark Perry, author
of Partners in Command
March 13 – “Mary and George Washington,” a special Founders Week lecture by Peter Henriques, professor emeritus of history at George Mason University
March 20 – “Margaret Sanger” by Ellen Chesler, distinguished lecturer at Hunter College, CUNY and author of Woman of Valor
March 27 – “Betty Friedan” by Daniel Horowitz, professor of American studies and director of the American studies program at Smith College, and author of Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique
April 1 – “Margaret Mitchell” by Darden Asbury Pyron, professor of history at Florida International University and author of Southern Daughter: The Life of Margaret Mitchell
April 3 – “Billy Graham” by Michael Duffy, assistant managing editor of TIME magazine and author of The Preacher and the Presidents
April 8 – “The Beatles” by Gardner Campbell, professor of English at UMW
April 15 – “Dr. Seuss” by Philip Nel, associate professor of English and director of the children’s literature program at Kansas State University, and author of Dr. Seuss: American Icon
April 17 – “Babe Ruth” by William Nack, retired senior writer for Sports Illustrated
April 22 – “Richard M. Nixon” by Stephen Farnsworth, associate professor of political science at UMW
April 24 – “Bill and Hillary Clinton” by Sally Bedell Smith, author of For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton
Changes and additions to the above list may occur. For updated information, visit www.umw.edu/greatlives or call 540/654-1055.