With Good Reason Radio » History

Showdown in Virginia

klibby — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 05:01:42 +0000

The election of Abraham Lincoln as President touched off a secession crisis in the South. In his new book, Showdown in Virginia, Bill Freehling (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) focuses on turning points in Virginia’s months-long, bitter battle over whether to secede from the Union. Also: Historians estimate that of the nearly 5,000 pirates who terrorized America’s Atlantic coast in the early 1700s, twenty-five to thirty percent were of African descent, many of them freed slaves. Cassandra Newby-Alexander (Norfolk State University) argues these black pirates experienced more freedom on their outlaw ships than on ‘civilized’ dry land.

Want to dig deeper? Explore Encyclopedia Virginia:

Virginia Convention of 1861

Travel for Transformation

em8x — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:06:58 +0000

The Camino de Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage trail in northern Spain, continues to attract tens of thousands of travelers each year. Among those are George Greenia (William & Mary, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), who for years has walked the 500-mile route with his students. George studies the relationship between medieval and modern pilgrimages. He says that today’s American pilgrimages, like Underground Railroad tours, share something in common with medieval pilgrimages—transformation of the traveler. Also featured: Between 1898 and 1901, China experienced a movement marked by violent opposition to Western Imperialism. In the summer of 1900, a Christian missionary and explorer from Sweden escaped what became known as the Boxer Rebellion. To save his family and other Christian missionaries, Frans Larson led a caravan through the Gobi Desert and into Siberia. That explorer’s great-grandson, Henry Hart (William & Mary), recently retraced his great-grandfather’s trip through the Gobi.

Strike

VFHwebdev — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:22:01 +0000

In 1951 a group of African American students at Robert R. Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia, organized a strike to protest the substandard school facilities provided for black students. The walkout, led by 16 year old Barbara Johns, is one of the great stories in the struggle for Civil Rights—a story of courage and persistence against what seemed at the time like overwhelming odds. Larissa Smith Fergeson (Longwood University) provides the historical context to the walkout; Lacy Ward Jr. (Moton Museum) interviews two students who participated in the strike and Mildred Robinson (University of Virginia) describes the effects on students and families when the Virginia government closed the schools rather than succumb to the federal mandate to integrate them.

Want to dig deeper? Explore Encyclopedia Virginia:

Moton School Strike and Prince Edward County School Closings

Massive Resistance

Desegregation in Public Schools

Tours for the Chills, Tours of the Hills

cms4tf — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 05:00:06 +0000

Halloween is just around the corner. Haunted houses, graveyards, and ghost walks – paranormal tourism is more popular than ever. Teresa O’Bannon (Radford University) is an expert on what she calls “dark side tourism.” Then, With Good Reason will also do a little ghost-busting of its own.

Also featured: The Shenandoah Valley is prehistoric home of mastodons and giant sloths, the site of a storied Civil War campaign, and a popular destination for outdoor adventures. Award-winning nature writer John Leland (Virginia Military Institute) has chronicled the natural and human history of the valley, offering insights on everything from maple syrup-making to Stonewall Jackson to the nineteenth-century fascination with sassafras.

The Big Top

cms4tf — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:00:31 +0000

Circuses have long been a part of human culture, starting with the Romans, and circuses have been in America almost since the birth of this country. Lavahn Hoh (University of Virginia) teaches the only accredited course in the U.S. on the history of the American circus and is the author of “Step Right Up! The adventure of Circus in America”

Also featured: Bob Burnett (University of Virginia) teaches a college course that normally instills dread in the hearts of pre-med students: organic chemistry. But lucky for his students, Bob is one of those amazing professors who can turn an otherwise tedious lecture into a memorable classroom experience. Every semester, he gets rave reviews from students who appreciate his accessibility, his passion for the subject, and his humor. Bob says that as a young man, he had outstanding mentors who in some ways inspired him to become a teacher.

Race, Slavery, and the Civil War: The Tough Stuff

cms4tf — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 05:00:39 +0000

25th United States Colored Troops, February 1864

To mark the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War, the nation’s finest historians gathered at Norfolk State University to discuss the role of race and slavery in the war that cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. With topics including the myth of black Confederates, the quest for black rights in the middle of the war, and the role of the Underground Railroad as a cause for the war, With Good Reason presents the highlights from the conference. Among the speakers: James O. Horton, “The Unfinished Civil War;” David Blight, “John Washington; How, When, Where and Why Emancipation Happened;” and James McPherson, “Slavery,Freedom, and the Union Navy.”

Want to dig deeper? Explore Encyclopedia Virginia:

Slavery During the Civil War

Black Confederates

Free Blacks During the Civil War

The Plot to Kidnap Lincoln – Web Extra

cms4tf — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:01:45 +0000

To experience a virtual tour of Ford’s Theater where John Wilkes Booth (pictured left) shot Lincoln, visit its website.

The Plot to Kidnap Lincoln

tap2ae — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:01:08 +0000

John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 in Ford’s Theater in Washington. But Booth had been part of a long standing conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln. Terry Alford (Northern Virginia Community College), an expert on Booth, investigates who were these conspirators, their motives at the end of the war and whether they had a chance to succeed. Also: Maynard Adams was a major intellectual figure of the second half of the 20th century and is credited with developing a comprehensive philosophy that emphasized man’s search for meaning and value in life. Glenn Blackburn (The University of Virginia’s College at Wise) is the author of a new book on Adams, “Maynard Adams, Southern Philosopher of Civilization.”

Confederate Outlaw

klibby — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 05:01:05 +0000

The American Civil War has produced a number of mythical characters. Perhaps there are none like the notorious Champ Ferguson, a Confederate guerrilla who claimed to have killed over 100 Union soldiers and sympathizers. Brian McKnight (University of Virginia’s College at Wise) says Ferguson was both a skilled fighter and a ruthless murderer who exploited the war for his own financial gain. McKnight is the author of a new book called “Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia.”Also featured: When the Civil War ended, Confederate veterans and their families were faced with rebuilding their lives—while also coming to terms with defeat. Jeffrey McClurken (University of Mary Washington) is author of a new book that’s being called the “most complete community-based study of how Confederate veteran families adjusted in the postwar South.” And: Producer Kelley Libby takes a look at the ways Americans commemorate the Civil War—including podcasting. Civil War experts Chuck Ross and David Coles (Longwood University) are producers of “That A Nation Might Live,” a podcast that recounts the events of the Civil War week by week for five years.

Grave Matters

tap2ae — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:01:59 +0000

The Victorians photographed their dead before burial. Abraham Lincoln’s death might have popularized embalming. Some people today have their ashes made into diamonds. Bernard Means (Virginia Commonwealth University) studies how and why we bury our dead – and how that’s changed over the last few centuries. Plus: a trip to some orphan graveyards – forgotten places where we’ve buried our dead. Also featured: They’re called Lost Communities – the places on the map that have lost their original industry or way of life. Sometimes they’re still struggling to survive; other times they no longer exist at all. Terri Fisher (Virginia Tech) has visited the general stores, schools, train depots, and post offices of towns along Virginia’s back road and interviewed longtime residents and brought those places back to life in her new book, Lost Communities of Virginia.

Radio Emergency

tap2ae — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 05:01:18 +0000

When it comes to national security threats, where are we most vulnerable? Risk analyst researcher Barry Ezell (Old Dominion University) says the possibility of cyber attacks keep him awake at night. He says the computers that control our gas plants, water supply and energy grid are old and unprotected. Also featured: If a government ever wanted to shut down all communication, they could potentially kill the phones and the Internet. But not the ham radios. This simple technology connects users across the globe – and even to astronauts in space. Curtis Holsopple (Virginia State University) got a ‘ham’ license when he was 13 years old and says the device can be a lifesaver. And: David Smith (University of Virginia) and Jeffrey Plank (University of Virginia) are administrators of what’s being called the best watershed management tool in existence. The “Bay Game” is a new interactive computer simulation that’s teaching students how the decisions of farmers, policymakers, and land developers affect the health of water resources like the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.

Horses and water in the Civil War

tap2ae — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:01:58 +0000

From potable water to the forgotten impact of things like weather and horses on the outcome of the war, With Good Reason will bring you highlights from the 2011 Signature Conference of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. Some of the country’s most eminent Civil War scholars including James Robertson, Jr. (Virginia Tech), William C. Davis (Virginia Tech) and an equine specialist John M. Bowen discuss the forgotten elements of the conflict.