MARK YOUR CALENDAR - Batteau Night in Scottsville, 19 June 2013:
The 28th Annual James River Batteau Festival begins on Saturday, June 15, and runs through Saturday, June 22rd.  This festival features authentic replicas of the sleek, shallow-draft merchant boats which were used during the late 1700's to transport tobacco, grain, and other goods on the James River from areas of central Virginia.  Each year a small fleet of batteau travel 120 miles from Lynchburg to Richmond, stopping mid-way in Scottsville for music, fun, and festivities.  Batteau will begin arriving in Scottsville in mid-afternoon on Wednesday, 19 June, and tie up at Scottsville's Ferry Street public boat landing. 

Lauren is a 2014 Ph.D. candidate in History at the University of Virginia.  She experienced an exciting year as she progressed on her research and writing of her dissertation entitled "To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelicals, Human Rights, and US Foreign Policy, 1969-1994.  Lauren's research trips have taken her to Guatemala, South Africa, the Carter and Reagan Presidential Libraries, and the Billy Graham Center Archives with more research trips planned this summer.  Lauren has also presented papers on her dissertation research at the Annual Harvard Graduate Student Conference on International History, Cambridge, MA; Northeastern University Annual Graduate History Conference, Boston, MA; Roger Williams University Conference on Religion and the State, Bristol, RI; and the Society for the History of American Foreign Relations, Arlington,VA.  And Lauren continues to support Scottsville Museum by helping UVA's Institute For Public History select talented student interns for our research projects.  Thank you, Lauren, for your significant historical research and your inspiration to our Museum!

Scottsville Library Staff and Museum Discussions, 26 April 2013:
On Friday, 26 April, the Scottsville Library staff toured the Museum's current exhibit, Where the River Bends with Evelyn Edson.  The staff were having an in-service day, and after discussions at the library, they came to the Museum to learn more about the Museum's holdings.  Additionally Evelyn showed the staff the historical and genealogical resources available at our Barclay House next door to the Museum.  The library staff and Evelyn also shared ideas about how to help visitors who have genealogical and history questions.  A productive discussion was enjoyed by all!

The Picturesque James Exhibition, 07 April 2013:

On Sunday, 07 April, Scottsville Museum reopened for the 2013 season at 2 pm with its featured exhibit, Where The River Bends.  This exhibit tells Scottsville's story and its historical relationship with the James River from the Monacan Indian days, through the founding of the town, its batteau and canal eras, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the great floods, and recreation to our town's inhabitants.

As part of our opening day program, the Museum proudly hosted an exhibition entitled The Picturesque James.  This exhibition by Geraldine Kiefer (shown at left) is comprised of postcards and engravings of the James River from the 1870s through the 1920's.  Highlighted are picturesque ways of viewing the river from the excited and excitable landscape of the Civil War era through the less visually intense, calm, but equally marketable pastoral landscapes of "See America First", the era of tourism and exploration that occurred in the period of reconstruction and industrialization.  Approximately 20 postcards and 10-15 engravings of towns along the James are included in this exhibition with a focus on the Scottsville area.  Image types include farmlands, railroads, panoramas, and 'portraits' of specific buildings and locales.

Leanne Grove, Docent Coordinator for Scottsville Museum, hosted an appreciation reception for Museum docents at her Scottsville home on Sunday, March 17.  A wonderful afternoon of friendship and museum discussion ensued.  Leanne welcomed our newest docents: Laura Keeton, Graham Prichard, Marilyn and Bob Schwarz, Ron and Patti Smith, and our new substitute docents, Summer Chaffman and Stuart Munson.  Reception attendees also had the opportunity to brush up on our docent opening and closing procedures and to learn about the special exhibition entitled The Picturesque James that the Museum will host from 7 April - 1 June 2013. .  To see more fun photos from the docent reception, visit, Docents.

Each year over forty volunteers volunteer their time each month to serve as docents at the Museum.  Our docents' donation of time allows the Museum to continue our free admission policy for the public from April through October each year.  If you would like to become a Museum docent, please call Scottsville Museum (434-286-2247) or contact us via e-mail at: smuseum@avenue.org. 

Feedback from Museum Fans:
Francine Davis, Seattle, WA:  "I wanted to tell you what a great help your WWII Links webpage has been for me!  I've been collecting a bunch of resources for my final unit plan that explores what I'll include in my own classpage as a Social Studies teacher."  

The Jefferson brothers were very different men, living very independently from each other.  Randolph was younger by more than twelve years -- virtually a generation apart in Colonial America.  Thomas spent much of his adult life away from central Virginia, whereas Randolph spent his entire life living and farming in Buckinghanm County, at the James River's Horseshoe Bend.

The early death of their father, Peter Jefferson, played a significant part in determining the separate lives of the brothers.  As Randolph approached manhood, Thomas guided his education in the early 1770's.  In 1776, Randolph inherited Peter Jefferson's distant Buckingham plandation, Snowden, isolating him from Shadwell, the Jefferson homeplace in Albemarle County, and Thomas' eventual home at Monticello.  When Thomas Jefferson stepped onto the national and international stage, their lives diverged for decades.  Then, during Thomas' retirement in the early 19th century, the two men resided within a day's journey of each other, relating as planters, as well as brothers.  They had their extended family and farming in common.  Their surviving correspondence primarily discusses this mundane world, providing a window into their mutuality, which includes the interconnected lives of several of their slaves.

Mosby was the quintessential small-unit partisan leader.  He earned a place in the U.S. Army's Ranger Hall of Fame - no simple task when you consider that he earned his reputation fighting against troops from the United States Army.  But no commander achieves greatness without superior soldiers carrying out his orders.  Mosby was fortunate to have been surrounded by brave and intelligent men -- Eric's books tell their stories.

Eric Buckland retired from the U.S. Army in 1999 as a Lieutenant Colonel after a career largely spent in Special Forces.  His interest in Mosby's Rangers began when he was a young boy and increased during his time in the military.  Eric's first book, Mosby's Keydet Rangers, began as a tribute to both the Rangers and his youngest son, who was then a Rat at VMI.  While working on that book, Eric constantly found bits and pieces of information on other Rangers (not affiliated with VMI), and all became the genesis for his next 3 Mosby Men books (Volumes I-III).

To learn more about Mosby Men, please attend Eric's presentation at Scottsville Museum on Sunday, 20 January 2013 at 2 pm.  Copies of Eric's books will be available for purchase at the Museum.  Admission is free!

Slate River Ramblings with Joanne Yeck, January 2013:
Author Joanne Yeck began exploring her mother's Virginia roots in 1995.  Casual curiosity gradually turned into a full-time occupation.  Joanne travels all over Buckingham and southern Albemarle County in her Volkswagen with its 'Slate RV' license plate (shown at left) as she researches our local history.  She writes regularly for the Buckingham Beacon and has published two books about Virginia and Virginians:  At a Place Called Buckingham:  Historic Sketches of Buckingham County, Virginia  (2011) and The Jefferson Brothers  (2012). 

Scottsville Museum was pleased to invite the public to a book signing on Sunday, November 4, at 2 pm  when Joanne Yeck, author of The Jefferson Brothers, presented her book at the Museum.  The Jefferson Brothers introduces Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's only brother, and brings him out from the shadow of his famous sibling, focusing on the years during which their paths crossed.  Over twelve years Randolph's senior, Thomas Jefferson stood in for the father his brother never knew, guiding his education and helping the younger man establish himself as a successful planter in central Virginia.  Particularly after Thomas Jefferson's retirement from the political stage, the Jefferson brothers related as planters and slaveholders - Thomas at Monticello in Albemarle County and Randolph at Snowden in Buckingham County, Virginia.  Life at Snowden, during and after the American Revolution, illuminates not only Randolph Jefferson's commonplace existence, but also the everyday world of planters in central Virginia.  Additionally, The Jefferson Brothers introduces a new Thomas Jefferson, not the great statesman of monumental intellect, but the thoughtful brother and dedicated farmer.

The lecture will detail the construction of the railroad tunnel through Afton Mountain, a 19th century engineering feat.  The labor force of Irish immigrants and slaves worked from both sides of the mountain using primitive tools to cut slowly through the solid rock.  The James River in Scottsville was a conduit for tunnel supplies, and led to the construction of our own Irish Road and Plank Road.  A donation of $7 per person to cover the costs of the presentation will be appreciated.

Emily Kane, 2004 Oral History Internship:  Emily graduated from the University of Georgia with a doctorate in English in 2011 and taught at the University until July 2012.  She currently serves as a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Sydney Morgan Completes Internship, August 2012:
Recently Sydney Morgan, our Summer 2012 intern from UVA's Institute For Public History, briefed the Museum's Board of Trustees regarding her progress on photographing and researching our collection of historic Scottsville business ledgers between 1820 - 1914.  In total, Sydney photographed 28 of these fragile ledgers and developed collections finding aids for five of them during her internship.  Each aid included an inventory of a ledger's contents, a detailed name index of business and patron names, and her research on each ledger.  Additionally, Sydney prepared each ledger for collection storage by wrapping it in acid-free paper and placing it in an acid-free archival box.

Among the ledgers Sydney processed and researched was the 1846-1863 ledger belonging to Robert Rives' South Warren Estate, a plantation near present-day Warren, VA.  Rives (1798-1869) was born in Nelson County, VA, and represented Nelson County VA, in the House of Delegates from 1823-1829.  After his service in the House of Delegates, Rives moved to Albemarle County and was one of the wealthiest men in Virginia before the Civil War began.  He owned land in both Nelson and Albemarle counties but lost most of his fortune during the Civil War.  Sydney discovered that Rives' South Warren Estate produced fodder, rails and posts from his forests, tobacco, wheat, and corn, which were shipped to market via the nearby James River and Kanawha Canal.  Similarly, many of the products needed by the Rives plantation were shipped by the canal from Richmond markets and included farm equipment, Peruvian guano to fertilize his fields, and manufactured goods such as shoes.  As part of her collections finding aid, Sydney also recorded the names of Negroes written in Rives' ledger, who worked at the South Warren Estate. 

Museum in a Trunk Visits Effort Baptist Kids, 06 July:
On Friday, Gwynne Daye and Connie Geary presented the Museum in a Trunk to children attending a summer camp sponsored by Effort Baptist Church in Palmyra, VA.  Terrie Mahan, Director of Effort's After School program, hosted our visit, and kids attending the program's Friday morning sessions were enthusiastic participants in each trunk activity involving our study of Union General Phillip Sheridan's raid on Scottsville in March 1865 with 10,000 soldiers.  During this Civil War presentation, the students became archaeologists as they analyzed the artifacts in front of them.  Next they used these artifacts to support the narrative told to them by Mrs. Daye and Geary about General Sheridan's raid through Scottsville on 6-10 March 1865 as the Union Army destroyed the James River and Kanawha Canal and Confederate supply lines at the war's end.  Finally the students became curators as they developed Civil War exhibits from the same artifacts and some replicas, too.  The children were especially delighted to try on a replica of a Confederate wool uniform jacket as shown at right.  On a 100-degree summer day, the children quickly appreciated how hot and scratchy a wool uniform is in such weather...but they loved it!  A fun, educational morning was had by all!

After the parade, refreshments and amusements will be available all day at Dorrier Park.  At 3 p.m., the Lazy Lighting Blues Band perform at Victory Hall Theatre with special guest, Robert Bonacolta, who is the touring drummer with Arlo Guthrie.  At 5:45 p.m., parade awards will be announced at Dorrier Park followed by music by the James River Cut-ups at 7 p.m. The annual fireworks display in Scottsville begins at dusk at Dorrier Park.

The Museum will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on 4 July.  Do plan to come to Scottsville and join this annual and very fun celebration of our country's independence!
                                                                                                      (Photo by Gwynne Daye)

Feedback from Museum Fans:
a)  Theresa Mahan, Palmyra, VA:  "I wanted to say a big 'Thank You' for visiting our group with the Museum in a Trunk.  The children enjoyed themselves very much.  Best of luck to you with the Scottsville Museum."
b)  Jo Ann Hudson,Orlando, FL:  "I was just visiting your museum website for the umpteenth time (just can't get enough)!"
c) Dean Wiese, Farmington, UT:  "Thank you for putting up such a wonderful museum web site.  I found some really great information on this website.  I found the gravestone of my great grandparents, John and Emma Jane Dudley Hurt, on your website!"

New Educational Activities For Kids:
Scottsville Museum is proud to announce we have added new educational activities to our web site for children in Grades 3 and 4.  These activities are based on six selected themes in Scottsville's history from 1732 to present: The Monacans; A Community Begins (1744-1762); Batteau Era; Canal Era (1830-1881); Civil War (1861-1865); and Floods.  These activities were created by Rachel Gottlieb, a former Institute For Public History intern at the Museum, who earned a Masters of Teaching from the University of Virginia.  Rachel's online educational materials include a teacher's guide, historical fact sheets for each theme, and activities that may include role playing, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting exercises, and matching games.   Rachel geared these activities to Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) for Grades 3 and 4.  These activities will be available for children visiting Scottsville Museum in 2012 and online for parents and teachers seeking supplemental educational materials to teach local Virginia history, geography, government, and critical thinking.  Thank you, Rachel, for sharing your superb teaching skills with students of Albemarle County history!

To explore these new educational activities for kids, please visit More Activities.

Letterboxing in Scottsville:
Did you know that Letterboxing is a very popular activity in Scottsville?  Letterboxing is a type of treasure hunt that started accidentally in southern England in 1854.  According to legend, a Victorian gentleman put his "business card" in a bottle and hid it in a remote area of Dartmoor, England, to be found by curious visitors.  The idea caught on, and there are now reported to be over 10,000 letterboxes in Dartmoor alone. 

Five letterboxes have been hidden around Scottsville: three by Cathy Tyler of Letterboxing North America and two by Scottsville Museum.  Clues to locate each letterbox are available on the Museum's web site at Letterboxing.  Anyone can take this list of clues and, armed with a rubber stamp, pen, and an ink pad, walk through Scottsville on a letterbox adventure.  When a letterboxer finds a box, he/she stamps the box's guest book and writes a message.  Shown at right is a recent entry in the Barclay guest book from the Girl Guides of College Park, MD.  The letterboxer then uses the rubber stamp in the letterbox to stamp his/her own notebook.   Each letterboxer also learns a little bit about the history of each Scottsville letterbox location.  We encourage history adventurers of all age to come find Scottsville's letterboxes.  Just click on the Letterboxing link above, print out the clues and come have some history fun!