George Mason University has partnered with a statewide commemoration highlighting Virginia’s key role in the United States of America’s 400-year history. American Evolution: Virginia to America 1619-2019uses educational programs and events to highlight the state’s history of democracy, diversity and opportunity.
Mason is joining a lineup of partners that include universities, state departments, nonprofits and many others. Mason’s 2019 Sojourner Truth Lecture and the student-led initiative “Collections for the Culture” staged reading series are also part of the yearlong initiative.
Starting Wednesday, March 20, two professors from Mason’s Department of History and Art History and a professor from the Department of Religious Studies will host three short, pop-up lectures from noon to 1 p.m., in Student Union Building I, Room 3A. The lectures are free and open to the public.
The events include
March 20—Rosemarie Zagarri, U.S. History: Early American history, “1619: When Democracy Came to America”
March 27—Theodore McCord, U.S. History, “John Page, An Immigrant in Virginia: From the House of Burgess to the Royal Council”
April 3—John Turner, American Religion, “Pilgrim Envy: Virginia and the First Thanksgiving”
The series at Mason will have a culminating event in April in partnership with the Enslaved People of George Mason project, with music performed by the Green Machine, tours and lectures to highlight the history and lives of the slaves who worked at Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason IV.