In this autobiographical lecture, Dr. Bryan reflects on the field of public history as it developed during the course of his own career. In 1988, he was appointed as President and CEO of the Virginia Historical Society. During his tenure, Dr. Bryan oversaw fund-raising campaigns that raised more than $110 million. These efforts resulted in quadrupling the size of the museum’s headquarters building and a significant expansion of educational programs statewide.

In the winter of 1860–61, the crisis that erupted with the election of Abraham Lincoln threatened to split the nation. In his newest Lincoln book, Lincoln: President-Elect, Harold Holzer examines the perilous interregnum before the president-elect's inauguration and recounts Lincoln's public and private struggle to preserve the Union. 

Mr. Holzer is co-chairman of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and senior vice president for external affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On May 21, 2009, Daniel P. Jordan delivered the 2009 Stuart G. Christian, Jr., lecture entitled “Jefferson in Perspective.”

Daniel P. Jordan retired as president of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, one of the most beloved historic sites in America. No other historian today has immersed himself more deeply into the multifaceted life of our third president. Drawing on his many years at Monticello, Dr. Jordan reflected on the meaning of Thomas Jefferson within the broader context of his times and his enduring legacy for us today. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

For nearly a century, the Garden Club of Virginia has undertaken garden research and preservation work at numerous historic sites across the Old Dominion. It has restored and created beautiful landscapes for the education and enjoyment of all, from backyard gardeners to design professionals.

On November 18, 2009, Josiah Bunting, III, delivered the 2009 Alexander W. Weddell Trustees Lecture. The topic of his lecture was “George Marshall, His Men, and the Recovery of Europe.”

At the time of this lecture, Mr. Bunting was the President of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation in New York, former President of Hampden-Sydney College, and Superintendent Emeritus of the Virginia Military Institute. (Introduction by J. Stewart Bryan III and Paul A. Levengood)

On February 18, 2010, Robert Poole delivered a lecture on his book On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery.

On October 28, 2010, Marie Tyler-McGraw discussed her book An African Republic: Black and White Virginians in the Making of Liberia.

The Civil War ended in spring 1865, but for Confederate veterans and their families, its consequences persisted far longer as they began to pick up the pieces of their civilian lives in the devastated South. In his new book, Jeffrey W. McClurken assesses the wide-ranging effects of the war on Confederate veteran families in Southside Virginia. Coming to terms with postwar reality on an individual level meant reconstructing the household and seeking jobs and financial assistance.