Searching for the Promised Land: History of Jews in Virginia
Jews were among the earliest settlers in Virginia, and they have played a pivotal role in Virginia history. Oddly, their history is seldom told. In this Hanukkah special, Myron Berman, author of Richmond’s …
The First Thanksgiving and Virginia’s Native American Tribes
William and Mary historian James Axtell joins Old Dominion University anthropologist Helen Rountree for a lively look at early colonist-Indian relations in the towns of Plymouth, Mass., and Jamestown, Va. Find the segment audio …
Humbling Empires: U.S. Efforts to Defeat the Axis Powers
Part I: Old Dominion University historian Carl Boyd, author of Hitler’s Japanese Confident, discusses how the U.S. cracked the Japanese diplomatic code and intercepted critical communications about Nazi activities and attitudes sent from Berlin to …
Mineral Fights: The Role of Geology in Civil War Battles
Virginia was the most populous Southern state and the most agriculturally and industrially developed. But it wasn’t Virginia’s cities, farms or factories that set the stage for some of the …
Rival Visions: The Political Legacies of Adams and Jefferson
Few historians question the contributions of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to democracy, but the two giants seldom saw eye to eye. Both were egotistical, opinionated, and downright ornery, and …
From Athens to Atlanta: The Centennial Olympic Games
Virginia Military Institute organizational psychologist Tom Meriwether organized the 80,000-member staff of the 1996 Games prior to joining the VMI faculty. He joins Clinch Valley College historian Brian Wills to discuss how the Olympics …
A Breed Apart: Exploring Unique Appalachian Cultures
Part I: Clinch Valley College mass communications professor Brent Kennedy discusses the history and culture of the mysterious and remote Melungeon people of southwestern Virginia, whose origins and ethnicity are still much debated. …
Between Iraq and a Hard Place: The Fifth anniversary of the Persian Gulf War
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the end of the Persian Gulf War. The high-tech military wizardry was dazzling, what did we ultimately win? William and Mary political scientist James …
A House Divided: Irish Politics and Society
Centuries of violence, poverty, discrimination and conviction have forged the spirit and history of the two nations we call Ireland. How have these powerful factors influenced Irish politics amd culture? …
From Camelot to Watergate: The President and the Media
For one brief shining moment, the media treated the U.S. president with kid gloves. Today the gloves are off, and reporters go for the jugular. Veteran network news reporter Roger Mudd and …
A Engineering History: Railroads and African-American Life
From the westward expansion of slavery, through emancipation and segregation, to the rise of the black Civil Rights movement, railroads have played a pivotal role in African-American history. In this …