From the event description:
The bloodshed that resulted from the two-day Battle of Shiloh exceeded anything America had ever known in its history. Learn how this battle unfolded and how the horrific casualty count rewrote America’s notions of war.
Bobby Simms supplied this photo, taken around 1960, of Margaret Scruggs in front of her pigeon coops behind 201 S. Cherry Street. There were a few behind houses on Linden. There are still pigeon coops on the south side of the 800 block of Albemarle St.
From event description:
While recent events have focused on the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s monument building efforts in the early 20th Century, Dr. Karen Cox argues that the Daughters had a far-reaching agenda with implications for race relations that are still with us today. Discover the UDC’s work–especially its efforts to shape the worldview of young white southerners–during the organization’s heyday between 1894 and World War I.
Photo by Kenny Hamilton.
Photo from Bobby Simms. On left: Sonny Ford, Joe Martin with microphone, Bobby Simms on drums John Bennet on guitar. The Good Times.
Chris D. Bailey layback Oregon Hill back in the day.
The Main Public Library will be holding a screening of the documentary, “The American South as We Know It”, on Sunday (June 9th) at 2pm. It will be presented by director and producer, Frederick Murphy. Discussion and Q&A to follow the film.
The American South As We Know It explores the lives and experiences of African-Americans during the Jim Crow era. This film depicts a time when racial tension was at its peak. The educators, historians and brave “everyday” people featured in this documentary, express their vested interest in creating a comprehensive narrative of what life was like for African-Americans in the south.
REGISTRATION: https://rvalibrary.libcal.com/event/5248430
How’s that for a provocative title?
It’s actually the name of an upcoming event at Historic Tredegar as part of The Foundry Series. From the American Civil War Museum’s event page:
Uncover how Frederick Law Olmsted’s epic 1850s journey through the American South compares to contemporary conversations about political and cultural divisiveness
today, as author Tony Horwitz discusses his new book, Spying on the South: Across the American Divide. Moderated by Danita Rountree Green, Coming to the Table – Richmond.Cost:
Free. Registration encouraged.Program Date:
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 – 6:30pm
To make a reservation, click here.
“Arriving at the gallows, which were at the north side of the State Penitentiary on the western outskirts of Richmond, a massive crowd estimated at 7,000 gathered on a nearby hill called “Oregon,” then ogled and strained to watch the hapless prisoners ascend the platform. A Priest and a Protestant Minister prayed with them through an interpreter. The three requested in Spanish that the people pray for their souls and their bodies be properly buried.
After the ropes around their necks were fastened to the heavy oak crossbeam, an officer pulled the cord that dropped the platform.
But things did not go as planned.”
So reads a portion of a new Medium piece by local writer Dale Brumfield, entitled “Frankenstein and the Three Spaniards”. Brumfield, a Throttle magazine alumnus, has a knack for finding juicy Virginia history- he wrote a book on Oregon Hill’s former neighbor, the Virginia State Penitentiary. He also has a new novel out called “Naked Savages”. While the pirate story has been written about before, Brumfield’s account adds the tantalizing detail that the executed pirates were reinterred in a single unmarked grave in Oregon Hill, where they have remained undisturbed. There’s more history to be uncovered…