The William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture Series continues this evening, Feb. 24 with Eric Jay Dolin sharing swashbuckling stories of American pirates. The Community Bank of the Chesapeake Lecture. This lecture can be livestreamed here: America’s Pirates Lecture Livestream.
Set against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration, Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates reveals the dramatic and surprising history of American piracy’s “Golden Age”—spanning the late 1600s through the early 1700s—when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond. In his slide show and presentation, Eric Jay Dolin will illustrate how American colonists at first supported these outrageous pirates in an early display of colonial solidarity against the Crown, and then violently opposed them. Through engrossing episodes of roguish glamour and extreme brutality, Dolin depicts the star pirates of this period, including towering Blackbeard, as well as pirates whose stories are less familiar, but whose despicable deeds are often just as riveting. Upending popular misconceptions and cartoonish stereotypes, Dolin provides this wholly original account of the seafaring outlaws whose raids reflect the precarious nature of American colonial life.
Upcoming lectures include Dolly Parton on March 3, Sylvia Plath on March 8 and C.S. Lewis on March 10. The March 1 lecture on Sandra Day O’Connor has been cancelled, but the author may be able to reschedule it for next season.
Lectures are open to the public free of charge and begin at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall, on the Fredericksburg campus of the University of Mary Washington. The auditorium opens at 6:30 p.m. Video recordings of the lectures will be uploaded to this website and will be available in the weeks following the live lectures.
Additionally, all lectures will be live-streamed throughout the remainder of the season. After delivery, lectures will be posted on the website as soon as possible after they have been edited (including addition of captions), a process that may take a week or more to complete. Once lectures are uploaded, this will be indicated by an icon in the “Media” column in the lecture listings below.
Please note the following with regard to attendance at the lectures:
- All persons in attendance must present proof of vaccination and booster (if eligible) or a negative Covid-19 test and must wear a mask upon entering the auditorium. Negative test results for a PCR test must be within 72 hours and for a Rapid Antigen test must be within 24 hours before attending event. Proof will be checked upon arrival to Dodd Auditorium.
- Persons experiencing flu-like symptoms should not attend.
- Those considering attending should first check the program website (umw.edu/greatlives) or call the hotline (540-654-1065) in advance for possible changes in schedule or protocols.
