A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, has been quoted in several regional, national and international news stories:
Trump Eyes a Political Comeback (CTV News Channel)
MCKL holding free live webinar on reviewing the 2020 U.S. Election (Citizens Journal)
The horseshoe staircase at Belmont, home of Gari Melchers.
UMW Museums Executive Director Scott Harris and Belmont Assistant Director and Curator Joanna Catron were interviewed for an article in The Free Lance-Star about the restoration of the “horseshoe staircase” at Belmont.
Some stories are quick turnarounds I can share mere hours after learning the details.
Today’s story—about the removal and restoration of the “horseshoe staircase” at the front of Gari Melchers Home and Studio in Falmouth—is not one of those. That’s partly due to COVID-19 delays, but also because of having to digest more than a century of history.
The staircase was likely commissioned in Philadelphia around 1850. The company doing the restoration, Keswick-based Stokes of England, has done work for Prince Charles, the sultan of Oman and Patricia Kluge.
In an earlier column, I mentioned that a restored steamboat pilothouse in the Northern Neck had been voted one of Virginia’s most endangered artifacts. That brought a message from Scott Harris, the executive director of museums at the University of Mary Washington. He said the horseshoe staircase railing at Belmont was among the first artifacts to get that designation a decade or so ago.
I joined Harris and Joanna Catron, the assistant director and curator at Belmont, to examine the staircase. The wrought-iron railing was most likely installed in about 1850 by Joseph Burwell Ficklen, the owner of the estate at that time. Read more.
Eagle Award Nominations are now open! Help us recognize outstanding students and programs that have continued to persevere this year. You can find out more information about the Eagle Awards on our website.
The nomination form will be open through Sunday, March 14. Please submit nominations here.
We are also currently looking for faculty, staff, and students to serve on the selection committee. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Sandrine Sutphin at ssutphin@umw.edu.
The virtual award ceremony will be air in late April through SAE’s YouTube channel.
Kristin Marsh, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Professor of Sociology Kristin Marsh penned an editorial on authors and Black rights activists Anna Julia Cooper and W. E. B. DuBois in The Free Lance-Star in advance of her “Great Lives” lecture on Feb. 23. View the lecture here.
AT THE TURN of the 20th century, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was one of the most renowned social justice intellectuals in the U.S. He helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), edited its popular journal, The Crisis, and established the first School of Sociology at Atlanta University.
Toward an empirically grounded critical race theory, the DuBoisian school examined the extensive institutional and interpersonal racism facing African Americans. Du Bois was a staunch supporter of liberal education for blacks at a time when whites favored the vocational education advocated by Booker T. Washington.
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1858–1964) was as fully engaged in public debates surrounding racial uplift as was Du Bois. An educator herself, Cooper led the M Street High School for blacks in Washington, D.C., where she insisted on providing students with the best college preparatory curriculum available. Read more.
Professor of Modern European History and Military History Porter Blakemore
Professor of Modern European History and Military History Porter Blakemore, a former naval officer and aviator, penned an editorial in The Free Lance-Star newspaper in advance of his “Great Lives” lecture on General Douglas MacArthur on Feb. 18. View the lecture here.
DOUGLAS MacArthur is one of the most famous American military officers of the first half of the 20th century. As a young brigadier general in 1918, he was poised for a distinguished future that held great promise.
Yet his potential produced enigmatic success and failure in the career that followed. Today, while some historians consider him one of the great captains of history, others disparage his accomplishments.
The truth falls somewhere in the middle. Read more.
Reference and Humanities Librarian Emeritus Jack Bales
UMW Reference and Humanities Librarian Emeritus Jack Bales penned an editorial in The Free Lance-Star on children’s novelist Horatio Alger that ran in advance of his “Great Lives” lecture on Feb. 16. View the lecture here.
NO AUTHOR of children’s books during the last 30 years of the 19th century was more popular than Horatio Alger Jr. (1832–1899). In subsequent decades, his stereotypical “rags-to-riches” narratives became so familiar that in our own times, the term “Horatio Alger story” has come to be commonly used as shorthand for a person who, through diligence and hard work, rises from poverty to achieve notable success.
The author himself was born in 1832 in Revere, Mass., the son of a Harvard-educated Unitarian minister. Intending to follow in his father’s footsteps, Horatio Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1852.
The several years after graduation, however, were marked by Alger’s indecisive search for a career. Although he was preparing for the ministry, he had a longing to write. His first works, mostly short stories and poems, were aimed at adults. Read more.
Professor Emeritus of German Sammy Merrill
Professor Emeritus of German Sammy Merrill penned an editorial in The Free Lance-Star on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in advance of his “Great Lives” lecture on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Watch here.
JOHANN Wolfgang Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on August 28, 1749. His long life of 82 years was defined by accomplishments that are surprising to those who know him only as the author of that most German of literary works: “Faust.”
Indeed, this dramatic poem—in which a man is so disillusioned with the scholarly life that he turns in despair to the devil himself as an alternative way to meaningfulness—is considered by most critics his magnum opus. Many even regard Goethe as the “German Shakespeare” because of this and other significant plays, some of them path-breaking in world literature. Read more.
UMW College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson
College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson’s recent column in The Free Lance-Star is entitled, “Start the easy way or the hard way?”
DO YOU make lists of things that you need to get done every day? Or perhaps your time frame is weekly or longer. Most time management gurus will tell you that a ‘to-do’ list is a good way to help you maximize how you spend your day.
I’m a big fan of to-do lists. Most mornings, I generate a list of items that must be done that day. Occasionally, the list will include items that are longer term, but that need to be started soon.
Some people organize their list. Maybe they order the items by importance. Others create a list based on how much time each item will take to complete.
My list is created as I think of things to add. I do not take the time to organize it in any coherent fashion. It’s more a stream of consciousness list. I typically begin the list as soon as I get out of the shower, as I’ve usually thought of three to five things while I’m in there. Then I add to the list throughout the morning.
How do you “work” your list? Do you start with the easiest items to complete or do you tackle the hardest one first?
There is value in each method. Read more.
The College of Business is hosting its Money Matters series every Wednesday for the next three weeks. Each session focuses on financial responsibility, and is held virtually via Zoom
Upcoming Money Matters events include:
02/17 @ 7 pm: Credit Cards, Loans, and Credit Scores with Dean Lynne Richardson
02/24 @ 7 pm: Insurance with Rob Whitt ’93
03/03@ 7 pm: Saving and Retiring Planning with Chris Fines ’99
The COB welcomes all students to attend these events. To register, please email Lucy Quann at lquann@umw.edu.
Have you heard about the new MMDC Perks program? This program recognizes Eagles who are doing a great job following MMDC guidelines and completing the Eagle Heath Journal. Students who complete the Eagle Health Journal every single day will be entered to win small prizes (like shirts, yoga mats, snuggies, and other freebies), and big prizes (like $250 towards books, a reserved parking spot, or graduation pictures with Sammy D. Eagle).
You can also nominate students to win prizes if they have done an awesome job following the MMDC guidelines. Complete the nomination form here.
Please continue to encourage students to follow MMDC guidelines, complete the Eagle Health Journal every day, and remind them that if they do, they’ll be eligible to win free stuff!
Questions? Email ssutphin@umw.edu.