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The Great Lives Series 2023

- November 23, 2023

The 21st annual William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture series will explore familiar historical, literary and cultural figures such William Shakespeare, George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.

It will also present the lives of lesser-known figures like Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who established a school for Black men that became Virginia Union University; and Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest sister of John F. Kennedy whose tragic life inspired her siblings’ advocacy on behalf of Americans with disabilities.

The University of Mary Washington announced the 2024 lineup last week to 140 supporters of the lecture series, now in its third decade.

It used to be an academic course with certain lectures open to the public, but has gained such a large following, in addition to an endowment from John Chappell of Philadelphia, that it is now a signature event for the university.

The first of 18 programs will take place on Jan. 18, with Douglas Waller presenting on Wild Bill Donovan, who during World War II directed the Office of Strategic Services (the country’s first national intelligence agency) and is considered the father of today’s CIA.

The rest of the series is as follows. All lectures are free and held in Dodd Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and lectures begin at 7:30 p.m.

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by Martin Davis EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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