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.
- Jan. 16: Wild Bill Donovan with Douglas Waller
- Jan. 18: Lewis & Clark/Sacagawea with Dale Blanshan
- Jan. 23: Shakespeare with Elizabeth Winkler
- Jan. 25: George VI and Elizabeth with Sally Bedell Smith
- Jan. 30: Sam Shepard with Jon Winters
- Feb. 6: George Washington with Alexis Coe
- Feb. 8: Mary Lumpkin: Enslaved Woman, Liberator with Kristen Green (a UMW graduate)
- Feb. 15: Franklin D. Roosevelt with Jonathan Darman
- Feb. 20: Picasso with Marjorie Och
- Feb. 22: Stan Lee: Spider-Man and Marvel Comics with Bob Batchelor
- Feb. 27: Martin Luther King Jr. with Jonathan Eig
- Feb. 29: Rosemary Kennedy with Kate Clifford Larson
- Mar. 12: Edith (Mrs. Woodrow) Wilson with Rebecca Roberts
- Mar. 14: Billie Jean King with Johnette Howard
- Mar. 19: Elizabeth Taylor with Kate A. Brower
- Mar. 21: George Remus: A Real-Life Gatsby with Abbot Kahler
- Mar. 26: Ten Caesars with Barry Straus
- Mar. 28: Edgar Allan Poe with Mark Dawidziak
