George Washington & the Virginia Backcountry

George Washington & the Virginia Backcountry

Friday and Saturday, April 21-22, 1989
Shenandoah College and Conservatory
Hester Auditorium
Winchester, Virginia

A conference examining the impact of young Washington’s frontier experience on his later career as revolutionary commander and president. In observance of the Bicentennial of the Presidency

Program participants:

William W Abbot, Philander D. Chase, Steven L. Cooksey, John E. Ferling, William M. Gardner, Clarence R. Geier, Don Higginbotham, Warren R. Hofstra, Sarah S. Hughes, Robert D. Mitchell, James Morrison, Timothy G. O'Rourke, Bruce A. Ragsdale, Charles Royster, Dorothy Twohig, Lorena S. Walsh, Joseph W. A. Whitehorne, Edwin M. Yoder.

Sponsored by the Community History Project of Shenandoah College, The Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia, and the Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.

Funding provided by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy and the Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.

George Washington’s practical education began in the eighteenth-century backcountry. Here Washington mastered those basic lessons in the arts of military administration and political negotiation so essential for his later success as Commander in Chief and President. Caught in tensions between eastern Virginia in its Golden Age and the rough world of the west, Washington grew in vision through his own deepening interest in western lands and in stature through challenging encounters with native Americans, backcountry settlers, and imperial officials. The Washington of Mr. Vernon, Yorktown, and the executive mansion forever remained a man whose character was forged in the crucible of the frontier.

Friday, April 21, 1989
Opening Remarks: 10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Edwin M. Yoder, Washington Post Writers Group

Session I: Young Washington and His World: 10:30 - 12:30 p.m.
Chair: Timothy G. O’Rourke, Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution

A Young Man of the Northern Neck: The Virginia of Washington’s Youth
Bruce A. Ragsdale, Office for the Bicentennial, U.S. House of Representatives

The Making of George Washington
Dorothy Twohig, The Papers of George Washington

Comment: Lorena S. Walsh, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Session II: The Virginia Backcountry of Washington’s Day: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Chair: Robert D. Mitchell, University of Maryland

The Native American Political Environment on the Central and Northern American Frontier during the Mid-Eighteenth Century
Clarence R. Geier, James Madison University

A Parcel of Barbarians and an uncooth set of People: Settlers and Settlements of the Shenandoah Valley
Warren R. Holstra, Shenandoah College and Conservatory

Comment: William M. Gardner, Catholic University

Reception: 5:30 - 6:16 p.m.

Banquet: 6:30 - 8:15 p.m.
George Washington: What Kind of Revolutionary?
Don Higginbotham, University of North Carolina

Concert: Musical Traditions of Virginia’s Tidewater and Backcountry: 8:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Steven L. Cooksey, Shenandoah College and Conservatory
James E. Morrison, Charlottesville, Virginia

Saturday, April 22, 1989

Session III: The Frontier Education of George Washington: 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Chair: William W. Abbot, The Papers of George Washington

A Stake in the West: Washington as Backcountry Surveyor and Landholder
Philander D. Chase, The Papers of George Washington

School for Command: Young George Washington and the Virginia Regiment
John E. Ferling, West Georgia College

Comment: Joseph W. A. Whitehorse, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Army
Sarah S. Hughes, Hampton University

Luncheon 12:00 noon — 1:30 pm.
President Washington and the West
Charles Royster, Louisiana State University

Tour: Walking Tours of Washington’s Winchester