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History series continues at Men’s Club

By Staff | Dec 4, 2009

Between September 2009 and May 2010, the Jefferson County Historical Society and the Men’s Club of Shepherdstown are hosting a series of presentations by local experts on aspects of Jefferson County History. In the third of the series on Tuesday, Dec. 8, local historian Doug Perks will discuss the 1860-1861 events in Jefferson County which surrounded the issue of Virginia’s secession from the Union. Perks’ presentation is free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. at the War Memorial Building, 102 E. German St., Shepherdstown.

It will be preceded at 6 p.m. by a social hour at the same location for members of the Society and the Men’s Club. Persons interested in joining either of these organizations are welcome to arrive early and complete membership forms.

Historian Doug Perks is the Recording Secretary for the Jefferson County Historical Society and the new Director of the Charles Town Library. He has been a director of the Historic Shepherdstown Commission, president of the Harpers Ferry Historical Association, and a member of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission. He designed the Parks As Classrooms Educator’s Guide and the Niagara Movement Educator’s Guide for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; coordinated the J. R. Clifford Youth Discovery Tent during the August, 2006, Niagara Movement Centennial Commemoration at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; and coordinated the School House Ridge Elementary Program – a hands-on education experience in Civil War History for all Jefferson County 5th grade students. He has also developed and coordinated Burr Farm Days for all Jefferson County 4th grade students and the Prepared For Success- the History of Storer College program for Jefferson & Berkeley County 8th grade students while serving as education coordinator for the Harpers Ferry Historical Association. Doug presents community lectures on local history, and writes the Mr. Jefferson’sCountycolumn for the Guardian, the newsletter of the Jefferson County Historical Society.

“All Quiet Along the Potomac” is the title of a lecture series developed by Perks that will examine what happened in Jefferson County, Virginia, during the American Civil War. The first in his series, entitled “I Am a Son of Virginia, and Her Destiny Shall be Mine,” will examine Jefferson County as she and her citizens struggle whether to remain with the Union or secede. “The Picket Guard – All Quiet Along the Potomac” was the title of a poem written by Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers published in Harper’s Weekly, Nov. 30, 1861. But at that time nothing was further from the truth for the citizens of Jefferson County, Virginia.

– For more information about the presentation, contact Curt Mason at cmasonwhf@aol.com. To learn more about the Men’s Club and the Historical Society, please visit their respective web sites at http://www.smc25443.org/ and www.jeffersonhistoricalwv.org.