2024 Programs

All events are open to the public and free unless tickets or registration noted.

NNK250 Signature Speaker Series: "A Place Apart: Bound Labor in Virginia's Upper Northern Neck, 1645-1710" | March 10 - 2:00 p.m.

Dr. Steve Harris-Scott of George Mason University presents “A Place Apart: Bound Labor in Virginia’s Upper Northern Neck, 1645-1710,” talk two in a five-part series that kicks off the Northern Neck’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding. Click here for the full series lineup: NNK250 2024 Signature Speaker Series

 

Volunteer Spring Training | March 19-21 - 8:30 a.m. - Noon

Join the HCC&M volunteer team for our annual spring continuing education sessions as we get ready for the 2024 visitor season. Enjoy engaging presentations on the history of Christ Church and colonial Virginia by leading scholars. Participate in hands-on workshops with fellow volunteers. Play HCC&M Jeopardy!^TM  and win a prize. Coffee and goodies served daily with lunch on 3/21 to conclude the program. Anyone from the community interested in participating or learning more about volunteer opportunities at Historic Christ Church & Museum is encouraged to attend. Contact the office at info@christchurch1735.org or visit Volunteer at HCC  for more information.

Kirkin’ of the Tartan Service | April 14 - 1:30 p.m.

Traditional Scottish blessing & celebration. Full tartan/Scottish church service. Bagpipes, drums, and marching parade with the Kilmarnock District & Pipe Band and the St. Andrew’s Society of Williamsburg.

 

  

 The Huguenot-Anglican Refuge in Virginia | April 22 - 10:00 a.m

Using county court records from Virginia and French Protestant records in England and France, the Reverend Dr. Lonnie H. Lee explores communities of Huguenot emigrants who settled along the Rappahannock River in the late seventeenth century and the role some of their clergy played in leading parishes in the Church of England.

 

Wren Masters – “Baroque with a French Twist” | April 27 - 4:00 p.m.

The Wren Masters, a baroque quartet from Williamsburg, return to Historic Christ Church on Saturday, April 27 with “Baroque with a French Twist.” Spanning the entire baroque era, the Wren Masters take the audience on a journey from the dazzling new inventions in the early 1600s by composers such as Frescobaldi to the string virtuosity of Jean-Marie LeClair and mature baroque music by Handel, culminating with the late baroque stylishness in quartets by Rameau and Telemann. Reception in the churchyard at intermission. $30.00 Tickets

This performance is partially supported by funding from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.  

 

Virginia in the Eighteenth Century – Rappahannock Institute for Lifelong Learning | May 1, 8, 15 - 10:00 a.m. - Noon

This course looks at life in Virginia over the eighteenth century. Themes include the rise of the gentry class, the tobacco economy, slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, demographic change and westward migration, architecture, women and family, the Great Awakening and religious dissent, the Seven Years’ War, and political change and the American Revolution. From its consolidation as a slave society as the century opened to its leading role in the creation of a new nation, this course examines the profound transformations that shaped Virginia in its second hundred years. 

Offered in partnership with Rappahannock Community College’s Rappahannock Institute for Lifelong Learning program (RILL). Instructor: Robert Teagle, HCC&M Executive Director. Registration here: rappahannock.edu/foundation/lifelong-learning

 

66^th Annual Meeting of the Foundation for Historic Christ Church, Inc | May 16 - 4:00 PM

Guest Speaker: The Right Reverend Mark Stevenson

 

 Spring Parish Crawl | May 22 - 8:00 AM - 5:45 PM

Join Historic Christ Church & Museum volunteers for this special trip across the James River to some of colonial Virginia's most important public buildings. Stops include Historic St. Luke's (ca. 1685), the Isle of Wight County Courthouse (ca. 1751), and Bacon's Castle (ca. 1665). Enjoy lunch at Smithfield Station and a return journey across the James via ferry. $85.00 tickets include bus, admissions, lunch and treats on the bus!

Click here for more details: Spring Parish Crawl 2024. Click here for tickets: Tickets - Spring Parish Crawl 2024

 

 

Memorial Day Service | May 27 - 11:00 a.m. (Music); 11:30 a.m. (Service)

Sponsored by the Northern Neck Chapter, Military Officers Association of America; the Foundation for Historic Christ Church, Inc.; and Grace Episcopal Church, Kilmarnock.

 

"Raise the Roof" at Historic Christ Church & Museum | June 29 - 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Join us as we "Raise the Roof" at Historic Christ Church & Museum in Weems, Virginia. Enjoy an array of craft beers, delicious BBQ or vegetarian fare, homemade ice cream, and live music by Fade to Blue and En'Novation, all at one of Virginia’s most historic sites. Funds benefit preservation of Historic Christ Church (1735), a National Historic Landmark. Tickets  

 

 

Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence with Patriotic Music | July 3 - 4:00 p.m. 

Patriotic celebration and reading of the Declaration of Independence inside Historic Christ Church. With the Cobbs Hall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Richard Henry Lee Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.

 

Hands-On History Day | July 19 - 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Step back in time with this exciting program in colonial Virginia history. Make a brick by hand, write with a quill pen, make a grave rubbing, play colonial games, create a silhouette portrait, build a brick wall and more. Enjoy a pizza party for lunch and take home a souvenir bookmark, Museum Activity Book, and knapsack. Ages 6-12. Pre-registration required: dbyram@christchurch1735.org

 

Victory or Death: George Washington and the Ten Crucial Days | July 25 - Reception 5:00 p.m. Speaker 6:00 p.m.

National Park Service historian Mark Maloy takes us to the tense days of December 1776, where George Washington and the Continental Army sit on the verge of utter destruction by the banks of the Delaware River. Rather than submit to defeat, Washington and his small band of soldiers cross the ice-choked river and attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey the day after Christmas. Washington follows up this stunning victory with successful actions at Assunpink Creek and Princeton to turn the tables and breathe new life into the dying cause for American liberty.

Part of the 2024 Summer Speaker Series "The First Three: From Washington to Jefferson." Tickets $25 per presentation or $65 for the series. Includes wine and cheese reception before speaker. Tickets

 

The Jeffersons at Shadwell | August 15 - Reception 5:00 p.m. Speaker 6:00 p.m.

In this unique perspective that recasts Virginia’s “frontier” history and Thomas Jefferson’s early years, historian Susan Kern uses material culture to explore the social history of Shadwell, the late colonial plantation that was home to Jane and Peter Jefferson, their eight children (including Thomas), and an enslaved workforce of about sixty African-Americans. Kern’s excavations at Shadwell reveal new ways to understand how powerful families maintained social, business, and family connections across Virginia, from the Virginia-North Carolina dividing line to the Northern Neck. Kern’s work also uncovers a network of enslaved families connected among plantations across generations. 

Part of the 2024 Summer Speaker Series "The First Three: From Washington to Jefferson." Tickets $25 per presentation or $65 for the series. Includes wine and cheese reception before speaker. Kern's book The Jeffersons at Shadwell will be available for purchase. Tickets

Made possible in part by a grant from VA250 Commission in partnership with Virginia Humanities. 

 

 

Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic | September 19 - Reception 5:00 p.m. Speaker 6:00 p.m.

Presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky investigates the leadership and legacy of John Adams, whose presidency marked a period critical to the survival of the American republic and helped define the office for those who followed. Adams faced enormous challenges at home and abroad alongside impossible expectations as Washington’s successor in a new nation unsure if the presidency could even work without the father of the country at the helm. Relying on his own ideas about executive power and the Constitution, Adams defended the presidency from his own often obstructionist cabinet, protected the nation from foreign attacks, and forged trust and dedication to election integrity and the peaceful transfer of power between parties despite the costs to his political future.

Part of the 2024 Summer Speaker Series "The First Three: From Washington to Jefferson." Tickets $25 per presentation or $65 for the series. Includes wine and cheese reception before speaker. Chervinsky's new book Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic will be available for purchase. Tickets

Made possible in part by a grant from VA250 Commission in partnership with Virginia Humanities.

 

 

John H. Hunt II Chesapeake History Forum - "East Virginia Blues: The Bay and Beyond" 

October 12 - 4:00 p.m.

Some of the best known blues musicians of the twentieth century called Virginia and the Chesapeake watershed home. Regional artists performed in a variety of styles, from the ragtime-inspired country blues that was heard at house parties to the jazz-inflected vaudeville blues of the traveling shows and stage. Touring bands, phonograph records, and radio brought other blues styles to the region. Mississippi-born bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup brought his Delta songs to his new home on the Eastern Shore while Baltimore theaters featured the great blueswomen. Join guitarist Dr. Gregg Kimball, vocalist Sheryl Warner, and harmonica player Rick Manson as they honor these masters of the blues tradition with an engaging multimedia show. Enjoy craft cocktails, fresh seafood, and other culinary delights at this special evening of music and storytelling that honors longtime HCC&M volunteer and friend John H. Hunt II. 

Tickets $75.00. Purchase here: East Virginia Blues: The Bay and Beyond

 

 

The Holly & the Ivy | December 2 - 3:30 p.m.

Celebrate the season at Historic Christ Church with traditional songs, carols, and music. Join in this seasonal songfest in the beautifully “greened” church. Featuring members of The Chesapeake Chorale and the Christchurch School Cantorion. Dress warmly. Refreshments follow. Admission: two non-perishable items for Healthy Harvest Food Bank.