Join in the celebration of the semiquincentennial anniversary of Virginia and our nation as notable speakers share stories of the start of our democracy 250 years ago. The program begins inside the restored Henry County Courtroom at 3 p.m., as a special installment of the MHC Historical Society’s Sunday Afternoon Lecture.

Bill Guerrant will speak on "Securing Independence, Not Just Declaring It."

Thomas Sobol, Supervisory Ranger of Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, will speak on "The Soldiers of Guilford Courthouse Examined through their Pension Applications.” In the 1800s, Congress passed a series of bills to provide pensions to Revolutionary War veterans and their survivors. Sobol will highlight the park's research findings after the transcription of 2,000 pension applications. He will also discuss the service records of select veterans of the battle of Guilford Courthouse. Greene's army included escaped prisoners of war from Savannah and Charleston, former soldiers of the Crown Forces, free African American Continentals and militiamen, militiamen with prior Continental Army service, and the battle tested First Maryland Regiment with survivors of the Battle of Brooklyn still in the ranks, to name just some examples of the variety of backgrounds within the army. 

This program is coordinated by Jarred Marlowe, the local VA 250 Celebration Committee chair. Marlowe is a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, a member of the Col. George Waller Chapter Sons of the American Revolution, a consultant for the Blue & Gray Education Society, and a past member of the board of the MHC Historical Society. He writes the “Community Chronicles” column for the Henry County Enterprise and, with Andy Doss, runs the YouTube video channel “Doss-Marlowe: History in Sight.”