FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA, August 31, 2017  - Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) and the National Park Service - Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, are partnering on a fall speakers' series focused on the tumultuous years following the Civil War. The series will feature Dr. Jeff McClurken of the University of Mary Washington, and Emmanuel Dabney, Frank O'Reilly, Beth Parnicza, Becky Oakes, and John Hennessy of the National Park Service. Presenters will explore the Reconstruction years in Virginia and the Fredericksburg region. 

Years of Tumult: A Sesquicentennial Speakers' Series on Reconstruction

Going Home: War's End
Fredericksburg Branch, Thursday, September 7, 7:00- 8:00
Dr. Jeffrey McClurken, University of Mary Washington, presents an exploration of the return of Confederate soldiers to their homes in Virginia and their difficult transition from Confederates to Americans once again.

The Past Living in Them: Veterans Coping with Civil War
Salem Church Branch, Monday, September 25, 7:00-8:00
Frank O'Reilly, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, presents a look at how veterans remembered and wrote about the war.

The Freedmen's Bureau in Virginia
Fredericksburg Branch, Thursday, October 5, 7:00-8:00
Presented by Emmanuel Dabney of the Petersburg National Battlefield, whose extensive work reveals how the bureau worked in Virginia - its methods, its challenges, and its legacy.

A Troubled Place: Reconstructing Fredericksburg
England Run Branch, Thursday, October 19, 7:00-8:00
Rebekah Oakes and Elizabeth Parnicza, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, present a look at the immediate postwar years in Fredericksburg and the ravaged landscape surrounding the town.

Hallowed Places: Remembering and Forgetting and a Nation Moving Forward
Fredericksburg Branch, Thursday, November 2, 7:00-8:00
John Hennessy, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, looks at how the nation has viewed, treated, and understood the hallowed grounds of Virginia.