By Amber Galaviz, Orange County Review With a recent $250,000 donation, the Germanna Foundation hopes to begin the construction of a new archaeology research laboratory and artifact storage building near the Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center in Locust Grove. The donation comes from Dr. Michael D. Frost, of Kansas City, MO. as a continuation of his […]
Actor Neil Patrick Harris Learns of His Germanna Roots on PBS
We were excited to watch the Germanna Foundation’s nation-wide television debut of the “The Pioneers” episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots. In “The Pioneers” episode, five-time Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris was surprised to learn that one of his ancestors – Gertrud Stuell, an ancestor many Germanna descendants have in common with […]
PBS Series “Finding Your Roots” Episode to Feature Germanna Descendant
This week’s episode of the PBS Series Finding Your Roots, the “Pioneers,” will reveal some interesting German ancestry information about one of the episode’s stars. The show airs for the first time on Tuesday evening, Feb 23rd. Watch it, and then watch here for more… You can also check out the Germanna Facebook page. For […]
Merry Christmas from Germanna
My friend Werner Hoffman-Gassner of Eisern is probably known to you through his heraldic artwork that hangs with gratitude in the Germanna Visitor Center. This week he sent me a video of a very old German carol that made me think of the first Christmas when the Lutheran colonists at Germanna first celebrated Christmas with the […]
A Thanksgiving Story
Thanksgiving marks off the year for every American the beginning of a “holiday season” of memory, anticipation, and joy – but above all, it begins with thanks. In my time as a member of the board of trustees of the Germanna Foundation since 1997, I have come to rest on the idea that the heartbeat […]
Groundbreaking at Ferry Farm
On April 25, 2015, Germanna Foundation Trustee Dr. Michael Frost was an honored groundbreaker for the George Washington Foundation’s first phase of construction for the Washington House at Ferry Farm, George Washington’s boyhood home overlooking Fredericksburg, Virginia. (Michael is the second from the right in the photograph). The Ferry Farm venture’s first phase will build […]
Germanna Foundation Announces Appointment of Dr. Eric Larsen as Staff Archaeologist
Today the Trustees of the Germanna Foundation announced the appointment of Eric Larsen, Ph.D., as Archaeologist of the Foundation. Dr. Larsen brings more than 25 years of archaeological experience to his new position, having worked with the National Park Service at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and for the University of Maryland on sites in […]
Germanna Welcomes Astronaut Buzz Aldrin ‘Home Again’
The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc., met with Apollo 11 astronaut and Germanna descendant Buzz Aldrin at the Germanna Community College’s Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper on Friday, November 7th, as he met with students as part of his ShareSpace Foundation’s effort to inspire children to study science, technology, engineering, the […]
45th Anniversary of a Germanna Descendant on the Moon
The year 2014 not only marks the 300th anniversary of Germanna in America but July 20, 2014 marks the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Astronaut and Germanna descendant Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin is a direct descendant of the Rev. Henry Häger, the German […]
Pvt Fielding Aylor, 4th VA Cavalry (CSA) Honored in Culpeper Star-Exponent
Zann Nelson, the former executive director of the Museum of Culpeper History, dedicated her June 23, 2011 Culpeper Star-Exponent column in tribute to Private Fielding Aylor. Her column follows. “On May 1, 1862, just eight days after his 18th birthday, young Fielding Aylor, a descendant of the first round of settlers to the Hebron Valley of […]
