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Welcome to the 2022 Germanna Conference and Reunion, “Migrations”!
We are excited that we can gather again in person for the 65th annual conference and reunion!
We have an exciting line-up of presenters this year. Even if you cannot make the conference in person, we will be offering it in a virtual capacity. This year’s theme will focus on migration: why people came here, how it affected those already present, and where they went once they got to Germanna.
Thursday July 14, 2022 from 12pm to 3pm EDT
Fort Germanna Public Access
Live Event
Join us at the Fort Germanna/Enchanted Castle site to discover the artifacts and stories of the site.
Visit with our resident archaeologist and seasonal interns as they talk about discoveries from this year’s field season. This is a free event.
Thursday, July 14, 2022 from 6pm-7:30 pm EDT
Fort Germanna Visitor Center Reception
Live Event
Fort Germanna Visitor Center
2062 Germanna Hwy.
Locust Grove, VA
6pm – 7:30 pm
Enjoy an evening of light refreshments while visiting with friends and family from 6-7:30 PM at the Fort Germanna Visitor Center.
This event is FREE, but RSVP is required. Event includes hors d’oeuvres. Cash bar. Donations welcome.
Friday, July 15, 2022 from 9 am- 4 pm EDT
Self Guided Heritage Tour
Live Event
2062 Germanna Hwy.
Locust Grove, VA
9am-4pm
Registrants will receive a booklet for this self-guided tour. The booklet will provide addresses and information for tour locations, include where Germanna families originally settled and related sites. Pick up your material at registration or stop by the Fort Germanna Visitor Center on Friday morning.
Price: $10
Friday, July 15, 2022 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm EDT
Banquet
Live Event
Lake of the Woods Clubhouse
102 Lake of the Woods Way Locust Grove, VA
6:30PM to 9:30pm
Join Germanna, friends and family for an evening honoring our ancestors in the Germanna Room at Lake of the Woods Clubhouse. Meal will be buffet style.
Price: $60
Historical and Genealogical Conference
Hybrid Event
Daniel Technology Center, 18121 Technology Drive, Culpeper, VA
Virtual via Zoom
Eric Larsen, Ph.D
English Migrants? Well Yeah, That’s What Colonization is All About. Thoughts on What the English Brought with Them to Germanna.
Germanna, as part of the royal colony of Virginia, was established under English terms. This brought with it a firm reliance upon English Law and property rights. The colonial English world view through multiple, often overlapping, topics will be examined. These will include architecture, animal husbandry, gardens and agriculture, colonial governing bodies, church administration, and other tools of the colonization/settler process. Dr. Larsen will share some of the observations that have influenced the archaeology program’s work toward finding Fort Germanna, working with the ruins of Alexander Spotswood’s “Enchanted Castle,” understanding Spotsylvania County’s first county seat at Germanna, and learning more of the (James) Gordon farm that came to replace these earlier settlements.
Courtney Stoll, MA, RPA, SAH
Archaeology of Boone County, Kentucky Germanna Farmsteads.
Boone County, Kentucky was the destination of many Germanna descendants as they migrated west. Massive development has occurred in the county over the past few decades. Learn about efforts to preserve or record Boone County’s cultural history before it is destroyed by new construction.
Carole Nash, Ph.D
Associate Professor, James Madison University; Director, James Madison University Environmental Archaeology Lab
The Piedmont of Virginia is home to many Indigenous peoples. Learn how European migration affected these Native populations including the colonial-era diaspora.
Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy
Genealogist and the Descendant Project Researcher at the University of Virginia
Join Dr. Murphy to discuss African-American genealogy and forced migration in the 18th and 19th centuries in central Virginia. Learn more about the African-American experience from the 18th century until freedom as told through the lens of genealogy.
*Live event includes lunch
Price: $60 in person/$50 virtual
Saturday, July 16, 2022 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm EDT
Saturday Dinner at Salubria
Live Event
19173 Salubria Lane, Stevensburg, VA
6:30PM-9:30PM
Join us for an Oktoberfest under the tent at Salubria. There will be music, dancing, conversation, and plenty of German-inspired food for all! The Low’n’Brows will be joining us again this year and the Alpine Chef from Fredericksburg will be catering. Get those lederhosen and dirndls out of the closet!
Price: $60
Worship Service
Live Event
Attend the worship service at the historic church of your choice.
Hebron Lutheran Church – 10:00 am
899 Blankenbaker Road, Madison, VA
Little Fork Episcopal Church – 10:00 am
16461 Oak Shade Road, Rixeyville, VA
Sunday July 17, 2022 from 12pm to 2pm EDT
Sunday Picnic Lunch
Live Event
Salubria
19173 Salubria Lane, Stevensburg, VA
After Sunday services head over to Salubria for a throwback picnic of fried chicken and ham biscuits before you make you way home.
Price: $20
Best Western Culpeper Inn
791 Madison Rd. Culpeper, VA
540-825-1253
Holiday Inn Express
787 Madison Rd. Culpeper, VA
540-825-7444
Hampton Inn
18411 Gate Rd. Culpeper, VA
540-829-9000
Must Reserve Rooms Online
www.hilton.com
It has been three years since we have been able to meet together for our annual Conference. We missed the chance to get together so have been thinking about ways to reconnect.
This year’s topic will be “Migrations.” We will be focusing on the human movements reflected in Germanna stories. The staff at Germanna have come up with a project idea that needs your help and participation. We wish to put together a new exhibit and launch it at the Conference. To do this, we need your assistance.
What is your own, personal migration or relocation story? We would like you to think in terms of your own or your immediate generations’ lifetimes. It doesn’t have to be a grand migration, but maybe a move to a different region or state. Perhaps it could be moving out of your parents’ home. Maybe you remember how it felt to change schools. We’d like to have stories from many people –young and old. Feel free to think “outside of the box” and make it personal.
- We ask you to take on the role of historian or museum curator (curators collect, care for, and develop collections of objects or stories).
- Is there a story that connects you or your family’s own migration or relocation? Perhaps you could put the story on paper or even audio and share it with us. Maybe you’re a poet and wish to share that experience through verse. Write it down or record your performance.
- Is there an object (artifact) that represents yours or your family’s movement? It could be a personal or family possession or maybe even something like a wrapper or menu from a favorite restaurant that you found in your new location or one that you left behind. Something that connects you and your story.
- Is there a particular sound – maybe a song or music – that brings you back to a moment of relocation and change in your life? Share that sound memory and a bit of why it’s important to you.
- Perhaps you’re more of a visual artist and wish to share your story through a drawing (crayon to pen-and-ink!), photograph, sculpture, or painting? Feel free.
- Maybe there is a craft, hobby, or tradition (for example cooking, wood working, basket making, needlepoint, etc.) that reminds you/connects you with a past or place that’s been left behind.
- Is there a tradition you keep that ties you back to a place – a place in your heart. Think of a way to represent that through words, sounds, or a representative object.
We’d love for you to share the richness of gifts and memories that each of you holds. We are looking for a variety stories and formats to create a small exhibit that we can put up for the reunion. We also anticipate making this available online for those who may not be able to join us in person. Please, help us explore this topic that touches so many of us but in a variety of ways.
If you would like to participate, please feel free to start working on your contribution right away! We need your contributions sent to us by Friday, June 17, 2022. Send copies of written materials. If you choose an object/painting/sculpture/etc., DO NOT send it until it is requested. Instead, please send a photograph of your submission. Keep in mind, however, we will not be able to accommodate objects any larger than 1 ft by 1 ft (30 by 30cm). If you have a recording or audio submission, feel free to send a copy of the digital audio file (no records or tapes, please).
You can send your ideas and submissions directly to us at the Germanna Foundation. Send via
USPS to:
Attn. Eric Larsen
The Germanna Foundation
PO Box 279
Locust Grove, VA 22508
For large digital submissions, please contact us for a link to upload.
The annual Germanna Conference has always been one of the main ways we raised money for the mission of the Foundation for the year. Please consider sponsoring a speaker or making a donation to help us offset this year’s situation and also we would love for you to become a member of the Germanna Foundation or renew your membership.
Sponsor a Conference Speaker
Make a Donation
Become a Member or Renew
