“From Deep Roots - Forging an Inclusive Future”
Friday, July 26, 2024
2:00-5:00pm: Registration Check-in
On grounds of Smithfield
Tours during check-in:
Smithfield House and Grounds
Merry Oak Tree
Master Gardener David McEwen with support from Amy Winkler and Smithfield Garden volunteers have reshaped the Smithfield garden and surrounding area into an interpretive space to demonstrate plantings of the colonial time period, used for medicinal, food use, pollination, and decoration purposes.
Preston Family Cemetery:
The Preston Burying Ground associated with Historic Smithfield has been in use since at least 1782. Colonel William Preston and his wife, Susanna are laid to rest here along with their son, Governor James Patton Preston and his three sons, Ballard, Robert, and James Francis, and their associated family members. The original cemetery ground is encircled by a “ha-ha” trench, an 18th century English landscaping feature designed to restrict the movement of livestock such as cattle or sheep into the area without the use of a standard wood fence. The cemetery has over 70 individuals buried there including at least 3 formerly enslaved people. The location of a cemetery ground for the enslaved is not known but could be in the adjoining property.
Historic Smithfield’s Museum Store will be open!
In the Smithfield Museum Store, we offer many unique items made by local artisans. We also offer books about local history, the enslaved at Smithfield, Preston family history, and we have all volumes of the Smithfield Review.
Do you enjoy getting unique gifts for friends and family? How about a colonial era tea similar to those thrown into the harbor at the Boston Tea party? Or a wood-wick, soy candle from FWM Candles? Do you have a young history buff who loves stickers? We have something for everyone! If you’d like to shop with us, we accept cash and cards.
5:00-7:00pm: Reunion Mixer at Smithfield Pavilion
Catered heavy hors d’oeuvres and bar
Welcome: Michael Hudson, Executive Director
Entertainment and Mixer activities
7:30pm: Showing of the Roots of a Nation: The Smithfield Story
Holtzman Alumni Center Assembly Hall
View a specially commissioned film made by Chloe Shelton Films for the 250th Anniversary Commemoration.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Light breakfast, water, coffee, and tea served
9:00-10:15am: FROM DEEP ROOTS program
at Holtzman Alumni Center Assembly Hall
Join us for the first of a two-part discussion of the intertwined histories of the first indigenous peoples of the New River Valley, of the Preston family and other white settlers to the area, and their enslaved property that shaped and impacted this area we call Historic Smithfield as well as influence of the Preston family in the beginnings of education in Blacksburg and surrounding area. A special video “1872 Forward” will be shown.
10:15-10:30am: Break
10:30-11:30am: FORGING AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE program
at Holtzman Alumni Center Assembly Hall
This second of a two-part discussion will host a panel featuring aspects of the indigenous peoples, the Preston family, and a descendant of the enslaved community. and the opportunity for attendees to participate in an honest discussion about how we can step forward in sharing the full history of Smithfield.
12:00-2:00pm: Lunch
Pre-ordered box lunches from Hethwood Market are available to order on the registration link for pick-up at Smithfield. (Lunches must be pre-ordered.)
Special activities related to the different lines of the Preston family at the Pavilion.
Please check our list of local restaurants for lunch on your own.
1:15pm: Dedication of Merry Oak Bench at parking lot area
2:00-2:45pm: Smithfield/Preston Oral History Study Discussion
At Pavilion
Toward Reconciliation: Oral Histories and Descendant Communities"
presented by Dr. Jason A. Higgins
Digital Scholarship Coordinator/Assistant Professor
Virginia Tech Publishing
VT University Libraries/College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
3:00-3:45pm: Book Signings at the Pavilion
LIST of Books to be signed :
More than a Fraction by Kerri Moseley-Hobbs
The Blacksburg Drama by Hugh Campbell
In the True Blue’s Wake by Daniel B. Thorp (pre-sign only)
Facing Freedom by Daniel B. Thorp (pre-sign only)
Our book signings event will introduce the books and authors who have written about Historic Smithfield and the area. These books can be ordered in advance on the Commemoration registration website.
Books available at the museum gift shop:
A Peck of Prices by Bob Hill Jr.
A Taste of Virginia by The James River Garden Club
Arcadia Publishing: Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Virginia Tech
Cloud of Witnesses by Father Harry E. Winter, O.M.I.
Legends and Lore of Southwest Virginia by Shane S. Simmons and Melody Blackwell–West
Listen to the River by Deborah Warren
A variety of Colonial Cookbooks by Patricia B. Mitchell
Virginia’s Presidents A History & Guide by Heather S. Cole
William Preston of Virginia, 1727–1783: The Making of a Frontier Elite by Richard Osborn
All volumes of Smithfield Reviews
2:00-4:30pm: Tours of Smithfield and Garden
3:00 PM - Preston Family Cemetery tour
2:00-4:30pm: Outdoor activities on the Lawn at Smithfield
Living history re-enactors with the Fincastle Militia and 7th Virginia Artillery Group
Blacksmithing Forge Demonstrations
Activities for Children (and those young at heart!)
4:00pm: DAR interpretation building groundbreaking
Groundbreaking of interpretation building funded by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Helen S. & Charles G. Patterson Foundation.
DAR members and chapters from across the Commonwealth provided generous funding to allow for the construction of a period-appropriate building that will host demonstrations of colonial crafts and activities. It will provide space for the children's summer camp program, as well as other educational opportunities to share the story of Smithfield.
6:00pm: Pre-dinner Social Hour
Latham Ballroom at the Inn at Virginia Tech
Cash bar available
7:00pm: Commemoration Dinner
At Latham Ballroom, Inn at Virginia Tech
Music provided by the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech
Please join us for the Pre-Dinner Social Hour and Commemorative Dinner in the Latham Ballroom of the Inn at Virginia Tech. This will be a wonderful opportunity to connect and reconnect with family members, current and former directors, volunteers, staff, government representatives, community members and other friends of Smithfield as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the construction of Smithfield. The current plans for the dinner program include the recognition of the essay contest winners, presentations on the current state of Smithfield and the Foundation, the exciting plans for the future and a special recognition of various friends of Smithfield.
Featured after-dinner speaker: Dr. Turk McCleskey
Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Virginia Military Institute
Dr McCleskey will share the tumultuous spring of 1774 when Smithfield’s William Preston, Fincastle County's surveyor, found himself in a crossfire of schemes for claiming Ohio River Valley land that led to Dunmore's war.
A short version of Roots of a Nation - the Smithfield Story will be screened after the evening program.
Sunday July 28, 2024
10:30am: Remembering and Contemplating those who went before
At the Solitude Wishing Cherry Tree, near the Duck Pond
Join us at this special remembrance event at Solitude on the Virginia Tech campus where we will remember those from the past–first peoples, White, and enslaved– that shaped the area and built the paths, roads, and homes that remain today, leaving a legacy of history and actions that continue to impact our lives.
10:00am-2:00pm: Tours of Solitude, Fraction Family House,
Smithfield
Solitude began as a humble log dwelling built about 1801 on land purchased by Governor James Patton Preston, son of Colonel William Preston. In the 1830s it was expanded and became the home of the governor's son Robert Taylor Preston. It was again expanded to its current form in the 1850s. In 1872, Preston sold his property to the new land grant college, Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. He and his wife Mary Hart lived in the home until their deaths in 1880 and 1881, respectively. The house served as an infirmary for the college and later faculty housing, and as the Hokie Club gathering space before it was converted to office space. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. After serving as the center for Appalachian studies for many years, in 2019 it became a space for diversity and inclusion programming for the university.
The Fraction Family house, a sheathed log cabin built around 1843 is thought to be a dwelling for some of the enslaved of Robert Taylor Preston of Solitude. It was probably one of as many as ten structures to house the enslaved families who worked at Solitude. The house was named for one of those families, the Fractions, who lived and worked at Solitude as well as White Thorn, and Smithfield.
For more information on Solitude and the Fraction house:
https://news.vt.edu/articles/2021/08/oid-solitude-house.html
https://news.vt.edu/articles/2019/07/unirel-fractionhouse.html
https://www.inclusive.vt.edu/education/solitude-fraction--telling-the-whole-story.html
