EXPLORE RELIC
December 2019 - The Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC)
Start your historical journey here. RELIC's email newsletter highlights upcoming free events and happenings. Genealogy and local Virginia history are our specialty as a service provided by the Prince William Public Library. We're located at Bull Run Regional Library and you can always find more about us at pwcgov.org/relic.
Mary Ball Washington
Dr. Peter Henriques, George Mason University Professor of History Emeritus and George Washington Scholar, illuminates the early influence the very complex Mary Ball Washington exerted on her famous son and further examines their later, quite controversial relationship and the friction between them.


George Washington, as our first President and one of our nation's greatest leaders, has been the focus of numerous works of history, biography, and fiction. A total of 239 works with him as the subject can be found in our own library's catalog.

As with other famous people, he often attracts the interest of genealogists. Although he is not known to have had any biological issue, many folks claim him as a relative.
 
Here are a few books from RELIC's collection to help you find your family connection to President Washington:
 
(New York: Macmillan, 1993) Carries Washington's male-line ancestry back to Duncan, Lay Abbot of Dunkeld (Scotland), killed c. 965 A.D. Identifies many Washington cousins to the present day. [973.0992 Ame]

Robert Davenport, Roots of the Rich and Famous. (Dallas: Taylor Publishing, 1998) [929.273 Dav]

Paula S. Felder, Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family: a Chronicle of 18th Century Fredericksburg. (Fredericksburg: American History Company, 1998) [975.5366 Fel]

Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009) [929.273 Rob]

John W. Wayland, The Washingtons and Their Homes. (Staunton: McClure, 1944) [920.9 Way]
 
You can also use these websites to track what Washington family trees have been put online:
 
You will learn that various publications give different, conflicting stories about George Washington's ancestry. As with all families, there is always more research to be done and there are yet new discoveries to be made.

The Washington Family
The Washington Family - Library of Congress

U.S. Colored Troops and Black Confederates
U.S. COLORED TROOPS AND BLACK CONFEDERATES
The 180,000 men of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) played a decisive role in winning the Civil War. Slaves were forced to toil behind Confederate lines or accompany their masters to war. Dr. Eugene Betit, author of Collective Amnesia: American Apartheid, speaks on the roles of African Americans on both side of the battlefield.

Register at 703-792-4540 or [email protected]
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Tips and Tricks of Reading Old Handwriting
Are you struggling to decipher chicken scratch? Taken out of context, everything is just a scribble. Paleography, the study of old handwriting, is an art form. Genealogist Katie Derby will teach you tips and techniques in the art of reading and interpreting the squiggles and scrawls of scriveners past.


To read the latest lists of new materials available, please click on What's New in RELIC.

Unless otherwise stated, all of the preceding programs will take place at Bull Run Regional Library, 8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, Virginia. Programs may last from 60 to 90 minutes. You may register for any of these free programs at 703-792-4540 or [email protected].   

You may also register online by clicking here and selecting the program date. Funding for selected RELIC programs is provided by the Friends of Bull Run Library.* To be notified of upcoming library programs and activities, you may sign up for the PWPLS newsletter.
[email protected] or 703-792-8150
Questions and comments are always welcome.
Prince William Public Library System, 13083 Chinn Park Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22192