Yesterday I completed my talk and slide show for the Virginia Farm Bureau Women’s Conference Brunch on “Mary Ball Washington: Mother of the Father of our Country.” This 30-minute speech was a real challenge, but I went the extra mile on research and came up with what I think is a very solid portrait of a very complex woman. As this is to be considered a Sunday morning “devotional”, I had to write an opening prayer and find a balance between portraying Mary through a religious and secular narrative. After two drafts I was able to find a nice balance in which I present a fairly standard history lesson, while referring to documented interpretations of Mary’s spiritual-side. I enjoyed the prep-work on this one immensely and although I state no personal assumptions in my speech, I personally believe that Mary was a strong-willed and stubborn woman with a deep sense of faith. 

Following the March 21 engagement, I will be sending a modified (and more scholarly) version to the folks at Patriots of the American Revolution for publication in an upcoming issue of their magazine. Last week I compiled some excellent reference for my article on George Washington and the VA Militia in western Pennsylvania, and I finally started reading Jefferson at War for an upcoming PAR book review requested by our friend Eric Wittenberg. As I will be focusing much of my time and energy on these larger pieces, I plan to post some shorter ones here on my blog. Upcoming topics include: Tar and Feathering and Loyalists. As you may have noticed, the new mantra here at “Blog, or Die.” is quality – not quantity. Stay tuned…