“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

Garden and Grounds:

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.

Light refreshments in the garden.

5:00-7:00pm: Reunion Mixer at Smithfield Pavilion

Catered snacks and bar

Welcome and Video of Smithfield Today: Michael Hudson, Director

Entertainment and Mixer activities

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.

10:15-10:45am: Break

10:45-11:30am: FORGING AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE program

at Holtzman Alumni Center Assembly Hall

This second of a two-part discussion will host a special video and the opportunity for attendees to participate in discussion about how we can step forward in sharing the 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.

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.

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 

TENTATIVE 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

Facing Freedom by Daniel B. Thorp

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, Garden, Preston Family Cemetery

2:00-4:30pm: Outdoor activities on the Lawn at Smithfield

Living history re-enactors with the Fincastle Militia and Artillery Group

Blacksmithing Forge Demonstrations

Activities for Children (and those young at heart!)

4:00pm: DAR interpretation building dedication

Dedication 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.

5:30pm: Pre-dinner Social Hour

Latham Ballroom at the Inn at Virginia Tech

Cash bar available

6:30pm: Commemoration Dinner

At Latham Ballroom, Inn 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:

Col. Turk McCleskey
Professor Emeritus, Department of History
Virginia Military Institute

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