Andrew Carroll looked for forgotten history in every state, then wrote a book about it

There’s a lot happening at the Manassas Museum during July - free book talks, summer tours, Pre-K Tuesdays – something for every age.

July 12 at 9 a.m. join the Manassas Museum for a bicycle tour to historic sites around the City.  This family-friendly tour lasts about two hours beginning at the Manassas Museum and covers about four miles.  There is a $5 cost and advance tickets are recommended by calling 703-257-8453 or visiting http://www.manassasmuseum.org.

July 13 at 2 p.m. enjoy a free book talk by author Howard R. Crouch on his book Like a Hurricane: The Men, Mounts, Arms and Tactics of Colonel John S. Mosby’s Command.  If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, the name of Civil War Confederate RaiderJohn S. Mosby is a familiar sight on road signs. What few know is the role that Mosby and his 43rd Partisan Ranger Battalion played in forming the elite special forces of their day.  After wreaking havoc within the enemy’s ranks, Mosby and his men would evade their pursuers and evaporate into the countryside, earning Mosby the nickname of “The Gray Ghost.”

July 15 at 10 a.m. children ages three to five and their caregivers can enjoy Pre-K Tuesday with story-telling, crafts, songs, or outdoor exploration.  There is a $10 per child cost. Reservations can be made by calling 703-368-1873 or by visiting http://www.manassasmuseum.org.

July 20 at 2 p.m. join the Manassas Museum for a free book talk by author Andrew Carroll as he talks about Here is Where: Discovering America’s Forgotten History.  Carroll set out to find at least one forgotten history site in each state before he wrote this book. As he travelled, he spoke with waitresses,taxi drivers, retirees, bikers and people from all walks of life. Some of the more unusual stories he uncovered include:

·    Mound City, Arkansas, where a Civil War-era maritime disaster occurred that claimed more lives than the Titanic;

·    The Paisley Five Point Caves, Oregon, where the oldest human DNA in America was discovered;

·    Saluda, Virginia, where an African-American woman was jailed after refusing to give up her seat on a Greyhound bus, prompting a U.S. Supreme Court desegregation case—more than 10 years before Rosa Parks’ arrest;

·    The Caledonia, North Carolina Correctional Institution, where a prison inmate created a rifle—with the warden’s permission—that revolutionized modern warfare;

·    Rigby, Idaho, where a 14-year-old farm boy had a brainstorm that led to the invention of television.
Carroll attracted the attention of national media while on his trek, and he plans to return to some of the history-making sites he identified to place markers there.

Now through Aug. 31, the Manassas Museum is hosting the exhibit Civil War Journey: The Maps and Sketches of Private Robert Sneeden.  This is the first stop for the exhibit on loan from the Virginia Historical Society.  Sneden was a Union soldier who served as a mapmaker in the Army of the Potomac, and was also a prisoner of war captured by John S. Mosby’s troops at Brandy Station. He continued making clandestine drawings even while being held in the notorious Andersonville Prison. Some of his images are the only known depictions of lesser known locations and events. His scrapbooks came to light in 1993 after spending more than sixty years in a bank vault, and additional research led to the 1997 discovery of his five-volume memoir in a storage unit in Arizona.

Mondays through Saturdays at 11 a.m. take a Summer Walking Tour in Historic Downtown Manassas and learn about the area’s significance during the Battles of First and Second Manassas and how the community rose from the ashes of war to become a thriving community.

The Manassas Museum will be at the Saturday Farmer’s Market all summer long from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with games, activities and historic fun.  Museum at the Market is free to the public.

Sundays at noon tour Liberia Plantation.  See the 1825 plantation house where Civil War soldiers, both North and South at different times, resided. The cost is included with the price of admission to the Manassas Museum.