The Art of Sign Making

Unless you traffic in oxymorons, concise and historian are two words that aren’t often seen in the same sentence, much less paired together. That’s what makes BGES member Michael Beard such a rare breed. In a career that has spanned more than 40 years, he has served as a teacher, researcher, site interpreter, preservationist, and … Read more

BGES Makes Contingency Plans for 2020-2021 Tours

The arrival of Coronavirus in the midst of a great 2020 program flared up as we were doing the final registration forms for 2020 and had just agreed with historians and received approval for our 2021 program. With the rolling cancellations on 2020 and leaving the possibility of doing some of the schedule later in … Read more

Great Photography Hunt: The Results Are In!

The first month of the Great Photography Hunt has passed with five featured photographs, one released each Wednesday morning at 7 AM, having been circulated. We will summarize each month giving those who participated feedback and those who did not encouragement to join the fun. Let’s open with what the Hunt is and what it … Read more

BGES Projects: Always Loyal, Never Forgotten

Over the past 26 years, BGES has completed some significant educational enhancements that stand in their own right as exceptional. However, a less heralded characteristic of the organization is its commitment to maintain whatever it does. If it has a BGES logo on it, it will be and is maintained. Pamplin Historical Park The latest … Read more

Creating a Philanthropic Pandemic

I am tired of talking about viruses and germs—aren’t you? What I would like to talk about is a really well-conceived, worldwide, coordinated effort to help the countless nonprofit groups around the world. GivingTuesday started in 2012, and since then has rallied increasing numbers of charities to work with their supporters to shore up fundraising efforts … Read more

The Medford Files

A picture is worth a thousand words, so the saying goes. If that’s the case, then the General Samuel C. Lawrence’s Civil War Photo Collection has a lot to say. This vast collection of beautifully preserved large-format battle site landscapes, carte-de-visite studio portraits, and “half stereographs” (unmounted and cut into two images) was donated to … Read more

Giving Thanks for Prosperity: Funding Our Facebook

December 3rd, 2019, is a special day for nonprofit organizations around the world. The annual social media day of giving was designated “GIVING TUESDAY” to harness the power of the new media to do good for the tens of thousands of charities doing their work in the shadow of diminishing resources.  Knowing that individuals fuel … Read more

BGES Announces Its 2020 Tour Schedule!

BGES’ tour schedule for 2020 has been released! Next year we have some twenty-five different tours to look forward to, as well as several new historians. Of particular interest is the long-awaited Gordon Rhea “Overland Campaign” series, in which the acclaimed historian begins a two-year, ten-day presentation of the famous 1864 Campaign between Grant and … Read more