UMW on C-SPAN

When C-SPAN wanted to feature Fredericksburg in its 2013 Cities Tour, its film crew found a lot to talk about at the University of Mary Washington. C-SPAN visited two UMW authors, the UMW James Farmer Collection, and the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library for part of its weekend-long broadcasts in late September. You can still see the broadcasts online at c-span.org/LocalContent/Fredericksburg. Videos from UMW: Timothy O’Donnell, professor of communications, talked to C-SPAN about UMW’s James Farmer Collection, housed in the Simpson Library archive. The video includes O’Donnell’s narrative about Farmer’s life as a major player in the struggle for civil rights, and footage of the late professor of history’s lectures to Mary Washington students. In the classroom scenes, Farmer − who had been scheduled to speak at the 1963 March on Washington − recalls watching the march on TV from a Louisiana jail cell where he and others were locked up for civil disobedience. Jeffrey … [Read more...]

UMW Survey Draws National Attention

An opinion survey conducted for the Center for Leadership and Media Studies brought nationwide attention to the University of Mary Washington this fall as Virginia prepared to elect a new governor. The surveys show that Virginia, once solidly Republican, is decidedly a “purple” state, said Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Stephen Farnsworth, who designed the survey questions with input from his UMW students. National media paid attention not only because Virginia was one of just two states this fall with a governor’s race, but also because “Virginia is America in miniature,” Farnsworth said. “We have our liberal Northeast in Northern Virginia. We have our Sun Coast in Virginia Beach. We have our industrial heartland in Hampton Roads, and we have our agricultural and Southern Christian conservatives west and southwest of Interstate 95.” The survey found that likely voters favored Democrat Terry McAuliffe over Republican Ken Cuccinelli for governor, and … [Read more...]