As America nears the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence this July 4, March turns the spotlight to the Virginian who most famously drafted its resonant ideals and specific concerns.
Thomas Jefferson takes center stage in a series of interactive events and community discussions, continuing the Rockbridge Historical Society and Rockbridge Regional Library’s three-year commemorative initiative for community dialogue: “Revolutionary Books & Films, 1776-2026.”
The paired screenings and readings look back to Jefferson and other “Founders,” and to the Declaration itself. Together, the further expand the broad thematic reach spanning two-and-a-half centuries of “American Evolution,” after the series opened with explorations of the Appalachian Trail Centennial, local legacies of the Vietnam War, and the (de)segregation of the U.S. military in World War II.
On Wednesday, March 25, at 6 p.m., area residents are invited to Lexington’s public library to discuss “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written,” the newly published bestseller by prizewinning biographer and historian Walter Isaacson. In just 76 succinct pages, Isaacson plumbs the core principles and enduring promise of one of history’s most enduring if also elusive lines: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
To consider its foundational role in shaping national law, politics, and “The American Dream,” Isaacson unpacks this seminal sentence, word by word, in order to illuminate its radical relevance. Copies of the book are available through public and university libraries, with free digital excerpts for preview at: https://tinyurl.com/ Americas-Greatest-Sentence.
For those who can’t get to Isaacson’s book before March 25, the discussion will open with a reading of the Declaration itself. Its famous opening is colorfully grounded by the 27 less-commonly quoted grievances that anchor America’s “break-up letter” to King George III: the document that would specifically inspire other revolutionary movements around the globe in centuries to come.
On Tuesday, March 10, also at 6 p.m. in the library’s Piovano Room, a double feature of documentaries about Jefferson will set the stage for that evening’s conversation, and for a series of other related community events in the coming months. Scenes from Ken Burns’ 1997 PBS series will be complemented by excerpts from the six-part miniseries released by the History Channel in 2025.
The following night, March 11, at 5 p.m. in Northen Auditorium at Washington and Lee University’s Leyburn Library, W&L politics professor Brian Alexander will present a lecture and rare book display discussing the relevance and reach of Jefferson’s political influence, not just in the Declaration, but in the procedural manual for Congress that he wrote in 1801, and revised after his presidency in 1812. Examining annotations in Jefferson’s own hand in a copy owned by W&L, Alexander recently published a new edition of that enduring guide, which was recently incorporated into the “House Rules and Manual,” for the 119th Congress.
Then on Saturday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Natural Bridge State Park, rangers will offer a series of creative historical, scientific and artistic activities for both children and adults in order to jointly celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, and the lands he bought there in 1774. More details will follow in the weeks ahead.
For more, follow the Rockbridge Historical Society’s Facebook and Instagram pages, or direct questions to Rockbridge250 Co-Chair Eric Wilson at [email protected].
