Speaking

Dr. Rainville gives several dozen public lectures each year. She educates and entertains audiences with her signature blend of storytelling and research-based details about everyday life in the past.

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Photo by Brian Palmer.

Lynn has guest lectured and led seminar-style workshops for:

  • the Virginia Historical Society
  • the Library of Virginia
  • the Archaeological Institute of America
  • Museums and Historical Societies
  • Genealogical groups

Her most popular speaking topics include:

  • God’s Acre: Slave Graveyards in Virginia
  • Invisible Founders: A Discussion with Descendants of Sweet Briar’s Enslaved Community
  • Doing Their Bit: The role of Virginians in the Great War
  • Paupers and Lunatics: Understanding the role of Virginian Poor Farms in 19th and 20th century communities.

Please contact her if you are interested in having her speak to your organization. Below is a list of past speaking engagements between 2018 and 2020. For 2017 and earlier, click here.

Dr. Rainville’s 2020 Public Speaking Engagements:

  • Panel discussion about slavery and American Universities. 25 January 2020 | Virginia Consortium of Early Americanists. University of Richmond.
  • Founders’ Day talk at Washington and Lee University. 21 January 2020 | Online version, click here.
  • “Invisible Founders: How two centuries of African American families transformed a Plantation into a College.” 24 March 2020 | Sweet Briar College.
  • “The Destitute & forlorn, the Widow & the Orphan” — Poor Relief in Virginia. 28 March 2020| The Virginia History Forum @Virginia War Memorial, Richmond.
  • “Paupers & Lunatics: Inequality in Death as in Life.” 2 April 2020| Organization of American Historians, Washington D.C.
  • Keynote for the Council of Independent Colleges conference on Humanities Research for the Public Good 25 April 2020| Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Rainville’s 2019 Public Speaking Engagements:

  • Two Centuries at Sweet Briar: the transformation of an antebellum plantation into an all woman’s college. 6 February 2019 | Guest Speaker in a “Doing Sweet Briar History” class. Sweet Briar College.
  • A Tour of the Slave Cemetery at Sweet Briar. 16 February 2019 | Sweet Briar College.
  • The Surprising Role of Virginians in World War I. 15 March 2019 |Keynote speaker. Annual DAR Meeting. Richmond.
  • Virginia and the Great War. 30 April 2019 | Wayne Theatre (Waynesboro).
  • Paupers & Lunatics: Caring for Virginia’s Poor. 6 June 2019 | Central Virginia History Researchers. Charlottesville at the Jefferson Heritage Center.
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In 2018, Dr. Rainville gave a series of public talks about her book, Virginia and the Great War (McFarland 2018). Learn more about the book here.

  • 22 February 2018 | Banner Lecture, Virginia Historical Society — Learn More
  • 9 March 2018 | Walkerton Tavern. Henrico County — Learn more
  • 23 March 2018 | Virginia Festival of the Book (Charlottesville)
  • 9 April 2018 |Library of Virginia
  • 19 April 2018 | Old Trail (Crozet)
  • 21 April 2019 | Keynote Speaker. History United. Yanceyville, North Carolina.
  • 28 April 2018 | VMI Leadership Conference
  • 6 May 2018 | Clarke County
  • 19 May 2018 |Keynote Speaker. Mariner’s Museum.
  • 20 May 2018 | Amherst Museum & Historical Society
  • 22 May 2018 | Historical Society of Western Virginia (Roanoke)
  • 5 June 2018 | Morningside Retirement Community.
  • 7 June 2018 | Second Stage. Amherst.
  • 5 July 2018 | Chesterfield Museum.
  • 8 July 2018 | Fairfax Historical Society.
  • 4 August 2018 | Fall DAR Regional Meeting. Farmville.
  • 13 September 2018 | Big Stone Gap.
  • 9 November 2018 | Mathews Co. Library.
  • 19 November 2018 | Salem Historical Society.
  • November 2018 | Keynote Speaker. Geographer’s Alliance for K-12 Teachers.
  • Fall 2017 | Washington & Lee Chapel. Rockbridge County Historical Society.
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Dr. Rainville’s talks related to: Invisible Founders: How Two Centuries of African American Families Transformed a Plantation into a College (Berghahn Press 2019)
  • Panel discussion about slavery and American Universities. 25 January 2020 | Virginia Consortium of Early Americanists. University of Richmond.
  • Panel discussion about slavery and American Universities. 13 April 2018 | Organization of American Historians, Sacramento
  • “Invisible Founders: A Discussion with Descendants of the Enslaved Community.” October 2017 | Universities Studying Slavery Symposium. University of Virginia.
  • Enslaved Founders at a Virginian College. 2017 |Georgetown University Slavery Symposium, D.C.
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2019 Research: Paupers & Lunatics: caring for the poor in 19th-century Virginia
  • 2 May 2019 | 4pm| Almshouses and Poorfarms in 19th-century Virginia. Central Virginia History Researchers. Charlottesville (@ Jefferson Heritage Center).
  • Spring Term 2020 | “Caring for the Poor: Poor Farms, Asylums, and County Farms in Virginia.” Washington and Lee University.