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. In her new position as Director of Institutional History & the Museums at Washington and Lee University she is limited in the number of talks that she gives each year. Below is a list of past speaking engagements. For 2017 and earlier, click here.

Dr. Rainville’s Upcoming Talks in 2020

  • 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).