{"id":3489,"date":"2026-01-23T17:53:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vapc.org\/vapc\/?p=3489"},"modified":"2026-01-23T17:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:54:22","slug":"walking-the-path-of-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vapc.org\/vapc\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking the path of liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Diane S. Thieke, 2nd VP of Communications<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 25 members traced the footsteps of the American Revolution on Saturday, December 6, at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. We were very fortunate to have two incredible guides sharing their expertise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Front: VPC co-presidents Cora Perkins and Tracy Perkins. Back row: Beth Wiltshire, Harvey Bakari, Ava Jenks, Catherine Venable, Andrea Padilla, Laura Fortunato, Cathy Jett,\u00a0Julie Campbell, Pam Stallsmith, Diane Thieke, Nancy Wright Beasley, Deana Ricks, Cathy Petrini,\u00a0Gwen Woolf, and Andrew Talkov\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Talkov, senior director of Curatorial Affairs at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, and Harvey Bakari, curator of Black History and Culture at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and exhibition co-curator, led our discussion of the \u201cGive Me Liberty\u201d exhibition and in-depth tour. “Give Me Liberty” is the signature exhibition of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

VPC\u2019s co-presidents Tracy Perkins and Cora Perkins opened the annual Fall Luncheon, welcoming attendees as well as introducing Andrew and Harvey as keynote speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ava Jenks, Cathy Jett, Cora Perkins and Tracy Perkins<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the first order of business was to recognize Ava Jenks, this year\u2019s winner of the Virgina Press Women Foundation\u2019s Agnes Cooke Scholarship. The Foundation\u2019s treasurer, Cathy Jett, introduced Ava. She also announced Andrea Padilla and Ashley Falat as winners of student memberships in VPC.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The theme of this year\u2019s luncheon focused on the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Lunch participants each received a Virginia 250 Passport, a new statewide tourism initiative to encourage travelers to experience history together during America\u2019s 250th by visiting 70 historic sites and museums, as well as a promotional fan from the recent launch of “The American Revolution” PBS documentary series by Ken Burns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pam Stallsmith, Gwen Woolf, Deana Ricks, Cora Perkins and Tracy Perkins listening to Harvey Bakari.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over sandwiches and salads, Bakari described how he sought to tell the stories of enslaved African Americans and the roles they played in winning independence for the colonists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it was time to tour the special exhibition, “Give Me Liberty: Virginia & the Forging of a Nation.” Talkov explained the causes of discontent, including how westward expansion and taxes increased support for independence among Virginia\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cathy Jett, Nancy Wright Beasley, Julie Campbell,\u00a0Laura Fortunato, Gwen Woolf, Sande Snead and Andrew Talkov at the start of\u00a0the tour.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tour also included a look at Dunmore\u2019s Ethiopian Regiment. As Bakari explained, the Earl of Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, attracted hundreds of recruits by promising freedom to enslaved people who served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Harvey Bakari sharing the story of Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment with Sande Snead, Gwen Woolf and Andrea Padilla.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There’s a typo in the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sande Snead and Laura Fortunato scan the text.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, this revelation was of much interest to this group of writers and editors. We took turns scrutinizing the exhibition\u2019s incredibly rare copy of the document to find the error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talkov explained that the 1833 copperplate engraving of the Declaration of Independence on display was commissioned by then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and took engraver William J. Stone three years to complete. Carefully capturing every detail, including an inserted word – “only” – listed in the grievance in the powerful line: “Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was fascinating to walk through time and learn about the diverse groups of people who came together to create our democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you missed the luncheon, it’s worth seeing this special exhibition.\u00a0“Give Me Liberty” will open at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown on July 1, 2026, during the high point of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Diane S. Thieke, 2nd VP of Communications More than 25 members traced the footsteps of the American Revolution on Saturday, December 6, at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. We were very fortunate to have two incredible guides sharing their expertise.  Front: VPC co-presidents Cora Perkins and Tracy Perkins. Back row: Beth Wiltshire, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWalking the path of liberty - VPC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Virginia Professional Communicators\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vapc.org\/vapc\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Walking the path of liberty - VPC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Virginia Professional Communicators\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vapc.org\/vapc\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VPC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/42804826486\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"VaCommunicators\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T22:53:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T22:54:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vapc.org\/vapc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Walking-the-path-of-liberty-2025.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"699\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"VPC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"VPC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"VPC\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dd82343fadf1a1f3997437b44e25c62\"},\"headline\":\"Walking the path of liberty\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-23T22:53:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-23T22:54:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":626,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Walking-the-path-of-liberty-2025.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vapc.org\\\/vapc\\\/walking-the-path-of-liberty\\\/\",\"name\":\"Walking the path of liberty - 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