The series, titled A Cultural Quilt: Fredericksburg’s sister city countries and their influence on the fabric of America, launches on Wednesday, February 18. John Hennessy, retired National Park Service historian, inaugurates the talks with his lecture Beyond the Ocean Gateway: Immigration and Immigrants in Fredericksburg.
Hennessy’s talk explores the first immigrants’ impact on native populations in the 1600s, through forced immigration from Africa in the 1700s, followed by the sizable entry of Europeans in the 1850s. The program continues into the trickling influx of the early 20th Century, to today. Hennessy adds, “The numbers over time may surprise you!” Hennessy also considers the “community’s reaction to immigrants over time, and immigrants’ evolving impact on and with this community.”
Hennessy served as Chief Historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park for two decades. He is the author of four books and dozens of articles, essays, and reviews. He is presently working on a history of the Fredericksburg region in the mid-19th century.
Fredericksburg’s sister city countries are France, Ghana, Germany, Italy, and Nepal. The sister city group is partnering with the City of Fredericksburg and the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL).
