The Essex County Museum and Historical Society held their Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 21, 2024 at Ben Lomond (circa 1730) the home of Craig and Zorine Shirley. The annual event is an opportunity to review the programs and accomplishments of the past year and to innovate and collaborate on forthcoming endeavors. Outreach, education, fundraising and general attraction to a center of historical data were the focus of this year’s meeting.
As always, the event features a guest speaker and this year’s was exceptional. Stephen Wilson currently serves as the Executive Director of Historic St. John’s Church (circa 1741) in Richmond, Virginia. He delivered, for all present a selection of Patrick Henry’s impassioned “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech and presented a comprehensive look at the history behind the historic church; an important piece of the American experiment.
The Essex Museum and St. John’s are combining efforts to support each other’s activities leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026 by cross-promoting each other’s activities. The Museum’s Carl D. Silver Memorial Courtyard will play host to the 250th Anniversary of the Reading of the Essex Resolutions on July 13, 2024, with all the fanfare deserving of this important step toward independence. And, St. John’s will host equally celebratory events in March of 2025, the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Henry’s speech that he delivered right there in the church.
