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Madison and the Framing of the Constitution

By John Ruston Pagan
May 2, 9, and 16, 2013   |   Time: 5:30–7 pm

James Madison played a crucial role at every stage of the framing of the United States Constitution (1787–88) and the Bill of Rights (1789–91). Our first class session will look at Madison's quest to replace the Articles of Confederation with a new Constitution and will explore the various positions he took as one of Virginia's delegates to the Federal Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The second session will focus on Madison's participation in the ratification campaign, especially his co-authorship of the Federalist Papers and his leadership of the pro-Constitution forces at Virginia's Ratification Convention. The third class will discuss Madison's sponsorship of the Bill of Rights, a set of amendments he steered through Congress as the representative from Virginia's Fifth District. John Ruston Pagan is a professor at the University of Richmond, where he teaches constitutional law, legal history, and early American history. He is the author of Anne Orthwood's Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia (Oxford University Press, 2003).

$75/VHS members; $90/nonmembers

Candid Photography in a Point-and-Click World

By Sarah Gladwell
June 20 and 27, 2013   |   Time: 5:30–7 pm

The exhibition The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office features candid photographs of the leader of the free world. In this two-part workshop, art teacher and photographer Sarah Gladwell will focus on how to take a candid photograph of your world with only the camera in your pocket. Topics will include do-it-yourself lighting changes, understanding your point-and-shoot camera settings, basic composition rules, and how to archive digital photographs for use by future historians.

$50/VHS members; $65/nonmembers