Press Releases
Poplar Forest Announces Air Dates for “Shaping the World: Conversations on Democracy” -
Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest is pleased to announce several public television air dates for Shaping the World: Conversations on Democracy, featuring Thomas Jefferson and Charles Willson Peale. This year, 8th grade students from Woodrow Wilson Middle School were selected to interview Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Peale. In its ninth season of production, Shaping the World: Conversations on Democracy brings together Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries with bright young minds from local classrooms.
Announced 2009 air dates for the program include:
Blue Ridge PBS
Friday, November 13 at 4:00 am
Friday, December 11 at 4:00 am
Friday, May 14, 2010 at 2:00 am
WVPT
Friday, November 13 at 5:00 am
WNVT/WNVC
Saturday, November 21 at 3:00 am
Saturday, November 28 at 3:00 am
Saturday, December 5 at 3:00 am
The program will also be video-streamed by Virginia’s Education Department to schools throughout the Commonwealth.
Born two years apart, almost to the day, Charles Willson Peale and Thomas Jefferson shared an interest in many topics and activities. Both were patriots, archaeologists, scientists, and inventors. They were fascinated with agricultural innovations, science and natural history. Many of the specimens Jefferson received from the Lewis and Clark westward expedition were exhibited in Peale’s natural history and art museum in Philadelphia (founded in 1802), including two live magpies, a live prairie dog and the Mandan buffalo robe.
In 1801 as Jefferson begins his first term in the Presidency, Peale conducted the first scientific exploration in the United States, unearthing the bones of a mastodon. Peale is perhaps best known as an artist, having painted the founding fathers -- Jefferson, George Washington, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and others. Nearly 1,100 paintings are credited to the talent of Peale.
Jefferson and Peale will engage in conversation prompted by eighth grade students from Woodrow Wilson Middle School. Interview questions will range from science, art, archaeology, natural history, inventions and gadgets, music, politics, family, public education and American Independence. Students and teachers are invited to join this conversation and learn more about these two talented individuals.
"Shaping the World: Conversations on Democracy" can assist teachers with the following Standards of Learning:
Virginia Studies: VS.1, VS.4, VS.5, VS.6, VS.10
United States History to 1877: USI.1, USI.2. USI.5, USI.6, USI.7, USI.8
United States History 1877 to Present: USII.1
Civics & Economics: CE.1, CE.2, CE.3, CE.4, CE.5, CE.6, CE.12
World History II (Era VI: Age of Revolutions, 1650 to 1914 A.D.): WHII.6, WHII.7, WHII.8
World Geography: WG.2, WG.12
Virginia and United States History: VUS.1, VUS.4, VUS.5, VUS.6
Virginia & United States Government: GOVT.1, GOVT.2, GOVT.3, GOVT.4, GOVT.11, GOVT. 15, GOVT. 16, GOVT.17, GOVT.18
Science: 4.1, 4.6, 5.1, 5.5, 6.1, LS.1, LS.5, LS.14, PS.1, ES.1, ES.3, ES.10, BIO.7
Visual Arts: 4.1, 4.3, 4.14, 4.16, 4.17, 4.18, 4.25, 5.17, 5.18, 5.19, 5.24, 6.11, 6.14, 6.17, 6.20, 7.22, 7.23, 8.21, AI.17, AI.19, AI.21, AII.18, AII.22, AII.31, AIII.10, AIV.9
Bill Barker as Thomas Jefferson
Mr. Barker has portrayed Thomas Jefferson in a variety of settings for over twenty years. Since joining The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1993, Bill appears as Jefferson and assists in the development of Jeffersonian programs for the Foundation. His performances include venues such as the White House, Poplar Forest, the Palace of Versailles as well as appearances in programs aired by ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, The History Channel, and C-SPAN. He has received numerous commendations including the Sydney N. Stokes Award from the Jefferson Legacy Foundation.
Christian Johnson as Charles Willson Peale
Actor and historian Christian Johnson is an accomplished time traveler, who has assumed the personae and costumes of many historical figures ranging from William Penn to Charles Willson Peale to Abraham Lincoln. He has appeared at the White House Visitor's Center, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Archives, all in the Federal City, and as far off as Paris, France, where he performed at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization‘s (UNESCO) headquarters in the fall of 2008.
Jeff Taylor as Master of Ceremonies
Jeff has 35 years experience in broadcasting, management, communication, marketing and public relations. He has worked in both radio and television. His news stories have appeared on Good Morning America, World News Tonight and Nightline. As a history enthusiast, Jeff enjoys re-enacting life of the 1700s and 1800s on the James River. He has been the MC for the Poplar Forest Conversation programs with Jefferson and his guest since 2000, and since 2002 has appeared as the narrator in the Poplar Forest educational programs “Shaping the World: Conversations on Democracy” which are aired yearly by Virginia’s Public Broadcast Systems.
Lesson Plans and Supporting Materials are available at: www.poplarforest.org/Peale.
Students may also e-mail questions to President Thomas Jefferson, Charles Willson Peale or the Poplar Forest On-Line Historian to: education@poplarforest.org
For more information on the program contact:
Octavia N. Starbuck, Director of Interpretation & Education
Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest
P. O. Box 419
Forest, Virginia 24551-0419
(434) 525-1806
democracy@poplarforest.org
About Blue Ridge PBS:
Since 1967, Blue Ridge PBS has provided instructional television for western Virginia, and today broadcasts SOL-correlated programs to 41 school divisions with 200,000 students. Blue Ridge PBS works on-site with all communities of learners, including teachers, pre-schoolers, and adult learners. Blue Ridge PBS sponsors Virginia’s JASON Project, Reading Rainbow Young Authors and Illustrators Contest, and the McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence.
About Virginia Satellite Educational Network and Virginia Department of Education:
The Virginia Satellite Educational Network (VSEN) provides advanced placement and foreign language courses to K-12 students. Programs that support the Virginia Standards of Learning for students, teachers, and administrators are also delivered through VSEN. The Department of Education and VSEN are pleased to make Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest program available via streaming to students across the Commonwealth and nation.
About Poplar Forest
Poplar Forest is Thomas Jefferson's secluded plantation and retreat home. Poplar Forest is a National Historic Landmark that recently was added to the U.S. nomination list to become a World Heritage Site. Exhibiting award-winning restoration and archaeology, Poplar Forest offers tours, special events and school outreach programs. Open April through November, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Tuesday and Thanksgiving Day (closed). For more information about Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest and the 200th Anniversary, call (434) 525-1806 or visit www.poplarforest.org.
###