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FRIENDS LECTURE SERIES: Michael Cobb, The Battle of Big Bethel
Sponsored by the Friends of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, join us for a presentation by Mr. J. Michael Cobb, Curator of the Hampton History Museum as he discusses his recently published book The Battle of Big Bethel: Crucial Clash in Early Civil War Virginia. The City of Hampton, one of the oldest cities in the Hampton Roads area saw one of the very first battles take place at an area known as Big Bethel. Mr. Cobb's presentation will draw upon his research of letters, diaries, newspapers, reminiscences, official records, and photographs from the period to present the circumstances leading up to the event and the details of the battle.
FREE Admission
Come Sea History!
Celebrate Memorial Day with the Museum and the Lightship and learn about over 250 years of Portsmouth and naval history. Join in on Civil War era Revenue Cutter Service and U.S. Navy Demonstrations. Also between 1:00 pm- 5:00 pm, meet lightship sailors with the Tidewater Maritime Living History Association.
Program included with Museum Admission
The Battle of Craney Island
Join us as we commemorate the War of 1812 bicentennial and the Battle of Craney Island, a fight for the town of Portsmouth and the Gosport Navy Yard in June 1813. Discover the important role of people of Portsmouth as well as the armed forces in the area and how they prevented British occupation as America fought its "second war of independence." Enjoy living history demonstrations and hands-on activities exploring the conflict in depth.
FREE Admission
Celebrate Kids!
Spend meaningful time with the children in your life at all four Portsmouth Museums!
Here at the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, the Rainbow Puppets present Footsteps in History. This show will take folks on a journey through time to discover a new nation that struggles to find freedom and opportunity for all people. With the arrival of African American slaves begins a struggle that explodes in Hampton Roads where the first land battle of the Civil War is fought at Big Bethel. The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia fight off of Hampton's shores and warfare changes lives forever. Benjamin Butler frees slaves and Mary Peake teaches them under an oak tree where Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation is read. Show times are at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. This show relates to the exhibits on display: “My Heart Beats For Peace: Portsmouth’s Civil War Homefront” and “Picturing the Civil War: Wood Engravings of the Civil War by Winslow Homer.”
At the Children's Museum of Virginia you will become a special detective while solving cases in this summer’s exhibit, “Crime Lab Detective.” Activities include examining fingerprints, “I Spy” games, puzzles, illusions and special guests.
At the Lightship Portsmouth Museum, the Moody Crewe pirates try to take over once again. Take part in their Schools of the Pyrate which will keep them too busy to take over the ship. Once you are a schooled pirate, you can help ward off those scurvy pirates and keep the ship safe.
Travel back in time at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum and commemorate America’s second war with Great Britain by stomping rockets into flight and creating your own military hat. Visit with the Tidewater Maritime Living History Association as members demonstrate the lives of sailors past.
