Tale of Three Cities: Poe and Richmond October 14, 2009

Gregg Kimball, director of the Education and Outreach Division, will discuss Poe’s connections to Richmond that encompassed nearly his entire life, from being taken in and raised by John and Frances Valentine Allan from 1811 to 1826, to his editorship of the Southern Literary Messenger in the mid-1830s, and ending with his lecturing tours in 1848 and 1849. In those years the city evolved significantly from an emerging trading and capital town to an industrial metropolis of immigrants, slaves, and freemen. What would the young boy, aspiring journalist, and literary celebrity have seen on the city’s streets in each period, and who would he have encountered?

Official Website: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/news/calendar.asp?calmonth=10&calyear=2009