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The 2025 NNK250 Signature Speaker Series will start on January 26, at 2:00pm at the University of Mary Washington’s Dahlgren campus at 4224 University Drive, King George. UMW Dahlgren will host Dr. Woody Holton from the University of South Carolina for a presentation entitled, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia.

Forced Founders sheds light on a classic political question: why did the owners of vast plantations, viewed by many of their contemporaries as aristocrats, start a revolution? In this provocative reinterpretation of one of the best-known events in American history, Dr. Holton shows that when Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and other elite Virginians joined their peers from other colonies in declaring independence from Britain, they acted partly in response to grassroots rebellions against their own rule.

This event is free, like all events in the NNK250 Signature Speaker Series, and open to everyone. The Signature Speaker Series will continue monthly through May at locations in each of the five Northern Neck counties. Financial support of the NNK250 Signature Speaker Series is provided by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. Visit nnk250.us for more information.

The NNK250 Signature Speaker Series is an event of the NNK250 Coalition, the commemorative branch of the Northern Neck National Heritage Area (NNNHA). The Coalition was formed for the purpose of planning and facilitating commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and is comprised of representatives from dozens of organizations from throughout the Northern Neck. The Northern Neck National Heritage Area covers the Counties of King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland, and is coordinated by the Northern Neck Tourism Commission. For information on the NNNHA as well as itineraries suggesting experiences throughout the Northern Neck, please visit northernneck.org.