Presenter
Dr. Anna Gibson Holloway
Former Vice President of Collections and Programs and Curator of the USS Monitor Center
“Up Pops the Monitor:” The Battle of Hampton Roads in Popular Memory
On March 9, 1862 in the placid waters of Hampton Roads in Virginia, the Union steam-battery Monitor met the Confederate ram Virginia (née Merrimack) in battle. Though this first clash of ironclads was technically a draw, it helped to usher in a new era in naval warfare. It also ushered in over 150 years of popular music, poetry, artwork, alcohol, clothing, sports teams, farm equipment, and home appliances inspired by the meeting of these two vessels. Interest in the Monitor in the 20th and 21st centuries has been further sustained by the public’s fascination with the archaeological remains of the ship. From polkas, to refrigerators, to Swedish speed metal, this presentation will explore the arc of the popular response to the battle of the ironclads—and the Monitor herself—from March 10, 1862 to today.
Registration information:
Advance registration is required whether you attend the lecture in person or online.
In person
Lecture starts at 2 p.m.
Free for Museum Members, $1 for guests
Virtual
This lecture is livestreamed
and free to watch online
Presenter bio
Dr. Anna Gibson Holloway is the former Vice President of Collections and Programs and Curator of the USS Monitor Center at The Mariners’ Museum where she worked for 14 years. She has also worked with the Histories Branch of the Naval History and Heritage Command as head of the Fleet History section where she oversaw the team that produces the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (aka DANFS). She has also served as the Maritime Historian for the National Park Service in Washington, DC where she administered the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act Program and assisted in the administration of the National Maritime Heritage Grant Program. She worked as part of the interpretive and volunteer sailing crew on the square riggers Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery at Jamestown Settlement. Dr. Holloway holds undergraduate degrees from UNC-Greensboro and received her MA and PhD in history from the College of William & Mary. She is the co-author (with Jonathan White) of “Our Little Monitor” (Kent State University Press, 2018), along with multiple book chapters and articles in scholarly and mass media publications. She is currently a senior maritime historian with the federal government.
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Image credit: USS Monitor Crew members cooking on deck, in the James River, Virginia, July 9 1862. Photographed by James F. Gibson. The Mariners’ Museum and Park, MS0016-02-003-038.