FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2008
CONTACT: Bobbie Fisher, Chief Communications Officer, 757.889.9107
WHRO TO SCREEN CIVIL WAR IN HAMPTON ROADS:
PENINSULA CAMPAIGN AT THE NARO ON MARCH 2ND Third in WHRO’s Popular Series Features Q&A with Historian Quarstein
NORFOLK: WHRO TV will offer a screening of the third in its Civil War in Hampton Roads series at the Naro Expanded Cinema, on Norfolk’s Colley Avenue, on Sunday, March 2nd, at 1:00pm. Admission is $10, payable at the door. A portion of the benefits will benefit WHRO.
Virginians have always been fascinated with the Civil War, with our Commonwealth the site of so many fierce battles, the home of so many soldiers’ graves. Hampton Roads has a rich history of involvement in the struggles and the battles of the War Between the States.
In 2004, WHRO embarked on a multi-year project to tell the story of the Civil War in Hampton Roads on television. Produced by Cynthia Pardy, working with historian, writer and host John Quarstein, the first two episodes aired in November 2005 and March 2007. The third episode: Civil War in Hampton Roads: Peninsula Campaign, premieres on WHRO TV15 and WHRO TV15.1HD on March 9, 2008.
After the disastrous Union defeat at Bull Run on 21 July, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln desired that the Army of the Potomac would again strike against the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. On November 1, 1861, Lincoln turned to a new general, George Brinton McClellan, to take command of the army. The Federal commander thought he could trap Major General John Bankhead Magruder’s Army of the Peninsula at Yorktown, as George Washington had cornered Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution. The conflicts in Southeast Virginia during the first six months of 1862 comprise the Civil War’s greatest amphibious operation – the Peninsula Campaign.
This is WHRO’s third collaboration with the Naro Expanded Cinema to screen episodes of Civil War in Hampton Roads.
WHRO is a regional media company that promotes education, culture and citizenship to the citizens of Hampton Roads, Virginia through a variety of services. Every day, thousands of viewers and listeners tune in to broadcast programming on WHRO's public television and two public radio stations. Since its founding more than 45 years ago to support education, WHRO has employed creativity and technology to serve its mission to enrich audiences through content that educates, entertains and promotes understanding. Owned by 17 local school divisions, WHRO delivers educational and new media services to 286,000 students and 25,000 educators per month as well.