News Release

Step back in time with Thomas Jefferson at Harpers Ferry

Date: September 6, 2017
Contact: Dennis Frye, 304-535-6224
Contact: Autumn Cook, 304-535-2908

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. — Take a step back into history with Thomas Jefferson on Saturday, September 9, 2017. Bill Barker will portray our third president in his first-person presentation,  Thomas Jefferson on Educating the People.

Presentations will occur at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Lower Town, Harpers Ferry. To access this location, visitors should go to the park’s visitor center at 171 Shoreline Drive, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. Shuttle buses will be available to transport visitors from the visitor center to Lower Town throughout the day.

Thomas Jefferson visited Harpers Ferry in 1783 and described the beauty of the place in his book Notes on the State of Virginia. As president, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis to Harpers Ferry in 1803 to obtain supplies prior to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Bill Barker has portrayed Thomas Jefferson in a variety of settings over the past 20 years, first coming to Colonial Williamsburg in the spring of 1993 to perform in a film made to honor Ambassador and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg. Barker continues to appear as Jefferson for Colonial Williamsburg and assists in the development of Jefferson programs for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

For more information about the program, contact Kim Biggs at 304-535-6024.

-NPS-

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