Transcription
A Weems TV Series?
Journalist deplores anti-Americana trend
As a young mid-west journalist, Leland Smith wrote one of his first front page stories in 1939 about Parson Mason-Locke Weems - "The Man Who Saved George Washington" - and became fascinated by him.
Smith flew in from Little rock, Ark., Thursday to speak before the Historic Dumfries in the evening.
In a small comic book-type publication which Smith wrote immediately after retiring as a production manager of a newspaper, Weems is described as a combination "Will Rogers, Dr. Welby, Daniel Boone. Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan and Lawrence Welk - all rolled into one."
The colorful booklet was illustrated by Don a fan of Weems.
Smith said he thinks Weems is one of our country's unsung heros and congratulated Historic Dumfries for perserving his memory by restoring the Weems-Botts house in Dumfries.
He said after he found out about the project he couldn't wait to visit Dumfries.
SOMEONE COULD DO a terrific musical or T.V. series on the life of Parson Weems, Smith said. He deplored the trend of American publishers to stamp out "Americana" which began after the 1950s.
He used as an illustration the fall of "The Saturday Evening Post" after it stopped printing "Americana" type stories. There was a distinct revival in circulation during the issues in which the series "True Grit" was published, he recalled, one couldn't beg, steal or borrow copies of the magazine then.
"Granted, we did need to walk a little easier around the world in 1950, we were very smug with all our victories, but the pendulum swings back and now we are desperately in need of national heroes and a revival of pride in our country," Smith said.
Thanks to the anecdotes Weems published about George Washington's childhood, the bitterness about his presidency and military career as a general diminished, Smith said.
He urged anyone who has been thinking about doing a book or a play or a T.V. series to do it. "My efforts will not win any literary prize," Smith smiled, "but I am proud that I did something."
IN A SHORT business meeting Anne P. Flory, president of Historic Dumfries, read a letter she had written, with the consent of the executive committee, to Prince William County School Board Chairman Ellis Hawkins.
She informed the school board that promised interpretative materials. Keys to coding and plats had not been turned over by teacher Robert Miller who headed up the archeological project during the summer at the Weems-Bott Museum.
She deplored the lack of courtesy Miller showed by not discussing with Historic Dumfries members his differing views on the history of the building before he made his views public attacking the Prince William County Historical Commission and the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.
She enclosed a letter from Dell Upton of Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission which answered Miller's attacks.
"We believe that Mr. Miller did a disservice not only to our organization, but is the students as well. It appears that he used them to further a sensational personal vendetta without regard in the sorry instructional impact of the example set by his bad manners, discourtesy, and questionable research methodology" she wrote.
She said the organization would not endorse any future activity of the school system to be directed by Miller.
Mrs. Flory reported that she had not received an answer from Hawkins to her letter.Language
EnglishTranslator
Rachel Hughes