John Garrison Marks to Deliver Lecture on George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery Marks, a leader in the public history field, will discuss his recent book on Oct. 28.

Institutional History Museum and Galleries
October 14, 2026

John Garrison Marks, director of the Public History Research Lab at the American Association for State and Local History, will deliver a lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 in Northen Auditorium in Leyburn Library. The event, hosted by Washington and Lee University’s Institutional History Museum and Galleries, is free and open to the public.

In his lecture, Marks will discuss his recent book, “Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory,” which explores how generations of Americans have thought — and fought — about slavery’s place in Washington’s history over the past 250 years.

In his book, Marks asserts that Washington’s ties to slavery have proved more vexing than perhaps any other Founding Father; Washington enslaved more people than his fellow founders, yet he was the only one of them to emancipate the people he held in bondage. Marks will explore how Americans have grappled with this contradiction and demonstrate how the struggles over our collective memory of Washington and slavery have always been part of a bigger conversation about defining the United States and its people.

Marks’ work explores history, museums and the ways in which Americans engage with the past. He is the author or editor of three books, and his writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, TIME, Smithsonian Magazine and elsewhere. Marks received his Ph.D. in history from Rice University.

W&L’s Institutional History Museum and Galleries include the University Chapel and Galleries, the Washington Hall Galleries and the forthcoming Institutional History Museum. The IHMG stewards a growing collection reflective of the full and rich history of the university, its people, traditions and impact throughout the nation’s history.