University of Lynchburg history students incorporated their research into tours given during a holiday-themed event held at Claytor Nature Center’s Cloverlea Farmhouse and Gardens on Saturday, Nov. 8.
The event, “History Around the Holidays,” included house tours, garden views, cemetery walks, music from local Celtic and traditional music band “Riddle on the Harp,” and family photos with Santa Claus.
It was presented by Cloverlea Foundation and Claytor Nature Center, in collaboration with the University’s history department. Approximately 50-60 people attended.
Students who participated in the event included Joel Butcher ’26, Jackson Stone ’27, and Hope Elliott, a dual-enrollment student who attends Central Virginia Community College and is taking a class at Lynchburg.
“I’m interested in doing public history after college, so any tour experience is great,” Butcher, a history major, said. “In addition, there were other people there who are involved in other local history projects, so participating in leading the tours was also an excellent networking opportunity.”
As part of an ongoing project, Lynchburg history students have researched Cloverlea Farmhouse, artifacts in its collection, and the history of the Claytor family. The circa-1790 home and surrounding property were donated to the University by A. Boyd Claytor III ’04 HAA, a local business owner and philanthropist, in 1998.
“We curated artifacts from the previous owners of the property to create a personalized experience for the tour guests,” said Stone, a history major who intends to be an archivist after earning a master’s degree in history or library science.
“We … also performed the tours while answering any questions that arose.”
For the tours, each room at Cloverlea had what Dr. Lisa Crutchfield, associate professor of history, described as a “history theme.”
“So, for instance,” she explained, “Boyd Claytor’s military memorabilia was displayed in one room of the house, and we talked about Boyd’s military service when we were in that room on the tour.
“When we were in [his wife] Virginia Claytor’s bedroom, we had photographs of her and her debutante book and the engagement announcement, etc. We had architectural blueprints as artifacts in various rooms to help explain the changing history, architectural and otherwise, of the house over the last two centuries.
“In the great room, we … reference[d] the outdoor slave kitchen and had the 1850 census that shows the slave population, including a young couple and two toddler-aged children.”
In addition to researching and leading the Cloverlea tours, Butcher and Stone are members of Lynchburg’s Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society. Butcher is president and Stone is vice president.
“I was really impressed with the enthusiasm with which they tackled the project and especially with how well they engaged with the public on the day of the event,” Crutchfield said of all three students who participated.
“We got tremendously positive feedback from the community guests on how interesting and educational the tours were. The general public is excited about our local history, and we at the University of Lynchburg history department are thrilled to help uncover, collect, and share it.”
