Speaker: Rick Britton
- Day of the Week: Th
- Date: 8/14/2025
- Time: 10:30 AM
- Location: Michie Tavern, 683 Thomas Jefferson Parkway Charlottesville, VA 22902
- Non-refundable Fee: $40.00
OLLI at UVA is pleased to continue its partnership with Michie Tavern by offering another special Summer Session lecture-and-lunch series. Join us to learn, dine, and socialize in one of Central Virginia’s most beautiful historic settings!
The 2025 OLLI Summer Session at Michie Tavern features a series of talks—titled “Thomas Jefferson & Science! The Sage of Monticello & ‘The System of Things’ He Explored”— presented by award-winning journalist & historian Rick Britton on three Thursdays: August 14, August 28, and September 11.
Jefferson was forever torn between the call to public service and his deep longing for a private life devoted to his family and his amazingly eclectic scientific pursuits. “Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science,” he wrote in 1809, “by rendering them my supreme delight.” Over the course of his lifetime—despite spending over 30 years in public service—he applied his analytical mind to such wide-ranging fields as anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, botany, cryptography, ethnology, linguistics, meteorology, and paleontology. In several of these realms of science Jefferson’s contributions were significant. In these three lectures we’ll explore in detail his numerous “tranquil pursuits”; the Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, Expedition (several of the massive bones from which are on display in Monticello’s Entrance Hall); and his fascination with enormous bones dug out of a cave in Greenbrier County, Virginia. He believed they belonged to a gargantuan lion—the Megalonyx. And he believed the creature still existed. Was he right? Come join us to find out! Join us at Michie Tavern for all three lectures! 8/14 The Tranquil Pursuits: Jefferson’s Many Extraordinary Scientific Inquiries 8/28 Bones of the Mammoth: The 1807 Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, Expedition 9/11 The Megalonyx, Myth or Monster?; Jefferson and his Massive Lion The lectures begin at 10:30 a.m. A question-and-answer period follows at 11:15, with lunch at 11:30. The $40 fee for each event includes the lecture, and a fabulous colonial-style Michie Tavern lunch. Using OLLI’s online registration system or the form at the back of this catalog, sign up early to attend one, two, or all three presentations. NOTE: You must be an OLLI member for the Fall 2025 semester to participate in the Summer Session. The registration deadline is the Friday before each lecture. (Maximum capacity: 75.)
Rick Britton is an award-winning journalist & historian who’s published over 200 articles and essays, the vast majority of the history of the Old Dominion. He also teaches classes on Central Virginia history, conducts tours of historic sites, and illustrates maps for history books and web-sites.
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