HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2017-11-13 History Awards
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
November 13, 2017
Media Contact:
Betsy Arnett, Public Information Officer
barnett@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2734
Phyllis Cook-Taylor, James Morgan and William Ray Honored
by the Thomas Balch Library Commission at the 25th Annual
Loudoun History Awards
Leesburg, VA (November 13, 2017) –
Phyllis Cook-Taylor, James A. Morgan,
III, and William C. Ray were honored
at the 25th annual Loudoun History
Awards on Sunday, November 13, for
their contributions to preserving
Loudoun’s past through collection of
county documents and memorabilia,
preservation of historic landmarks,
visual arts, writing, and long-time
commitment to local history
organizations.
Phyllis Cook-Taylor is a native of Middleburg, Virginia, who has long been active in historical
and preservation activities. She is a founding member and officer of Friends of the Slave
Quarters at Hutchinson Farm, founding member and officer of The Black History Committee of
Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, past board member of the Friends of the Thomas Balch
Library, and member of the Northern Virginia Community College Historic Preservation
Advisory Board. Phyllis was instrumental in the Town of Middleburg’s successful federal grant
application to purchase Asbury United Methodist Church (an African American Church
established in 1864) and establish a town museum in the building. In 2004, she served as a
panelist on the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ symposium on the U.S. Supreme Court’s
1954 Brown v Board of Education.
James A. Morgan, III, is a past president of the Loudoun County Civil War Roundtable, past
chair of the Loudoun County Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee, past vice chair of the
Thomas Balch Library Commission, member of the Mosby Heritage Area Association Advisory
Board, a volunteer guide at Ball’s Bluff Battlefield, and organizer of the Friends of Ball’s Bluff.
Among his publications are Always Ready, Always Willing: A History of Battery M, Second
United States Artillery, From Its Organization Through the Civil War and A Little Short of Boats:
the Fights at Ball’s Bluff and Edwards Ferry, October 21 -22, 1861, considered the definitive
account of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff.
William C. “Bill” Ray has conducted extensive historical research on Loudoun County
properties and is a board member of the Friends of the Thomas Balch Library. Among his
published works are Mount Gilead History and Heritage, Life and Times of James W. Skinner
(1919-2007), and Family History: Cleveland Myers & Hazel Kelley.
About the Thomas Balch Library: Thomas Balch Library is a history and genealogy library owned
and operated by the Town of Leesburg. A designated Underground Railroad research site, the
Library’s collections focus on Loudoun County, regional and Virginia history, genealogy, military
history with special emphasis on the American Civil War, and ethnic history. For more
information, visit www.leesburgva.gov/ThomasBalchLibrary.
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