Historian Thomas D. "Tom" Perry will sign his three photography books on Patrick and Henry counties at B Dalton at Piedmont Mall in Danville, Va., on Saturday, May 30, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Perry, who holds a bachelor's degree in history from Virginia Tech, started the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust Inc. in 1990.
The non-profit organization preserved 75 acres of the Stuart property, including the house site where James Ewell Brown Stuart was born on Feb. 6, 1833.
Perry wrote the eight interpretive signs about Laurel Hill's history, along with the Virginia Civil War Trails sign and the new Virginia Historical Highway Marker in 2002.
He spent many years researching, traveling all over the nation to find Stuart materials, including two trips across the Mississippi River to visit nearly every place "Jeb" Stuart served in the United States Army from 1854-1861.
He continues his work to preserve Stuart's birthplace, producing the Laurel Hill Teacher's Guide for educators and the Laurel Hill Reference Guide.
Perry can be seen on Public Television's "Forgotten Battlefields: The Civil War in Southwest Virginia" with his mentor, noted Civil War historian Dr. James I. Robertson Jr.
Perry has begun a collection of papers relating to Stuart and Patrick County history in the Special Collections department of the Carol M. Newman Library at Virginia Tech under the auspices of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies.
He is the author of "Ascent to Glory, The Genealogy of J. E. B. Stuart," "The Free State of Patrick: Patrick County Virginia in the Civil War," and "Images of America: Patrick County Virginia and Notes from the Free State of Patrick."
In 2004, Perry began the Free State of Patrick Internet History Group, which has become the largest historical organization in the area with more than 500 members. It covers Patrick County and regional history.
