Bio

Lynne Garvey-Hodge has served on the Fairfax County, Virginia History Commission since 2000, representing the Springfield District. As a history Commissioner, she has the responsibility to ensure research, documentation, protection and preservation of historical information, contributions by significant people, places and events within the county is kept alive.

Ms. Garvey-Hodge has a real passion for bringing the past to life through her skilled use of historic re-enacting. Beginning in 2010, she introduced (with critical acclaim) the character of Suffragist Mrs. Robert Walker. The event was the launch of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial non-profit organization. To a crowd of over 100, on a sweltering hot July Sunday afternoon, the public learned first hand through Ms. Garvey-Hodge’s presentation, of the atrocities that were committed against the 1917 picketing Suffragists. Having been arrested in front of the White House for obstructing traffic they chose a jail sentence over a $25 fine.

To date, Ms. Garvey-Hodge has performed this character over 120 times for national women’s conferences, community events, educational groups, Cox Cable Channel 10 and Fairfax Cable Channel 16, women’s associations, universities, high schools, non-profit organizations, AAUW & DAR chapters – often traveling throughout Virginia and the United States to do so. She was cast in the 275th Anniversary of Fairfax County’s Women History Month video as well as a video honoring the Historic Town of Clifton’s Incorporation in March, 1902.

Ms. Garvey-Hodge’s many years of public speaking, leading and facilitating leadership development, team-building, conflict management & customer service workshops paved the way for her work as a historic re-enactress. Her love and passion for preserving history has found a voice in her historic character presentations.

Garvey-Hodge also performs several other characters: Angelina Grimké, an early 19th century, abolitionist and Quaker women’s rights activist from South Carolina; and from the Gilded Age and early days of America’s railroad industry: Mrs. John Henry Devereux, wife of railroad magnate and Civil War Railroad General, John Henry Devereux. She also performs as a Victorian Lady in Mourning.

Lynne speaks on the history and background of the historic Town of Clifton, has researched, and authored a book, published by Arcadia Publishers in their Images of America Series, Clifton. Further, she speaks to local educational forums and civic organizations on “Women of the Progressive Era in Fairfax County,” “The Lorton Reformatory and Progressive Era in Fairfax County,” “Victorian Mourning Customs” and “Stories in Stone – Understanding Cemetery Iconography”.

Lynne has been a resident of Fairfax County for over 30 years and has been a resident of Clifton, Virginia for 17 years, where she is active in preserving the historicity of Clifton. She serves on the Town of Clifton Historic Preservation Committee, which she initiated; has served as chair of the Clifton Betterment Association’s Clifton Oral History Project; and chaired the Clifton Community Woman’s Club Spring Homes Tour in 2011. Her historic 1890s home on Blue Dan Lane was on the 2012 tour.

With sister Commissioner, Mary Lipsey, she co-founded the non-profit Fairfax County Cemetery Preservation Association (FCCPA) in 2008. Their goal is to preserve and protect the 450+ family cemeteries throughout Fairfax County. Both continue as directors on the Board of Directors.

Lynne has a BFA from the University of Colorado, majoring in art history, an MPA (Masters in Public Administration) with a major in Human Resources also from the University of Colorado and a MTS (Masters in Theological Studies) from Wesley Theological Seminary (where she completed her thesis on “Corporate Ethics”). She is President of her own Leadership Development organization, LGH, Inc.

She spearheaded efforts to launch the Fairfax County History Commission’s First Annual Fairfax County History Conference in 2005 and has chaired the History Conference Committee since 2006. She currently is the chair of the Commission’s Awards Committee and also sits on the Ethnic/Oral History, Advocacy and Bylaws Committees. Lynne is a member of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table, Historic Centreville Society, Clifton Community Woman’s Club, the Burke Historical Society and the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum.

In June, 2010, Lynne received the esteemed Lady Fairfax award for the Springfield, Virginia District, in honor of her civic & community leadership, dedication and volunteerism.