Archive for the ‘First-Person Interpretation’ Category

Would your students like to sing a slave song with Caroline, Martha Washington’s maidservant, or hear Billy Lee’s stories of riding alongside George Washington in the Revolutionary War? This is a privilege usually reserved for students who visit Mount Vernon on a field trip, but we are now bringing our popular Washington’s World first person interpreter program to your classroom! Washington’s World: Slave Life is the first in a series of programs where students can meet the people that lived with George Washington. If your classroom is video-conference enabled, please visit us on the CILC website to request a program. This program will be free to the first school to request it, but then resumes the regular price of $125 for a 45 minute program.

This past weekend, as part of the Now Debate This program, high school students visited Mount Vernon to learn about George Washington and paid a special visit to George Washington’s Gristmill and Distillery.The Day 2 video on their website includes Mount Vernon’s Director of Preservation, Dennis Pogue, and the Manager of the Pioneer Farm, Gristmill, and Distillery, Steve Bashore, sharing information about George Washington’s successes as a distiller, as well as the mechanics of Washington’s gristmill.

On August 9-10th, from 9:00 am-5:00 pm, the Whiskey Rebellion is coming to Mount Vernon! The Whiskey Rebellion controversy comes to Historic Mount Vernon for the first time with dramatic performances, a military encampment, militia drilling, music, open-hearth cooking, and costumed demonstrations at George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill.

And as if this weren’t enough excitement already, starting August 4th, the event that our Gristmill and Distillery visitors have long been waiting for will finally happen!The Mount Vernon Gift Shop and Gristmill Shop will finally start selling the whiskey that has been produced at the Distillery over the past couple years.

Visit our Gristmill website for more information about George Washington’s Gristmill and Distillery!

(A dispatch from Mount Vernon’s First Person Interpretation Unit)

… well, not literally. However, the First Person Unit has indeed added a new character to engage Mount Vernon’s guests: William “Billy” Lee, General Washington’s trusted and longtime enslaved Valet – and the first slave freed by Washington’s will.

The new character is played by former Williamsburg Actor-Interpreter Willie Wright, who was drawn to the role by the interesting possibilities offered in portraying such a longtime companion to the General. As Mr. Wright explains, “Billy Lee will be able to offer unexpected and intimate glimpses into George Washington the man. As both a slave and a companion who rode by the General’s side through the Revolution, he has a unique point of view.”

Continue reading Washington’s Valet, Billy Lee, Rides Again! »