Archive for the ‘Research/Lectures’ Category

Using George Washington’s personal journals and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association guest books, Mount Vernon’s historians are able to track the thousands of famous visitors that have visited Mount Vernon since the years when Washington himself would receive them at the door. Founding Fathers, such as Jefferson, Madison, and Patrick Henry, artists such as Jean Antoine Houdon and Charles Willson Peale, and even American lexicographer Noah Webster were amongst the hundreds of guests that the Washingtons would graciously welcome each year. In fact, much of what we know about Mount Vernon in the 1700’s is gleaned from the journals and letters of visitors who described everything from the music and food to the slaves and farms.

The American pilgrimage to Mount Vernon did not end at Washington’s death in 1799, however. Famous visitors have included the Roosevelts, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Brigham Young, Prince Charles, Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, and Michelle Obama and her daughters. The Kennedys hosted a state dinner at Mount Vernon honoring the President of Pakistan in 1961. Countless celebrities from Barry Manilow to Harrison Ford have walked the same paths as Washington, all perhaps hoping to soak in a little bit of his greatness (admittedly, that’s just a guess). It’s clear that the hospitality of the Washingtons extends to Mount Vernon today, and the desire to see the home that Washington loved so dearly is still as strong as it was in the 18th century.

Three hundred years before enslaved cooks, Lucy and Nathan, prepared meals for hundreds of visitors a year at Mount Vernon, the kitchens at Hampton Court were the main stay of royal entertaining. Last week, Marc Meltonville, a “food archaeologist” in the Historic Kitchens of Hampton Court Palace, England gave Mount Vernon staff a fascinating “behind-the-scenes” tour of these Tudor kitchens, which have been the focus of in-depth research examining their usage through time since 1991. The kitchens, some may say like the King, were enormous! Fifty-five rooms once made up the complex, each with a purpose in sourcing, storing, preparing, cooking and serving food for a household of over 600. Today, Marc’s team views the resources of the historic kitchens as a laboratory, and their investigations embrace any and every aspect of social history in that space, which they then interpret through demonstrations to the Palace’s visitors and lucky colleagues in America!

Delving into history should engage all of our senses. There is a ton of great information on the project’s website that will draw your students into learning about history through their senses and their stomachs!

Many visitors and GWW readers do not know that Mount Vernon is owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. Fifty years after Washington’s death, a group of women banded together to raise money and purchase Mount Vernon in order to preserve it for future generations (as you can see from the picture on the left, it was in pretty sorry shape- there was even an old ship mast holding up one end of the piazza). One of these brave women was Sarah Cornelia Tracy, a secretary to the regent, Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina.

As the Civil War was descending on the nation, Sarah Tracy (and her sister as chaperone) moved into Mount Vernon to protect the estate and ensure absolute neutrality. She was left with little money, a crumbling house, and rumors swirling that Washington’s body had been removed from the tomb to the mountains of Virginia. At one point, she braved barricades, destroyed roads, and a night in a commandeered house, for promises of neutrality and supplies from General McClellan. For eight years, she served as doctor and manager at Mount Vernon while selling flowers, produce, and jewelry she made out of coffee beans in order to raise money. The Ladies Association also appointed a Superintendent to care for the estate, Upton Herbert, who was trapped at Mount Vernon through the war- as a Southerner he could not go to Alexandria, which was being held by Federal forces, and he could not go into Virginia without being conscripted into the Confederate forces. After Miss Tracy finally resigned in 1868, she married Mr. Herbert and they finally passed on the care of George Washington’s home to make their own home together in Burke, Va. More information about the preservation and archaeology of Mount Vernon can be found on our website.

Last weekend, three piglets were born to our proud Ossabaw Island hog parents. These rare breed hogs date back to the Spanish explorers of the 17th century. George Washington’s hogs ran wild in the woods until they were caught, fattened on corn and potatoes, and slaughtered for food each fall. Pork, bacon, sausage, scrapple, chitterlings, and lard were enjoyed by the whole Mount Vernon community, and Martha Washington often presented hams as gifts to relatives and friends. Today these heritage breed hogs are bred at Mount Vernon once a year, much to the delight of the children (and adults) who crowd their pen for a glimpse of the piglets. Fortunately for the hogs, the current Mount Vernon community does not enjoy them in the same way as our 18th-century forebears.