Mount Vernon Magazine Fall 2022

SCHOLARSHIP

From fox hunter and ballroom dancer to president PAGE

S OCIAL S TUDIES

COLLECTIONS

TALES OF LOST AND FOUND TOYS

PAGE 30

MVLA

A LOOK BACK AT THE VIP TEAS HOSTED AT MOUNT VERNON

PAGE 36

UPCOMING AT MOUNT VERNON

JOIN US FOR THESE POPULAR EVENTS

COLONIAL MARKET & FAIR

Shop 18th-century-inspired goods by more than 50 artisans at Mount Vernon’s Colonial Market and Fair—September 17–18

Admission included free for all Mount Vernon members. mountvernon.org/colonialmarket

FALL WINE FESTIVAL

Join us for the Fall Wine Festival, October 7–9. Explore the best Virginia wines from across the Commonwealth. Members can purchase discounted tickets today. mountvernon.org/fallwine

CONSULTING EDITOR:

Norie Quintos

DESIGNER : Jerry Sealy

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Matt Briney

VISUAL RESOURCES: Dawn Bonner

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Julie Almacy

Matt Briney

Kevin Butterfield

Adam Erby

Margaret Loftus

Jessie MacLeod

Kristen Otto

Thalia Romero

Dana Stefanelli

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Dan Chung

Keila Lau-Lopez

Sierra Medellin

Thalia Romero

Clarissa Villondo

Mount Vernon magazine is published three times a year by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the nonprofit organization that owns and manages George Washington’s estate. We envision an America where all know and value the singular story of the father of our country. Ever mindful of our past, we seek innovative and compelling ways to tell the story of George Washington, so that his timeless and relevant life lessons are accessible to the world.

This publication is produced solely for nonprofit, educational purposes, and every reasonable effort is made to provide accurate and appropriate attribution for all elements, including historic images in the public domain. All written material, unless otherwise stated, is the copyright of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. While vetted for accuracy, the feature articles included in this magazine reflect the research and interpretation of the contributing authors and historians.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon

P.O. Box 110, Mount Vernon, Virginia 22121

All editorial, reprint, or circulation correspondence should be directed to magazine@mountvernon.org.

mountvernon.org/magazine

ABOUT THE COVER

This hand-colored aquatint by Ralph Ludwig Boyer, published by Derrydale Press in 1931, depicts a young George Washington as a fox hunter at Mount Vernon. In the background is an enslaved groomsman, perhaps Harry Washington, who escaped from Mount Vernon to join the Virginia Ethiopian Regiment, a British colonial military unit established by Royal Governor Lord Dunmore during the American Revolutionary War.

18 | A Sporting Spirit

Ballroom dancer, equestrian, general, president: There’s a direct line between George Washington’s athleticism to his leadership By Philip G. Smucker

24 | The Performance Artist

During fox hunts, a horn of this type would have been used by William "Billy" Lee and Frank Lee, enslaved brothers owned by Washington, to direct the dogs.

Washington lived a theatrical life, and well understood that the world is a stage By Odai Johnson

30 | Toy Stories

The secret lives of children’s playthings unearthed at Mount Vernon By Lily Carhart

36 | Potomac Tea Party

For the Ladies of Mount Vernon in the early years, tea was always a good idea By Rebecca Baird

4 | News

New exhibit opening, Martha Washington’s papers published, must-read books, wine and food events, and more

12 | Object Spotlight

New-found wine funnel (almost) completes the Custis wedding silver service

14 | Focus on

Philanthropy

Julia Gluck’s time spent as a Mount Vernon volunteer inspired her giving

38

|

Washington in the Classroom

An Oregon teacher weaves music, art, and slam poetry into lessons on U.S. history

40 | Shows of Support

Events at Mount Vernon, in New York City, and in Texas

44 | Featured Photo

In the 19th century, George Washington’s likeness was popular on jigsaw puzzles

George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate is owned and maintained in trust for the people of the United States by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union, a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1853 by Ann Pamela Cunningham.

MOUNT VERNON LADIES’ ASSOCIATION

Margaret Hartman Nichols, Regent

Andrea Notman Sahin, Secretary

Anne Neal Petri, Treasurer

VICE REGENTS

Cameron Kock Mayer, Louisiana

Maribeth Armstrong Borthwick, California

Ann Haunschild Bookout, Texas

Jean Armfield Sherrill, North Carolina

Virginia Dawson Lane, South Carolina

Laura Peebles Rutherford, Alabama

Susan Marshall Townsend, Delaware

Anne Neal Petri, Wisconsin

Liz Rollins Mauran, Rhode Island

Ann Cady Scott, Missouri

Sarah Miller Coulson, Pennsylvania

Susan Stevens Reeder, Mississippi

Andrea Notman Sahin, Massachusetts

Catherine Hamilton Mayton, Arkansas

Helen Herboth Laughery, Wyoming

Catherine Marlette Waddell, Illinois

Lucia Bosqui Henderson, Virginia

Mary Lang Bishop, Oregon

Elizabeth Medlin Hale, Georgia

Ann Sherrill Pyne, New York

Karen McCabe Kirby, New Jersey

Hilary Carter West, District of Columbia

Adrian MacLean Jay, Tennessee

SENIOR STAFF

Douglas Bradburn, President & CEO

Kevin Butterfield, Executive Director, Washington Library

Joe Bondi, Senior Vice President, Development

Matt Briney, Vice President, Media & Communications

Phil Manno, Chief Financial Officer

Susan P. Schoelwer, Executive Director, Historic Preservation & Collections & Robert H. Smith, Senior Curator

Joseph Sliger, Vice President, Operations & Maintenance

K. Allison Wickens, Vice President, Education

Here at Mount Vernon, we pride ourselves on providing access to the real George Washington. He can sometimes be hard to get to know, in part because he purposefully kept himself somewhat at arm’s length. Washington the general and Washington the president can also often seem static, a frozen figure on horseback in a public space or a familiar but stern face on the dollar bill. Some of the public art honoring George Washington is iconic, like the Washington Monument—at one time the tallest built structure in the world—or the statue of Washington in the capitol building in Richmond. But while these powerful memorials recognize the greatness of the man, they do not exactly provide access to the inner life of Washington’s mind, manner, and motivations. And sometimes it is hard to relate to great but abstract representation. This issue of the magazine invites you into his inner circle.

Here you will catch a glimpse of how he spent his time when public business was done. His friendships, his entertaining, his sports and gaming, and his passion for farming and “rural amusements” provide a unique opportunity to meet the man behind the monuments. I invite you to picture Washington at a play, or across the gaming table, or at a horse race, or at an intimate dinner at Mount Vernon, followed, of course, by coffee and Madeira on the piazza.

John Adams called Washington “the greatest actor” on the scene of his times and in this issue, Odai Johnson will take you to one of Washington’s favorite places: the theater. Philip Smucker will introduce you to Washington’s celebrated athleticism and his sportsmanship. We also get a chance to be a part of the entertainment at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, faithfully reconstructed from personal letters of the Washingtons and the archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Notably, Washington’s own leisure was only possible because of the work of his enslaved, and here we also attempt to see how their precious time away from labor provided some sustenance, personal identity, recreation, and community, as found in the archaeological record. We’ll even see several items that guests have left behind in the 162 years Mount Vernon has been a public tourist attraction under the MVLA.

I am happy to report that the school trips are returning and visitation is getting back to normal. Thanks to our ticket, food, and retail sales, as well as the generosity of members and supporters such as yourself, Mount Vernon’s future looks bright as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And thanks to our digital efforts, we are now reaching more people than ever, and this month you will learn more about Mount Vernon’s largest fundraising effort to date, Strengthening Our Foundations. We have embarked on a comprehensive effort to not only restore and preserve George Washington’s iconic home in time for the nation’s 250th birthday, but also to greatly expand our education and outreach efforts to ensure that the country never forgets the leadership shown and sacrifices made by Washington to ensure that our experiment in democracy would survive and flourish.

Please take a moment to review the materials enclosed with this issue, make a gift today, or reach out to us and learn how you can get involved in our efforts to make the nation’s 250th the biggest and best it can be. See you soon at Mount Vernon!

Douglas Bradburn President and CEO

New Exhibit Opens

The official unveiling of Mount Vernon: The Story of an American Icon

On the evening of April 9, friends and supporters gathered with Mount Vernon’s staff and the Regent and Vice Regents of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association for the official unveiling of the new exhibit Mount Vernon: The Story of an American Icon. The exhibition traces the rich and complex history of Mount Vernon—not only the celebrated era of George and Martha Washington, but also the lesser-known stories of the enslaved community, earlier and later generations of Washingtons, and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA), which has preserved

the property since 1860.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured remarks from Ann Bookout, Vice Regent for Texas, and Susan Schoelwer, PhD, Mount Vernon’s executive director of historic preservation and collections. Regent Margaret Nichols, of Maine, and Mount Vernon’s president and CEO Douglas Bradburn, PhD, cut the ribbon.

The new exhibit and the acquisition of the Peter Family Collection are major projects within Strengthening Our Foundations: The Campaign for Mount Vernon. The Founders Committee and the Connoisseur Society supported these efforts, in addition to many other donors.

On permanent display are more than 350 objects from Mount Vernon’s collection, with highlights such as George Washington’s swords and spyglass and Martha Washington’s garnet jewelry.

historic preservation and collections, Ann Haunschild

Vice Regent for Texas, Margaret H. Nichols, MVLA Regent, Andrea Notman Sahin, Vice Regent for Massachusetts, and Douglas Bradburn, president and CEO; Houdon bust of Washington; Dr. Betsee Parker, Lucia Bosqui Henderson, Vice Regent for Virginia, and Maral Kalbian; Vice Regents and Vice Regents Emeritae of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association alongside Doug Bradburn and Dean Malissa; and guests enjoying the exhibit, featuring images of the Mansion and original objects.

PHOTOS BY DAN CHUNG

Clockwise from top left: John H. Kerby and Theresa Thompson, Life Guard Society members, Catherine Hamilton Mayton, Vice Regent for Arkansas, and Joe Bondi, Mount Vernon’s senior vice president for development; ribbon-cutting with Susan P. Schoelwer, executive director of

Bookout,

Three to Stream

Check out this virtual content, available anywhere, anytime. Access these and more at mountvernon.org/ video.

1George Washington and the Pursuit of Religious Freedom: Mount Vernon’s latest short film premiered in April at the famed 92 Street Y in New York City (see story on page 43). Watch the film and accompanying conversation on the important support George Washington provided to diverse religious practices from the earliest days of the new nation.

2 Martha Washington’s Treasured Possessions: Take a closer look at Martha Washington’s treasured possessions, rare surviving examples of her jewelry in the collections at Mount Vernon. Associate curator Amanda Isaac explores Washington’s taste in fashion, the pieces she cherished, what she chose to wear—and equally as significant—what she chose not to. Many of the pieces are currently on exhibit at the museum.

3

Mount Vernon Is Everywhere! Lydia Mattice Brandt, PhD, associate professor, School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina, leads viewers on a nationwide journey of Mount Vernon replicas. Brandt details how, more than any other historical structure, the Mansion has inspired other buildings in the United States. From banks to hotels to funeral homes, see how the piazza, cupola, three-part organization, and red-and-green color scheme have made their way into American architecture.

Book of the Year

Washington Prize winner announced

If there’s just one title you’ll read this year, make it Bruce A. Ragsdale’s Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery, which recently won the 2022 George Washington Prize. Created by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and Washington College, the $50,000 George Washington Prize is one of the nation’s largest and most notable literary awards. The winner was announced at a ceremony at Mount Vernon on May 25. The event also recognized past winners: 2021 winner Mary Beth Norton, for 1774: The Long Year of Revolution , and 2020 winner Rick Atkinson, for The British are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777.

The book (published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press) takes a new look at Washington’s evolving relationship with slavery by connecting the two ideas of Washington as farmer and Washington as slave owner. It may be the first full study of the evolution of Washington’s ideas on the subject through the prism of his title as “First Farmer.”

Grounded in primary sources, the book walks readers through Washington’s education and experimentation in agriculture throughout his life. Ragsdale shows the impact of agricultural innovations on farm labor. He also shows that the profits Washington wanted from

Mount Vernon lookalike: the rectory at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, in Burbank, California.

his beloved farms could not be met utilizing only enslaved labor.

In his will, he freed his slaves upon Martha’s death. In doing so, Ragsdale writes, “Washington … affirmed his identification with enlightened advocates of improvement on both sides of the Atlantic, but he left the nation no principled statement of opposition to slavery and no practical plan that might have encouraged other planters to

WASHINGTON PRIZE FINALISTS

Perfecting the Union: National and State Authority in the U.S. Constitution

Max M. Edling gifts readers with a new frame for thinking about the founders’ priorities for the Constitution, with specific attention to the division of power between federal and state governments. His argument emphasizes the Constitution as a document that bound 13 sovereign states to act as a unit on the global stage, rather than as a document to define a new nation or expand the role of the federal government.

(Oxford University Press)

The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain’s Wars for America

Julie Flavell expertly uses the mostly untapped letters of Caroline Howe to tell the story of the British family’s influence—usually relegated to its failures and ineptitude. The book shows the behind-thescenes involvement of elite women in politics and diplomacy, including Howe’s chess games with Benjamin Franklin. Most important, it shows how these women impacted the Revolutionary War far outside their traditional roles.

(W.W. Norton & Company)

end their reliance on enslaved labor.”

But don’t stop with Ragsdale’s book, as the other four finalists (below) are also worth putting on your reading list. “At a time when Americans are looking to understand the origins of the United States, the prize continues to surface the best new work. We have a stellar list of authors, each of whom would make a worthy laureate of this most significant prize,” said Douglas Bradburn, Mount Vernon’s president and CEO.

Minds and Hearts: The Story of James Otis Jr. and Mercy Otis Warren

Jeffrey Hacker writes a dual biography of two siblings—one a lawyer and politician, the other, his sister, a historian, playwright, and poet—who are often overlooked but were immensely important in the Revolutionary War era. The siblings influenced such contemporaries as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton.

(University of Massachusetts Press)

George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father

David O. Stewart writes a new biography of Washington that focuses on his life as a politician. The book walks through Washington’s early eagerness for distinction and his early military errors. Washington learned from the advice he sought out from his contemporaries while holding to his own points of view. Stewart explores Washington’s outward modesty as an example of political skill. This book shows that George Washington was not always a reluctant leader. Instead, he shows that Washington really did have a political life, one with ambition and savvy. (Penguin Random House)

Dream Come True

Mount Vernon grants one boy’s wish

On April 30, Mount Vernon and the First Virginia Regiment, a Revolutionary War living history and reenactment group, hosted Nakeem (last name withheld for privacy), a 16-yearold Make-A-Wish Foundation recipient. Diagnosed with a respiratory disorder, Nakeem dreamed of participating in a Revolutionary War reenactment. And so, during Mount Vernon’s popular Revolutionary War Weekend, he donned a custom-made uniform and joined the Continentals as a drummer. He also met “General Washington,” toured the Mansion, checked out George Washington’s headquarters tent (on display that weekend courtesy of the Museum of the American Revolution), and laid a wreath at the tomb of General Washington.

Don Francisco, Mount Vernon’s resident fifer (pictured, right), with Make-A-Wish Foundation recipient Nakeem.

PHOTO BY MATT BRINEY

Mrs. Washington’s Words

Martha Washington’s papers, published

This past July marked the publication of The Papers of Martha Washington, a multiyear project edited by the Papers of George Washington. Published by the University of Virginia Press, this 736-page volume contains transcribed and annotated correspondence gathered from those to whom Martha wrote. Her letters paint a picture of social life during the Revolutionary War and the early republic and also include more than 50 condolence letters after her husband’s death from key Federalist figures in the early 19th century.

Before she died, it is believed, Martha Washington purposefully burned the letters from her husband to keep their relationship private. Two letters from Washington to his wife, however, were found in a desk Martha gave one of her granddaughters. Both date from the early months of the Revolutionary War, in June 1775.

This latest volume contains more than 80 new letters to or from Martha Washington, including four never before published between Martha and her niece Fanny Bassett Washington Lear. The publication also contains one of the most detailed family trees of the Dandridge, Custis, and Washington families, along with a biographical directory of significant people in the volume.

This new volume will be available at the Washington Library for researchers and scholars looking to discover more about Martha Washington’s life. The volume is also available for purchase from the Shops at Mount Vernon.

Libations on the Lawn

The return of the Spring Wine Festival

Mount Vernon’s Spring Wine Festival returned to much fanfare over the weekend of May 13 to 15. The annual event featured wines from across Virginia, with 18 wineries representing the best in the state. Guests enjoyed tastings or purchased a bottle to accompany watching the sunset over the Potomac River, to the sounds of bluegrass music. Tours of the Mansion’s cellar, a unique experience, allowed guests to see a stone inset into the wall with the initials “LW,” thought to refer to Lawrence Washington, George’s grandfather, as well as the vaults where George Washington stored his own bottles of Madeira, one of his favorite drinks. Mount Vernon’s semi-annual wine festival is held in the spring and in the fall. Check the website for tickets to the upcoming fall festival, October 7 to 9.

Tours, music, group selfies, and high spirits filled Mount Vernon during the Spring Wine Festival.

Notebook

What’s with the scaffolding? Installation of scaffolding under the Mansion’s piazza roof and fronting the columns heralded the beginning of this year’s major preservation project. Significant tasks include paint sampling and steam-assisted paint removal; assessment, documentation, and repair of wood siding and framing; restoration of windows and shutters; and application of paint and sand to re-create Washington’s faux stone finish. It’s a big job; the projected timeline will run to April 2023, with work continuing through the winter under the shelter of the piazza. New fellows on campus: An independent jury of scholars recommended 19 new fellowship awards of varying lengths. The new class of scholars begins arriving in July 2022. Student winners: The Mount Vernon–sponsored George Washington Leadership Prize was given to Kaylee Meier and Lindsay Davis, both from Fredericksburg Academy, for their website, “George Washington’s Diplomacy with Native Nations,” and to Benjamin Richards of George Washington Middle School for his documentary, The Cuban Missile Crisis. Birth announcement: Lambing season began on March 4, and Mount Vernon currently has 18 new additions.

BY THE NUMBERS

38,000 Number of students who visited Mount Vernon in March. It marked the return of visiting school groups to near 2019 levels.

9,106,189 Page views of Mount Vernon’s website, from January through March, representing an 84 percent increase over the previous year.

10,000 The span, in years, covered by Mount Vernon’s newest exhibit, The Story of an American Icon.

PROGRAM LAUNCH

An Interview with Dr. James Craik made its public premiere on March 27, marking the first offering in Mount Vernon’s new theater-style performances. This new format utilizes the expertise of character and history interpreters. The program was performed by Tom Plott as “Dr. Craik,” (above) with Anette Ahrens, senior interpretive supervisor, as the interviewer. What makes this program unique is the blending of interpretive techniques, specifically using an interviewer from the present to question a character from the past. Audience members heard “Dr. Craik” discuss 18thcentury medicine, including healthcare during the Revolutionary War, treating the enslaved community, and the death of George Washington. Meanwhile, Ahrens clarified antiquated terminology and surfaced connections to today’s world. The Q&A session for the program was intended to last 15 minutes, but the audience was so enthralled it lasted a full 30 minutes.

THE PROGRAM IS NOW OFFERED REGULARLY IN THE INTERPRETIVE CENTER, AND IS INCLUDED WITH GENERAL ADMISSION. NO ADDITIONAL TICKET REQUIRED.

Home improvement.

Generous Pour

A wandering wine funnel returns home

Among the treasures of the new museum exhibition, Mount Vernon: The Story of an American Icon, is a stunning array of silver tableware—31 pieces sent from London to John (Jacky) Parke Custis and his bride, Eleanor (Nelly) Calvert Custis, shortly after their wedding in 1774.

Notably, the Custis wedding silver exemplifies the transition in artistic style from rococo to neoclassical. The rococo shells and curving outlines of mugs and salvers (trays) contrast with the bellflower swags, beading, and reeding on candlesticks, an urn-shaped coffee pot, and other vessels—some of the earliest documented appearances of the neoclassical style in colonial America.

Amazingly, nearly the entire service survives—the largest pre-Revolutionary order of English silver in the American colonies that can be identified today. Over the years, Mount Vernon had acquired about half of the service, with the remaining pieces supplied to the exhibition by generous loans from Colonial Williamsburg and several Custis descendants.

One object, however, eluded the curatorial team until a month before the exhibit installation: a

silver wine funnel used to decant wine to prepare it for drinking. Knowing that the funnel had sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2005, the curatorial team reached out to silver specialist John Ward, and he privately relayed Mount Vernon’s interest to the purchaser.

As luck (or Washington) would have it, the owner not only lives in Middleburg, Virginia, but also turned out to be a friend of Lucia Henderson, Vice Regent (Virginia). Upon learning of the extensive exhibit, Canon Dr. Betsee Parker, baroness of Lochiel in Scotland, gifted the funnel to Mount Vernon, together with a silver spoon from the Custis wedding service. Reflecting on the gift, Parker commented that she considered herself a caretaker of the objects, and had always intended to give them to Mount Vernon. Completing the display of the Custis wedding service for the exhibition provided her with the perfect occasion.

This silver wine funnel—part of the wedding silver service of Jacky and Nelly Custis—was made by Walter Brind in London around 1774.

Helping Hand

Julia Gluck’s time spent as a Mount Vernon volunteer inspired her giving

Julia Gluck’s first memories of Mount Vernon are of traveling there as a child whenever out-of-town guests came to visit her family, who lived in University Park, Maryland. “We’d take the boat from D.C.,” she recalls, “I remember Lafayette’s [Bastille] key and walking up the hill from the dock in the heat.”

Those early recollections prompted Gluck to respond to a letter she received from Mount Vernon in 2006 asking for volunteers for the newly opened Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. She and her husband, John, who passed away in 2015, along with her five siblings, had already donated a honey locust tree in memory of her parents.

As a history major, and a neighbor— she now lives just three miles away from Mount Vernon—Gluck says volunteering was an easy decision. “The timing was right for me,” she says, and as it turns out, for John as well. What started as working in guest services, occasionally in period costume, has evolved over the years into a longtime commitment—as a member of the Regent’s Circle, the Neighborhood Friends Steering Committee, and the Connoisseur Society, as well as a sponsor of the Birthnight Supper and Ball.

She’s also heartened to experience firsthand how important Mount Vernon is to visitors. “One of the things I love about being there is interacting with people from all over the world.” She especially enjoys talking to children who are excited about history and George Washington. “It is living history, a walk back in time, a tangible [thing] that can never be the same in a book or a video. It’s so important that they not just learn everything from a book,” she says, noting the adventure maps that help children discover the property, for example. “They get a squished penny if they finish it. Little things like that will stick in their minds.”

Gluck says her involvement in Mount Vernon is a privilege inspired by the philanthropy of her family. “My parents were a wonderful example to us,” she says. “You share because it might inspire somebody else.” She adds that consistent gifts are critical to keeping the estate going strong. “The point that Mount Vernon is not governmentfunded should encourage donations, large and small.”

Most recently, Gluck donated a major gift to the revitalization of the education center. She was motivated to give after seeing donations at work as a volunteer across the estate. “It’s a miracle the house still stands after all these years. Think about what it takes to keep it standing,” she says, stressing its historical significance. “It symbolizes our beginning as a country.”

Gluck especially treasures her time spent in costume for the biannual Colonial Days, during which students visit Mount Vernon from local schools. One year, four of her grandchildren dressed up to accompany her during a candlelit event. She remembers one little boy who came up to her and proclaimed, “I just saw George Washington’s house!”

“Those are the things I enjoy,” she says. “I always come away from a day of volunteering there feeling that it’s so worthwhile.”

JULIA GLUCK

Julia Gluck at Mount Vernon with her late husband, John (above), and “ George Washington ” (opposite).

S ocial S tudie S

Washington once described dancing as “so agreeable and innocent an amusement.”

First-hand accounts say he was extremely good at it, as pictured in this circa-1929 painting.

From Washington the sportsman and theater-goer to the women hosting teas to raise funds for Mount Vernon, leisure activities were often more than just fun

S pecial

a S porting

Ballroom dancer, equestrian, general, president: There’s a direct line

SIR THOMAS GASCOIGNE AND SIR WALTER VAVASOUR WITH THE PRIEST, THE VICAR AND HUNT SERVANTS ENGLISH SCHOOL, 1785, LEEDS MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES

S pirit

between George Washington’s athleticism to his leadership

THE PURSUIT OF LEISURE

BY PHILIP G. SMUCKER

As much legend as historical figure, Washington remains for most an enigmatic man. Yet, there is a side to his personality, his love of sport and sportsmanship, that humanizes the icon and provides insights into his special talents. One sure way of getting to know the man is to envision him riding through the woods, or turning seamlessly about a ballroom. Indeed, the founding father’s journey to fame began in the woods around the river port of Fredericksburg, where raucous cockfights, gaming, and horse racing worked to channel the competitive ambitions of a fatherless lad.

In the years after the American Revolution, Washington curtailed his favorite entertainments—riding, dancing, and even light gambling—to devote himself to the political and social growth of a new nation. Yet, his early pursuits as a “sportsman,” in the old British sense of the word, remained forever a part of his nature and fighting spirit. And they would always inform his role as host at Mount Vernon.

Facts about George’s childhood are sparse but telling. In mid-18th–century Virginia, where young men rode a mile

Fox hunting was a popular sport in Britain and in British America, as this 1785 British painting of an English hunt suggests.

to church just to be seen on the back of their favorite horse, it isn’t surprising that Washington acquired a deep affection for riding. His own mother, Mary, had been an accomplished equestrian from an early age, and surely encouraged her son, whom Thomas Jefferson would one day refer to as “the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback.”

Country fairs, which often coincided with “court days,” showcased a variety of sports and entertainments. Contests in both Fredericksburg and Williamsburg allowed young men to let off steam and settle scores in a horse race or simply by betting on a frog-jumping contest. One northern visitor to the Old Dominion commented that Virginians were “much addicted to gambling, drinking, swearing, horse-racing, cock-fighting, and most Kinds of Dissipation.”

Fortunately, young George managed to eschew the worst habits of colonial life in favor of its more edifying and acceptable aspects. In 1748, at 16, Washington noted in his accounts that he had won two shillings and three pence from his sister-in-law at whist and five shillings at loo from his brother. His luck improved quickly during his teen years. With the help of his elder brother Lawrence’s high-brow marriage to Anne Fairfax and the tutelage of the entire Fairfax clan, neighbors to the Washingtons at Belvoir Manor along the Potomac, George dance-stepped and rode his way out of his second-ranking Virginia

family and into high society. (This is the same young man who wrote in May of 1749 to Lawrence to inform him that he didn’t have enough corn to feed his horse for a ride to Williamsburg.)

By the end of his teens, his accomplished skills on a horse and the dance floor would make Virginia society raise its collective eyebrow and take notice of the tall, gallant youth a half foot taller than his peers, yet not to the manor born. Belvoir became George’s favorite home away from Fredericksburg, where he acquired a taste for elegant attire, dancing, riding to hounds, and the arts of affection.

Private Dancer

In the two main parlors of Belvoir, dances with the Fairfax family unfolded on long winter nights with a small ensemble, sometimes consisting of two violins, a French horn, and a harp. As the musicians struck up a chord, couples on the dance floor would stand smiling and facing one another in anticipation of the next dance, often a Scottish reel, until the end of the evening, when a lone fiddler could spark a set of free-wheeling jigs.

At Belvoir Manor, a rarefied world in which sport and notions of amorous dalliance were synonymous, young George fell for the charms of the elegant Sally Fairfax. Two years his elder, she by all accounts helped him polish his dance steps, as well as his dramatic delivery of the tragic-romantic lines from Joseph Addison’s play Cato. There are no accounts of early dance lessons for George, but we know he caught on because he danced continuously in the company of his brother on a trip to Barbados. He would one day be known as an excellent practitioner of the French minuet, which one relative remarked was “much in vogue in that period and was peculiarly calculated for the display of the splendid figure of the chief, and his natural grace and elegance of air and manners.”

The minuet was an exhibition, according to etiquette expert Cathy Hellier of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which “stepped one couple at a time, in order of social rank—that is, with the highestranking gentleman and lady dancing first,

An invitation from the Washingtons to their neighbors, the Porters, from 1788.

MVLA

and so on down the line. Everyone watched and commented, often recording their impressions in their diaries.” By the light of candles and under the gaze of full-length portraits of the British king and queen, men and women in their finest apparel assembled to display their moves.

This elaborate world of nonverbal signs and gestures, which would begin with polite bows and curtsies, would make George Washington presentable in society for decades to come.

Avid Huntsman

Yet, if there is a more direct line from George’s early “entertainments” to his fortunes as a leader, it is most traceable from his saddle to the battlefield. Thanks to Lawrence, the Fairfax clan, and aristocratic Virginia’s “culture du jour,” George fell in love with the foxchase. Foxhunting season began every autumn at Belvoir and Mount Vernon with the hounds licking their snouts and jumping with anticipation of

Washington’s skills on a horse and the dance floor would make Virginia society raise its collective eyebrow and take notice of the tall, gallant youth a half foot taller than his peers, yet not to the manor born.

In this imagined scene, George Washington relaxes outdoors with, among others, Martha Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

PALMY DAYS AT MOUNT VERNON , THOMAS PRITCHARD ROSSITER, 1866, MVLA, GIFT OF MALCOLM MATHESON III, EMMA MATHESON ROE, TORREY MATHESON COOKE, CHARLES T. MATHESON, LIDA MATHESON STIFEL, AND WILLIAM JOHN MATHESON

a morning race through the fields and streams that ran into the Potomac River.

By his own accounts, Washington amused himself with the exploits of his rotund British peer, Lord Fairfax, baron of Cameron, who barreled over fences in pursuit of the fox, which would double back and find cover in the brambles. Later, before and after the Revolution, George, as a wealthy country squire, took immense pleasure in hunting, often inviting neighbors and business associates to join him. (In his memories of Washington, George’s step-grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, recalled William Lee, Washington's enslaved valet, mounted on a horse named Chinkling during post-Revolution foxhunts around Mount Vernon, and charging “at full speed, through brake and tangled wood, in a style at which modern huntsmen would stand aghast.”)

An earlier description of hunting by one William Beebe also suggests the perilous nature of the pastime, recalling that “frequent instances have occurred, where in leaping the fence, or passing over gullies, or in the woods, the rider has been thrown from his horse, and his brains dashed out, or otherwise killed suddenly. This, however, never stops the chase—one or two are left to take care of the dead body, and the others pursue ... old men, whose heads were white with age, as eager in the chase as a boy of 16.”

It was from this rough-and-tumble milieu that George Washington learned the protocol and hard riding that one day would inform his prowess as a military leader. Indeed, the British high military command later would acknowledge the value of the sport by making foxhunting a part of standard cavalry training. The martial elements of the sport, popular to this day in Virginia’s Shenandoah

As it would be for most of his adulthood, there at Princeton’s crossroads of victory or defeat, Washington’s sporting spirit had been on full display.

Valley and other parts of the country, resounded from the intonations of hunting horns, including Washington’s own, which is a cherished part of Mount Vernon’s collection of hunting and fishing artifacts.

From Fox Field to Battlefield

The sounds of the hunt followed Washington to war. When the British rounded on the Continental Army in Manhattan in 1776, a triumphant redcoat bugler played the traditional foxhunt tune “Gone Away” as Washington, in the role of a hounded fox, retreated with his forces. Months later, Lord Cornwallis was reported to have said at Trenton the day before Washington’s nighttime flight to Princeton up the Quaker Road that he had had his foe, Washington, “the old fox,” cornered and just where he wanted him.

It was not to be. During the Battle of Princeton, after Washington’s close friend, Colonel Hugh Mercer, was stabbed to death by British forces on a frozen orchard at the edge of town, Cornwallis’s men would get their comeuppance. General Washington rode forth into a musket battle at Princeton, raised his white horse in a dramatic levade above the swirls of bursting powder, and waved his hat to inspire his troops forward. The redcoats, led by Colonel Charles Mawhood, had fought fiercely but decided after Washington’s heroics to flee, two spaniels at Mawhood’s heels. He raced away at a gallop with Washington in hot pursuit.

The sight of their own commander in full stride on the trail of Mawhood caused a contingent of Continental Army volunteers to turn toward the fleeing British colonel, and, with their general in the lead, join the dash. “It is a fine fox chase my boys!” Washington reportedly shouted while riding ahead of them down a gully in the direction of the fleeing Brits, only to be called back from the chase by his own men, who believed the victory was already complete. As it would be for most of his adulthood, there at Princeton’s crossroads of victory or defeat, Washington’s sporting spirit had been on full display. Gambling on a dare to have his foes make him a martyr, he had turned the tide of the battle, subsequently showing his magnanimous nature by offering the Hessians (German troops hired by the British)—who earlier had sought to kill him— citizenship and asylum in a new nation.

As president, George Washington became a champion

“It

of fair play and polished manners, the true marks of a sportsman. Through it all, however, he projected the mein of a character with both chivalry and derring-do. When he made his first journey to the deep South—Savannah and Charleston in particular—he sometimes would switch from his carriage to his steed before entering town, to the cheers of adoring men, women, and children. In Savannah, Washington carefully noted in his journal a “dancing assembly at which there were about 100 well-dressed handsome ladies.” A local scribe noted that “after a few minuets were moved, and one country dance led down, the President and his Suit retired about 1 am,” adding the “dances continued to 3 am.”

Across his life, the weight of a new nation had been cast upon his shoulders, but, in the end, it is easy to imagine that President Washington would have agreed with the

bard Shakespeare’s poignant line in his play King Henry VI: “I see our wars will turn to peaceful comic sport when ladies crave to be encountered with.” For it was always the lighter side of sportsmanship and dance—which Washington referred to at least once as the “gentler conflict”—that appealed the most to the American chief.

A fifth-great-grandnephew of George Washington, Philip G. Smucker is an independent journalist and writer. He has covered conflicts in Burma, Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Serbia, and Afghanistan, and written for publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and Time. He has authored several books, including Riding with George: Sportsmanship and Chivalry in the Making of America’s First President.

is a fine fox chase my boys!” Washington reportedly shouted during the Battle of Princeton, as he chased the fleeing British troops.

THE p erformance

a rti S t

Washington lived a theatrical life, and well understood that the world is a stage

BY ODAI JOHNSON

PURSUIT OF LEISURE

Scattered among the pages of George Washington’s papers, diary, and account book are brief entries for evenings spent at the theater. “Dined at the governor’s and went to the play,” he wrote, or “[W]ent to the play, and the governors to supper.” Washington seldom commented on the staged works, or even noted their titles. Some entries are no more than a notation, as his diary records for 8 October, 1760: “£7.10.3 [seven pounds, 10 shillings, three pence], for the playhouse.”

These entries reveal a sizable cultural investment: They were front money to build the first permanent theater in Williamsburg. The Old Theatre, by the Capital, as it was known, was built on just such subscriptions as Washington’s, and was operational seasonally until the Revolutionary War broke out. In exchange for that advance, Washington was presented with 24 box tickets to

*Note this article uses the modern American spelling of “theater” except in historical quotations or in certain proper names.

be enjoyed at any point in the season. But this investment also spoke to a desire for an urban identity for British Americans a long way from London.

Such small but consequential moments abound in Washington’s life in the theater. Here is another. The ragtag Americans who entered Valley Forge in the winter of 1777 had coalesced into an army with a formidable European ally. The French had just formally entered the conflict, signifying a turning point in the war. And part of the celebration of this alliance was the staging of a play—Joseph Addison’s Cato —at Valley Forge, with its excoriation of Caesar’s tyranny and its invitation to noble resistance. Congress had banned frivolous spending, including theater. Washington knew that, but he nevertheless allowed the play, considering its message of resistance worthy of the infraction.

Patron of the Arts

The earliest record comes from his Barbados Journal, when he was just 19 and learning the culture of polite society. And late into life, long after his retirement, Washington was still defending theater as the “chief

In this painting by Charles Willson Peale, the stage actress Nancy Hallam performs in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. Note the display of silk, jewels, and other imported luxury goods at a time when Washington and others were calling for a “homespun” economy.

refiner” of society. Not all of his fellow colonists shared this attitude. Massachusetts governor John Hancock, for instance, personally prohibited the establishment of theater in Boston. But Washington, like most Virginians, saw its civility, recognized the charismatic power of a well-told story, and appreciated its moral potential to shape citizens for the better. Perhaps most importantly, he understood the uplift of a powerful myth.

As a young planter, Washington attended some of America’s first professional theaters in Williamsburg, Annapolis, New York, and even small Virginia towns such as Dumfries and Fredericksburg. Theaters were where polite British society gathered, even in the remote British-American outback. He enjoyed and joined in parlor readings of plays, attended student productions at colleges, and supported professional actors in towns throughout the colonies. During the French and Indian War, Colonel Washington sponsored military plays performed by the officers at Fort Cumberland, and during the Revolutionary War, General Washington permitted and attended productions for the officers at Valley Forge, and again in Philadelphia, in spite of remonstrations from Congress. He was himself staged as a comic figure by British officers in Boston, and following the war, he was celebrated in theaters. Montrose Moses, who edited the first collection of American plays, went so far as to call Washington “the father of the American theatre.”

Washington seldom elaborated on

the experiences, beyond the expense and occasionally the company he enjoyed, but there remain tantalizing clues about these evenings in the theater, and they reveal a great deal about how aspiring people of taste in British America used the theater to acquire poise, polish, manners, and urbanity—in short, to acquire secondhand “Britishness,”—and no one more so than the man who would lead the American forces against Great Britain.

A Finishing School

In colonial British America, the theater had been the schoolhouse of refinement, the place for the display of London manners for provincials a long way from London. The gatherings allowed remote planters like Washington to feel a part of a larger social whole, and many of the founders binged on theater when they could. In Williamsburg, a young burgess, Thomas Jefferson, could spend eight evenings out of 10 at the theater, and Colonel Washington only a night or two behind him. Here is Washington’s diary for one particularly dense horseracing week in Annapolis, Maryland, in October of 1770:

Oct. 5: Reached Annapolis. Dined at the Coffee House with the Jocky Club and lodgd at the Govers, after going to the Play.

Oct. 6: Dined at Majr. Jenifer’s. Went to the Ball, and suppd at the Govrs.

Oct 7: Dined at the Govrs, and went to the Play

Oct. 8: Dined at Colo. Loyd’s and went to the Play

Oct. 9: Dined at Mr. Ridout’s. Went to the Play and to the Govrs to Supper. Such a whirlwind of races, dinners, balls, clubs, and plays were part of the

intense social rhythm of the upper echelon of colonial life. During the racing weeks in Maryland and the “public times” and court seasons in Williamsburg, the beau-monde would gather, and actors would be there to perform six nights a week. The business of theater was never

John Gay’s The Beggar's Opera was the most popular play of its day, both in London and in British America, for its satire of English government. William Hogarth painted this scene. A playbill from a 1762 performance in Williamsburg (inset).

For provincial Americans, the theater was “London in a box.” For planters a long way from the social opportunities of London, there was no better model for gentility than the theater, where British-trained actors displayed the latest manners and fashions.

better or more appealing than before the war.

For provincial Americans, the theater was “London in a box.” For planters a long way from the social opportunities of London, there was no better model for gentility than the theater, where British-trained actors displayed the latest manners and fashions. Rhetorical skills as well were on display in the theater, and so many of the famous speeches of the revolutionary era, from Patrick Henry’s ‘Cato’ speech at St. John’s Church, to Warren’s Fifth of March oration—even Washington’s composition of his Farewell Address—all were described by auditors and readers as powerful theater, in the best sense of the word. As historian Gordon Wood has noted, Washington desired deeply to be seen as a gentleman, to learn the codes of behavior, the manners, postures, the insider language of gentility. His Rules of Civility documents this ambition, and portraits of him reveal the theatrical language of posture, costume, and pose.

Acts of War

But following the Boston Massacre in March 1770, political overtones began to appear in staged stories— about tyranny, resistance, and civil war. These were topics about which spectators—like Washington, sharing a side box with Maryland governor Robert Eden or the Reverend Jonathan Boucher, Washington’s stepson Jacky Custis’s tutor—might have found themselves increasingly divided. Plays such as Julius Caesar, Cato, and King John, and even comedies like The Recruiting Officer, became arguments for emerging American nationalism. Staged versions of rebellions (such as the character Hotspur’s in Shakespeare’s Henry IV ) or lines in Sempronius’ speech in Cato became a rallying cry:

“My voice is still for war.

Gods! Can Roman senate long debate

Which of the two to choose, Slav’ry or Death!”

One can imagine the squirming in the seats over the topicality of such stories. In addition, performances included thinly veiled political references to contraband goods, loyalist anthems, tea drinking, or toasting the king.

In June of 1770, in an act of solidarity, the Virginia burgesses gathered in Williamsburg to sign the Non-Importation Agreement that pledged their boycott

of fine goods and British luxuries, and Washington was among those who signed, on June 22, and then adjourned to the theater that very night, to sit in a box with his fellow signatories and watch plays. Jefferson was on his biggest theater binge that session as well, attending plays 11 times in 13 days, even twice on one day, whereas Washington attended but a meager five nights that week. But they had gathered there to hammer out the business of encouraging “frugality,” and pledge their support of a boycott of British goods. One can only wonder at what conversations occurred in those side-boxes at the plays that week, watching The Beggar’s Opera, with its allegory of corrupt ministers, or Julius Caesar. Or why theater was a carve-out from the list of luxury goods, particularly when so many of the fashionable imports these colonists had just agreed to boycott were on full display on the stage.

Those who signed the agreement, the “associators,” were calling for a “homespun” economy while they gathered in the theater to watch Nancy Hallam in her silk brocaded Turkish pantaloons, bejeweled belt and sword, ostrich-feathered headdress, and spangled slippers— exactly the sort of imported luxury goods they said they would have none of. Hudson Muse, another delegate to the Virginia Assembly, wrote of the dazzling display of fashion and finery crowded into the theater, spectators and actors both, captured in the brushwork of Charles Willson Peale’s portrait of the “superfine” Miss Nancy Hallam.

Dramatic New Narratives

Once the war began, the theater also had a way of shaping conceptions of the events and their outcomes, and this was true on both sides of the Atlantic. The Blockade of Boston , a farce about the American resistance by

From this “theatre of war,” began to emerge a new story for a new nation, one that influences American notions of nationhood still today.

British general John Burgoyne, ridiculed Americans as underclass interlopers. In the play, Washington is portrayed as a lanky provincial with a fancy title and a rusty musket, “speechifying” on liberty. On the floor of Parliament and in the papers, the British wrote of the “farce of American liberty,” and staged it that way, in Boston. For their part, the Americans wrote and spoke frequently of the “tragedy of American liberty,” as Abigail Adams did, fearing the carnage to come, when ships of tea arrived in Boston Harbor. She wrote to her friend, the poet and political playwright Mercy Otis Warren: “Very many of our Heroes will spend their lives in the cause, with the Speech of Cato in their mouths, ‘What a pity is it, that we can die but once to save our Country.’” From this “theatre of war,” began to emerge a new story for a new nation, one that influences American notions of nationhood still today.

Many biographers of Washington—T.H. Breen, Ron Chernow, Kevin Hayes, Paul Longmore, and others—have noted how deeply Washington internalized the notion of social performance, his compulsion to “stage” his

part in “the grand theater of life,” his ubiquitous use of theater metaphors, his posturing apparel, and the gestural language in his portraiture. They are noting nothing more than what Washington’s closest contemporaries noted. Major General Robert Howe referred to Washington as “so Capital an Actor” in “the Glorious Scene.” Many fellow “76ers” looked back on the great drama of their times and reflected on having played well their parts, none better than Washington, of whom his own vice president, John Adams, wrote (with some envy): “He was the best performer of the Presidency.”

Odai Johnson is an American theater scholar, a member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, and the author of several books on 18th-century and American theater, most notably, London in a Box: Englishness and Theatre in Revolutionary America. He was recently a research fellow at Mount Vernon’s Washington Library, where he was working on his forthcoming book, The Theatre of War

On both sides of the Atlantic, the 18th–century stage—and even depictions of the stage—sometimes became a way to satirize and criticize.

t oy

S torie S

The secret lives of children’s playthings unearthed at Mount Ver non

BY LILY CARHART

Photos by Sierra Medellin

Children have been a constant presence at Mount Vernon, residing or visiting for almost 300 years. It’s no surprise that toys were lost on the estate, surely to the heartbreak of their owners. During their work on the estate, Mount Vernon’s archaeologists have recovered many of these lost toys, and while they are unable to return them to their owners, they do study them to obtain a glimpse into the lives of the children and the societies in which they lived.

Children are the future of a society, and toys are a tool adults use, consciously or not, to teach concepts of age, gender, and social class. Children in turn adapt these concepts to suit themselves and their peers. The study of children’s toys reveals much about children’s relationships to each other, to adults, and to the environments in which they lived. For example, researchers can explore 18th-century American attitudes regarding gender roles by looking at dolls and tea sets or marbles and toy soldiers.

Here’s a sampling of toys excavated at Mount Vernon. They open a door to the lives of children, whether they were part of the Washington family or the enslaved community, or visitors touring the grounds on a family visit.

Lily Carhart is the curator of preservation collections and is responsible for the curation of and the research involving both Mount Vernon’s archaeological and architectural collections.

A sampling of the toy and game pieces found by Mount Vernon archaeologists over the years, dating back 300 years, or perhaps even longer.

clay figurines

Originally made with religious themes, they evolved to reflect a changing social climate

These two figurines are possibly the oldest toys in the archaeological collection. Their discovery within the pre1759 layers of a large trash midden makes it possible that they belonged to Sarah, Lawrence Washington’s daughter who died in 1754, or even to a young George Washington himself or his younger siblings.

The manufacture of clay figurines began in medieval Europe, and they were originally made with religious, royal, and commercial themes. Made inexpensively from the same clay used to

make tobacco pipes, these figurines were accessible to all social strata. The designs were adaptable and reflected the changing social, religious, political, and economic climate of Europe in the 16th through 18th centuries.

These particular figurines, a woman with a small animal (left) and a man with a hat and staff (right), were likely manufactured in England using a mold copied from a Dutch original. The rough workmanship and simple subject matter indicate they were toys, appealing to the imaginations of children.

marbles

The most commonly excavated toy at Mount Vernon

Marbles are one of the most recognizable toys in the world, played with by children from many cultures for thousands of years. More than 35 have been excavated at Mount Vernon, made from all types of materials and found in every corner of the plantation, including the lawns around the Mansion and the distillery, and near dwellings for the enslaved workers at the Mansion House and Union Farms.

Boys in particular were encouraged to play with marbles, as the activity taught them to think independently and strategically. Children of lower economic status or those who were enslaved could use homemade or domestically manufactured earthenware marbles to win more expensive, German-made, stoneware, porcelain, limestone, or glass marbles in a game. Unsurprisingly, marbles were the most commonly owned toy by enslaved children on plantations.

pits & pebbles

And corn husks and bits of leather made for popular homemade toys

Like children everywhere, those who lived at Mount Vernon in the 18th and 19th centuries did not play only with manufactured toys. They often made their own using available organic materials. Scraps of cloth, leather, or wood were crafted into dolls or figurines; corn husks were folded into dolls; pits, seeds, and pebbles were used as game pieces; and the grounds and landscape were manipulated into boards for games rooted in both European and African traditions.

Written accounts from that time indicate that even with the increased access to mass-produced toys, many children preferred homemade ones. Due to their ephemeral nature, toys made from organic materials are rarely recovered. However, archaeologists have recovered examples of peach pits, corn kernels, and charcoal that toys of this kind were made from.

dolls

Little women in 18th-century society

In 1760, George Washington purchased from a toy maker in London a “Neat dressed Wax baby” for his new, fouryear-old stepdaughter, Patsy. In the 18th and 19th centuries, young girls like Patsy were encouraged to play with dolls to learn the accepted behaviors they would need as future women in society. They learned to sew and developed an appreciation for fashion by making clothing for their dolls, and practiced proper etiquette by hosting make-believe tea parties.

The majority of families of the era in Virginia made dolls for their children at home out of organic materials, but affluent families could purchase imported cloth dolls with heads, hands, and feet made of wood, wax, or porcelain. These were dressed in miniature versions of the high fashion of the day. This unglazed porcelain doll fragment (above) excavated from Union Farm, was manufactured in Germany and was likely owned by a Quaker child who lived on the property after the 1840s.

toy soldiers

Boys into men: a concept of manhood

While children have played at war for thousands of years, toy soldiers only emerged in the Middle Ages. Historically, boys were encouraged to play with toy soldiers to reenact battles or stage mock military engagements because such play fostered independent thinking and prepared them for their roles in society. It is possible that the children who owned these toy soldiers were visiting Mount Vernon to learn about General Washington or to pay their respects.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, toy soldiers like the Prussian Dragoon that George Washington purchased for his stepson Jacky were made from materials like wood, stone, and metal. The plastic “army men,” like (from left to right) this Civil War soldier, LIDO World War II combat soldier, and Marx Alamo frontiersman, were first manufactured in the United States in the 1930s and within 20 years had flooded the market. They are still produced in great quantities today.

20 th-century toys

Lost and found items from family or school trips to Mount Vernon

The modern era witnessed an explosion of mass-produced toys and games, and many have been left behind by children who visit Mount Vernon each year. Mount Vernon’s archaeologists usually find these in the uppermost layers of excavations on the south and east lawns where school groups and families stop to enjoy the view and to take photos in front of the Mansion.

This easily recognizable diecast Monopoly battleship (below), one of only two tokens continuously used since the

game was invented in 1934, and a coin from a 1930s magic kit, reflect the rise in popularity of board games and toy sets in the early 20th century. Toy production really boomed with the development of different types of plastic around World War II. Toy makers started putting out lines of entirely plastic toys, like Barbie dolls and this gumball-machine Gumby (below), a popular television character from the 1950s and ’60s.

P OTOMAC TEA PARTY

For the Ladies of Mount Vernon in the early years, tea was always a good idea

BY REBECCA BAIRD

The formality of a Mount Vernon visit by present-day dignitaries or public figures differs greatly from the more casual gatherings offered to these guests in earlier years—afternoon tea. In fact, for many years when the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association was in residence during its annual board meeting, called Council, afternoon tea held a permanent spot on the daily itinerary. The MVLA graciously hosted personal friends, donors, neighbors, staff, and VIPs for these social events featuring beverages, snacks, and a historic view. The organization’s Regent and Vice Regents also received invitations to have tea away from the estate at other historical sites such as Woodlawn, Pohick Church, and even the White House.

The occasional mention of taking tea during Council appears in the MVLA’s minutes and annual reports dating back to the 1880s. The tradition reached its peak in the mid-20th century, from the 1930s to the 1950s. The Mount Vernon Society in Detroit, an outside group formed to support the MVLA, organized an annual Washington’s Birthday tea starting in the 1890s, which raised money for the estate. Several other Vice Regents periodically reported hosting tea parties for the benefit of Mount Vernon in their own states. On occasion, everyone donned colonial costume, especially in honor of the first president’s birth or other anniversaries. The Vice Regents donated fine teapots, cups, and saucers specifically for the board to entertain guests. Until the 1930s, they served tea in the Front Parlor, the grand, two-story-tall New Room, or the

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt stands with several Vice Regents during her visit in 1933 (opposite). Frances Bolton, Vice Regent (Ohio), serves tea during the 100th anniversary celebration of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association in 1953 (above).

piazza when the weather allowed. Once an administration building (now known as the Bolton Building) was constructed on the grounds in 1930, both intimate friends and acquaintances were received in one of its common rooms. Larger groups and VIPs continued to be greeted in the Mansion. The logistics of preparing an elegant and memorable tea fell to the MVLA’s Household Committee, whose official duties involved taking charge of “articles pertaining to the dining room and kitchen, which articles include china, linen, and silver, to keep a yearly inventory of the same and report on all necessary expenditures.” A housekeeper and cook employed by the Association set tables, made food and drinks, and cleaned up after each event or meal.

The Governor’s Board of Visitors came to Mount Vernon every year, often accompanied by the governor himself. They were always welcomed to tea following their tour of the Tomb and the grounds. They mingled throughout several rooms, usually ending up on the piazza. Other special guests who happened to visit during MVLA’s Council frequently received an invitation to tea, such as a party of descendants of French heroes from the American Revolution and banker and philanthropist J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr., a member of MVLA’s advisory board, who arrived on his yacht. The Vice Regents also attended an annual teatime with Mount Vernon’s resident director Charles Cecil Wall and his wife at their home on the estate. Other employees and their spouses regularly participated as well.

very beautiful afternoon. The President looked very well and engaged in conversation with various Vice Regents.” Mrs. Roosevelt’s final tea in 1941 was a much more private affair, being served in the Association’s quarters after a tour of the Mansion and museum.

The Vice Regents served guests themselves from time to time. For Mrs. Hoover’s 1932 trip to Mount Vernon, the Regent requested “Miss Failing, Vice Regent for Oregon, pour coffee from the coffee urn, and Mrs. Denham, Vice Regent for Florida, pour tea.” And when the MVLA celebrated its centennial anniversary with an outdoor teatime reception in 1953, each Vice Regent took turns in the reception line and in “pouring tea under the marquee.”

By 1960, some of the Vice Regents were questioning whether to carry on the tradition. “[S]erving tea and drinks in the Banquet Hall is not in keeping with the dignity of the Mansion as well as being difficult from a practical point of view,” as they had to close off rooms to tourists during the events. Daily tea during Council moved to the administration building for all but the largest groups, which usually met on the piazza. While the tradition continued for several more decades, the frequency and size of the parties decreased. At the height of this tradition, however, the Vice Regents were simply following the example set by George and Martha Washington, who also regularly offered their guests tea within the same rooms in the Mansion at Mount Vernon.

The most elaborate of these receptions, however, were reserved for the nation’s first ladies, and on one occasion, the U.S. president himself. First Lady Lou Henry Hoover came to afternoon tea in 1929 and 1932, and Mamie Eisenhower in 1960.

Eleanor Roosevelt logged the most tea times, meeting with the Vice Regents four times during her husband’s tenure. President Roosevelt, an admirer and supporter of Mount Vernon, was welcomed by the MVLA alongside his wife in 1936, an experience described in the Council minutes as “a very interesting and delightful occasion, long to be remembered by those who participated in it; a

Rebecca Baird is the archivist for the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. She holds a master’s of library science degree from Emporia State University and is a certified archivist and digital archives specialist.

ROOSEVELT)

MOUNT VERNON OFFERS “TEA WITH MARTHA WASHINGTON” AT THE MOUNT VERNON INN AT SELECT TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. VISIT WWW.MOUNTVERNON.ORG/MARTHATEA

Learning to the Beat

An Oregon teacher weaves music, art, and slam poetry into lessons on U.S. history

LADIES’ ASSOCIATION

Clockwise from top: Lois MacMillan on a school trip to see Hamilton in San Francisco; teaching in her classroom; and with two students who had won an award for their historical rap.

Asocial studies teacher at Grants Pass High School, in Grants Pass, Oregon, Lois MacMillan is nationally recognized for her work using music and theater to connect students with history, including as a fellow with the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation and as a recipient of the Grammy Museum's Jane Ortner Award. She is also a 2021–2022 member of Mount Vernon’s George Washington Teacher Institute Advisory Group.

How does George Washington figure into your teaching? I visited Mount Vernon in 2004 for the first time, and it deeply influenced my teaching. Mount Vernon’s digital classroom resources have also been a useful resource, especially “Now or Never: The Yorktown Campaign.” The American history curriculum in high school starts with the Civil War. I emphasize that the Union, Lincoln, the Confederacy, and Davis—they all wanted to be right with the founding generation and invoked George Washington constantly. I literally say, “Everyone wants to be like George!” In my World Cultures class, I incorporate Washington when I teach the French Revolution. I use the Bastille key that Lafayette sent to Washington to teach the storming of the Bastille.

Tell us about your unit, “Rappin’ History,” which won the 2018 Grammy Museum’s Jane Ortner Award for using music in the non-music classroom. Using primary documents and secondary sources, I created steps with rules to compose historical raps. The culminating lesson was students creating their own raps in small groups or as a whole class. In the first year, I created a five-day lesson based on the narrative of Joseph Plumb Martin, a Continental soldier in Washington’s army. In my advanced American history class, my students read David McCullough’s 1776 and created raps based on what they learned in the book. The two best were on Henry Knox (“Knox the Ox”) and a rap battle between George Washington and King George III (“Battle of the Georges”).

What’s been the impact on students?When students create a product like a rap, slam poetry, or a piece of art out of what they learn, it creates energy, excitement, and genuine understanding. When working with teachers in my role as a Hamilton Education Fellow, I remind them that students benefit from alternative ways of demonstrating their knowledge. The biggest benefit is that it makes learning fun.

How do you make 18th-century events resonate with young people? My first task is teaching how to approach a complex 18th-century primary document. Once they understand how to read the document, the analysis becomes fun. People are endlessly fascinating to young people, so learning about complex individuals naturally resonates. In recent years, teachers have had more access to documents regarding not just the famous guys like Washington, but also women, Native Americans, and enslaved people in the 18th century, which creates concentric circles around what was happening in our founding era. Mount Vernon has done a superb job tackling the thorny and complex issue of slavery in our history

What do you hope students take away from your classes? I hope the takeaway is a love of history. After my class, my students want to visit places like Mount Vernon, Monticello, Cedar Hill, or Gettysburg. For me, George Washington is so easy to weave throughout our whole history. He's complex, which makes for great study.

Spring Fundraiser

The Founders Committee supports new exhibit

On June 5, The Founders, Washington Committee for Historic Mount Vernon, hosted more than 150 guests for its annual spring fundraiser. The event raised more than $200,000 to support Mount Vernon: The Story of an American Icon, the new exhibit in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum.

Guests enjoyed tours of the new exhibit, sublime weather, refreshing cocktails, stirring conversation, and an unfettered view of the Potomac River.

Proceeds from the event will support this eye-opening exhibit, which showcases Mount Vernon’s unsurpassed collections as a way to share stories of the Washington family,

the historic estate, and the many individuals involved in preserving this American treasure for generations to come.

T he Founders Committee is a by-invitation group of women from the National Capital area. Since 1980, the group has raised more than $3 million for various programs, projects, and publications to preserve Washington’s estate and educate the public.

The outdoor event (left) featured (clockwise from top) the Vice Regent Emerita for the District of Columbia and the Vice Regent for Wyoming; Regent Margaret Nichols addressing the crowd; Doug Bradburn, Mount Vernon president and CEO, and Valerie Burden, Founders Committee chair, clinking glasses; and Carol and Peter Kirby participating in the huzzahs. PHOTOS

Texas Tour

A series of events in the Lone Star State raises funds and awareness

In March, Mount Vernon and Ann Haunschild Bookout, seventh V ice Regent for Texas, hosted a series of events in Dallas and Houston, bringing the message of George Washington to the Lone Star State.

Texans have long supported the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, contributing to the original campaign to purchase Mount Vernon from the Washington family in the 1850s, as well as the 1899 construction of the Texas Gate, Mount Vernon’s official estate entrance, under the leadership of Frances Maxey, third Vice Regent for Texas. The Texas Gate was restored in 1999 with the support of generous Texans through a campaign led by Helen Anderson, the 12th Regent and fifth Vice Regent for Texas.

The events began in Dallas with an intimate welcome reception on March 7 for donors and prospects hosted by Washington Cabinet members Gloria and Juan Ernesto Snead. The following day, Harlan and

Kathy Crow welcomed more than 175 guests to their magnificent home featuring a private library filled with art and historical documents. There were several original Washington items on display, and the event included a conversation between Mount Vernon president and CEO Douglas Bradburn, PhD, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Rick Atkinson.

The Texas tour continued on March 10. Vice Regent Bookout welcomed more than 75 guests for a reception at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. Bradburn discussed how Mount Vernon’s mission and the legacy of George Washington matter now more than ever.

These events provided an opportunity for both established supporters and new prospects in Texas to learn about Mount Vernon’s efforts to preserve the home of George Washington and to educate the world about the first president’s life and legacy.

Clockwise from top left: Original manuscripts were on display at the event at the Crow residence, which was attended by more than 175 guests, and featured Rick Atkinson, Ann H. Bookout, and Douglas Bradburn.

PHOTOS BY GRANT MILLER

Film Screening in New York

The debut of an educational film, George Washington and the Pursuit of Religious Freedom

Mount Vernon premiered its newly produced educational film, George Washington and the Pursuit of Religious Freedom, at New York City’s storied 92nd Street Y on April 28 to a group of 150 guests and more than 300 livestream viewers.

Following the screening, David Rubenstein, philanthropist and Washington Cabinet chair, moderated a conversation between Douglas Bradburn, PhD, Mount Vernon’s president and CEO, and Joanne Freeman, PhD, professor of history at Yale University.

On display were rarely seen original documents, including the letter George Washington received from the Touro Synagogue and a newspaper printing of the president’s famous reply—the seminal document reinforcing the ideals of religious liberty in the country.

Mount Vernon’s Teacher Advisory Group reviewed an advance copy of the film, which will be a powerful

digital asset for complex discussions surrounding the First Amendment, civic engagement, primary sources, and best practices in social studies education.

Irving and Nancy Chase provided support for the film. Mount Vernon intends to host additional screenings around the country. The film joins a slate of dynamic videos that convey the drama and immediacy of the founding era by combining scholarship, animation, and live-action filming. Learn more about these and other resources at mountvernon.org/classroomresources.

David Rubenstein, Joanne Freeman, and Douglas Bradburn discuss George Washington and religious freedom following the film’s screening.

A Puzzle of a Man

In the 19th century, George Washington’s likeness was popular on jigsaw puzzles THE

The first jigsaw puzzle was likely produced in London around 1760, using a marquetry saw. It was a map of Europe by cartographer John Spilsbury, adhered to sheets of hardwood and cut along national boundaries, creating a game useful for teaching geography. Puzzles have long been used as a form of entertainment and education, their popularity ebbing and flowing with the times. Not surprisingly, the sale of jigsaw puzzles grew exponentially in the last two years as pandemic restrictions forced millions of Americans to stay home.

There is no evidence that George Washington himself ever owned a jigsaw puzzle. However, his likeness has been reproduced since the 19th century on puzzles and games. These examples—of paper, wood, and cardboard—showcase the popularity of Washington’s image throughout the years. The America puzzle (upper right) dates to the 1880s and was likely part of a word game called Sliced Objects, published by Peter G. Thomson, founder of the Champion Coated Paper Co. The small wooden puzzle commemorating Washington’s birth (right) appears to resemble a postcard both in size and design. The historical scene (opposite), by illustrator Henry Alexander Ogden, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was likely made to both challenge and inspire young minds.

Puzzles have long been used as a form of entertainment and education, their popularity ebbing and flowing with the times.