When George Washington died in 1799, the inventory of Mount Vernon listed twelve spyglasses in the house: eleven in Washington’s study and one in the Central Passage. Why did Washington accumulate so many spyglasses? Washington had numerous occasions to use a spyglass (or handheld telescope) over the course of his life. As Commander-in-Chief during the [...]
“New York City played an important role in the public life of George Washington, spanning the final five decades of the eighteenth century,” argues Michael D. Hattem, doctoral candidate in history at Yale University. Interestingly, Washington both “suffered his worst military defeat and experienced some of his greatest personal triumphs in New York, including the [...]
On April 25th and 26th George Washington Ohio Teaching Ambassador, Jason Anderson, brought 22 students from Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, OH to Mount Vernon for a special program on archaeology. Why come all the way from Ohio to get your hands dirty with Mount Vernon’s archaeologists? This visit represented the culmination of a [...]
False Teeth The mythology of wooden teeth remains one of the most widely held misconceptions surrounding George Washington’s life. However, as pointed out by William Etter in today’s featured encyclopedia entry, “While Washington certainly suffered from dental problems and wore multiple sets of dentures composed of a variety of materials–including ivory, gold, and lead–wood was [...]
To celebrate our participation in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Partners in Preservation grant competition, Mount Vernon hosted our first ever Preservation Weekend on May 4th 5th with a number of special events held across the Estate. Storyteller Nancy Denver performed “Saving Mount Vernon,” the story of the courageous women of the Mount Vernon [...]
Edward Savage’s career was defined by his relationship to George Washington, argues Lydia Mattice Brandt, assistant professor of art history at the University of South Carolina. Remarkably, Savage “painted at least seven portraits of Washington and two of Martha Washington,” including the famed 1798 portrait The Washington Family, the only contemporary painting that showed Washington [...]
George Washington’s Mount Vernon is competing for a $100,000 grant to support the restoration of the Large Dining Room, or “New Room” as it was known to Washington. As one of the 24 finalists in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Partners in Preservation competition, Mount Vernon needs your votes in order to win this [...]
This post is Part 2 of our 2 part series on Spring preparations in the fields and gardens at Mount Vernon. Part 1 appeared on Tuesday April 16th. Last week we blogged about plowing the fields at Mount Vernon to prepare for the Spring planting. This week we look at the other side of Washington’s [...]
The grandson of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin Bache served as the editor and publisher of the Philadelphia-based newspaper the General Advertiser, known popularly as the Aurora. As described in today’s featured digital encyclopedia entry by Frank Casale, Assistant Professor of History at Morgan State University, Bache was trained in the craft of printing by his [...]
As part of the New Room restoration project, a fresh coat of paint will be added to the walls. Unlike painting a home today, our staff at Mount Vernon cannot head to the nearest hardware store to pick up a few gallons of Benjamin Moore. Instead, we have enlisted the help of paint experts to [...]
