Stewards of Memory

The Past, Present, and Future of Historic Preservation at George Washington's Mount Vernon

Luke J. Pecoraro, Thomas A. Reinhart, Carol Borchert Cadou

• Publisher: University of Virginia Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9780813941516
• eBook ISBN:
  9780813941530
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: History of Architecture

Mount Vernon, despite its importance as the estate of George Washington, is subject to the same threats of time as any property and has required considerable resources and organization to endure as a historic site and house. This book provides a window into the broad scope of preservation work undertaken at Mount Vernon over the course of more than 160 years and places this work within the context of America's regional and national preservation efforts.

It was at Mount Vernon, beginning with efforts in 1853, that the American tradition of historic preservation truly took hold. As the nation's oldest historic house museum, Mount Vernon offers a unique opportunity to chronicle preservation challenges and successes over time as well as to forecast those of the future. Stewards of Memory features essays by senior scholars who helped define American historic preservation in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, including Carl R. Lounsbury, George W. McDaniel, and Carter L. Hudgins. Their contributions—complemented by those of Scott E. Casper, Lydia Mattice Brandt, and Mount Vernon's own preservation scholars—offer insights into the changing nature of the field. The multifaceted story told here will be invaluable to students of historic preservation, historic site professionals, specialists in the preservation field, and any reader with an interest in American historic preservation and Mount Vernon.

Support provided by the David Bruce Smith Book Fund and the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.

Index

Accokeek Foundation, 86, 87, 123, 135

Adam, Robert, 45, 67n46

Adams, John, 207

Adam Thoroughgood House (Virginia Beach, VA), 21

Adelphia Paperhangings, 50

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, xxix

African American cemeteries: in Ashley River region, 137; slave cemetery at Mount Vernon, 81–85, 91n26

African Americans, role in colonial society, 37n7

African Americans and the preservation of Mount Vernon, 173–92; Thomas Bushrod and, 182–83; as historical consultants, 188–90; William (Will) Holland and, 183–84; William (Billy) Lee and, 180; Edmund Parker and, 175–80; physical and commercial work and, 184–88; Oliver Smith and, 180–81; Phil Smith and, 181; storytelling role of, 180–84

Albuquerque, management of Petroglyph National Monument and, 131, 132–34

Alexandria Gazette, 186

Alice Ferguson Foundation, 86

American Architect and Architecture, article on preservation of Mount Vernon, 159–60

American Geography, The (Morse), 55

American Historical Register, 154

American Rivers organization, 145

antiquarianism, 16

Antiquities Act of 1906, xxii–xxiii

Appleton, William Sumner, 197

apprenticeships, at historic house museums, 210

archaeological excavations, at historic sites, 21–22

archaeology of Mount Vernon, 10, 70–91; cultural landscape, 78–81; early research efforts (1859–1930), 72–73; path to authenticity (1931–76), 73–76; permanent archaeology program (1976–present), xxxi, 10, 76–78, 90n18; preserving Washington’s view, 85–87; slave cemetery and plantation neighborhood, 81–85

architectural drawings of Mount Vernon’s Mansion House and outbuildings, 97

architectural histories of early America: art history and, 23–25, 35–36; rethinking purpose of, 26–27; traditional, 23–24

architecture: balustrade and piazza in popular American, 164–65; as expression of social behavior and cultural practices, 31, 32, 33–34; historic buildings and popular, 151–52; replicas of Mount Vernon, 151–52, 154–61; tree-ring analysis and chronology of, 20–21

Architecture, 154

art history, new architectural history and, 23–25, 35–36

Ashley River Park, 144

Ashley River region (SC), whole place preservation and, 135–45

Ashl...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• A Chronology of Historic Preservation at Mount Vernon in National Context
• Introduction
• New History in Old Buildings: Architectural Research and Public History in the Chesapeake
• “Distinguished by the Name of the New Room”: Reinvestigation and Reinterpretation of George Washington’s Grandest Space
• “We Have Done Very Little Investigation There; There Is a Great Deal Yet to Do”: The Archaeology of George Washington’s Mount Vernon
• Mount Vernon’s Historic Building Information Management System: Digital Strategies for Preservation in the Twenty-First Century
• Stepping Up and Saving Places: Case Studies in Whole Place Preservation
• The Dangers of Preserving while Popular: The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association’s Image of Mount Vernon versus Contemporary Architecture
• Saving Mount Vernon, in Black and White: Toward an Alternative History of Historic Preservation
• Mount Vernon and America’s Historic House Museums: Old Roles and New Responsibilities in the Preservation of Place
• Conclusion
• Contributors
• Index