Scope and Contents This collection includes audio and video resources related to Mount Vernon, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, and George Washington. Many audio and video recordings in the collection were either produced by, or made in cooperation with, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. However, there are also AV productions made by other institutions, corporations, and media companies. Content includes footage and recordings of events, interviews, lectures, VIP visitors, and views of the estate....

Content Description

This collection includes correspondence between John Augustine Washington III and his mother and wife, as well as other family members, mostly dealing with family matters and running Mount Vernon.

Content Description The Bushrod Washington Family Papers consist of documents gathered by the descendants of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The collection comprises an assortment of correspondence and legal documents documenting the lives and property ownership of several branches of the Washington family. The collection is organized into five series: Correspondence, Legal Documents, Social, Miscellaneous, and Indenture Notices (Land Deeds).The Correspondence series,...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of papers inherited and collected by Washington family descendants. Many were purchased in 1927 at auction to reunite Washington family correspondence. The collection includes correspondence, financial documents and legal documents that relate primarily to the Custis and Lewis families, but include other items related to Virginia history. Charles and Peter Chapin, the previous owners of this collection, descended from Eleanor Parke Custis and Lawrence Lewis through...

Scope and Contents The nucleus of this collection was created from papers given to the Association by Ann Pamela Cunningham around the time of her retirement as Regent. Several other Vice Regents followed her example and later donated their papers as well. These records were referred to as the “Early Records” since the time they were first established as an archival collection. A large portion of this collection is correspondence concerning the founding of the MVLA and the operation of Mount Vernon as a...

Scope and Contents This collection contains correspondence to or from Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, the lifelong friend of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis. The majority of the collection contains letters to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson from Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis. The correspondence focuses on the Gibson and Lewis families, political events, and the people of Philadelphia. The dates of the material in this collection ranges from 1794-1851, with the bulk of the material dating between 1820-1840. This collection was...

Scope and Contents At the time of her death, Mrs. Ball was preparing to publish a book on the life and ancestry of Mary Ball Washington. She struggled during her later years, however, and never completed the project. A portion of the research files she used for this project are represented in this collection. Mount Vernon received this material from Alison Burdick, Vice Regent for Delaware, sometime around March 1965 after she sorted through the collection and weeded some of its content. A report written by...

Scope and Contents Scope and Content: This collection was originally assembled by Esther Maria Lewis Chapin, who inherited some of the Washington and Custis papers but was also an avid collector. She reassembled family materials that were being dispersed nationwide, much of which was purchased at Anderson Galleries, sale 22001, 28-29 November 1927. The collection contains correspondence, legal documents, and financial records related primarily to the Custis and Lewis families. Much of the financial and legal...

Scope and Contents This collection holds the historic financial records of the MVLA including accounting ledgers, tax documents, insurance papers, receipts, invoices, payroll lists, annual and quarterly budgets, financial statements and reports, policies, contracts, correspondence, and other miscellaneous items. Records in this collection contain information on the Association’s financial accounting, revenue, expenditures, employees and employee benefits, investments, taxes, and other financial concerns. There...

Scope and Contents Ephemera collected by Geo. Gregory Smart related to the memory and popular image of George Washington. The collection includes postcards, calendars, cigar boxes covers, stamps and first day covers, programs for anniversary events, books and pamphlets, hat stands, billheads, stationary, cartes-de-visite, playing cards, and puzzles. Some items are catchy such as a hat stand touting the motto “friends you can hang your hat on,” while others are designed to be more educational such as...

Scope and Contents

This collection contains letters to and from George Washington that have been aquired by the MVLA since 1858. For more information, see content note for individal items. The collection grows organically as new items are acquired.

Content Description

George Washington's Mount Vernon Magazine is published three times a year to disseminate information on the events and current news at the Mount Vernon estate. This publication replaces the previous version, "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow", or YTT, which was published for the same purpose and audience. Articles include information on recent and upcoming events, restoration projects, interesting museum and library accessions, book reviews, fundraising opportunities, etc.

Scope and Contents

This is a collection of large ledgers or books with the signatures and autographs of Mount Vernon visitors and special guests. The books date from 1850 to the present day and some registers overlap in date.

Scope and Contents

This collection includes ephemera from 1796-1986, and contains a variety of formats that primarily relate to the portrayal of George Washington.

Portions of this collection have been digitized, as noted in the item-level descriptions.

Scope and Contents

This collection of historic manuscripts dates from 1607-1933, with the bulk of materials dating from 1738-1868. The correspondence, journals and diaries, legal and financial records, estate documents, and printed ephemera in the collection primarily relate to the Washington and Custis families, the Revolutionary War, and society life in antebellum Washington D.C. and Virginia.

Portions of this collection have been digitized, as noted in the item-level descriptions.

Scope and Contents

This collection of historic maps date from 1675-1971, and primarily relate to the Washington and Custis families, the Revolutionary War, and society life in antebellum Washington D.C. and Virginia. Includes matching editions of maps personally owned by George Washington.

Note: surveys created by George Washington are found in the George Washington Collection.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes 185 titles spanning 200 years; all related to George Washington, his family, and Mount Vernon.

Scope and Contents The Historical Photograph Collection is largely comprised of materials created by or for the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Some of the earliest photographs of the estate were created and sold to visitors by the Association as a means of income. Those efforts helped to establish an important collection of 19th century views. The collection spans the 1850s to 2000s and includes over 140 linear feet of analog material providing a visual history of the Mansion, outbuildings, tombs, grounds,...

Scope and Contents The bulk of this collection is made up of letters from Jane Charlotte Washington to her son, John Augustine Washington III. Also included are letters to Eleanor Love Selden Washington, a few letters to or from John Augustine Washington III to various individuals, several letters from George Mason of Hollin Hall (1797-1870) to John Augustine Washington III, letters by Lackland and Alexander family members (relatives of the Washingtons) and three receipts. The subject matter of most letters is...

Scope and Contents This collection contains correspondence, legal documents, financial records, and other documents related to John Augustine Washington III and his son Lawrence, as well as his granddaughters Anne and Patty. The bulk of the correspondence series are letters sent to John Augustine Washington III 1840-1860. They deal with family affairs and the management of various family plantations, including Mount Vernon. The late-nineteenth and twentieth century papers are divided into subject files,...

Scope and Contents

The collection contains correspondence between John Augustine Washington III and his wife Eleanor Love Selden. The letters begin during the Washingtons’ engagement and continues through eighteen years of marriage, ending with a letter from John Augustine to Eleanor composed the day prior to her sudden death. The letters contain information on family matters, the management of the Mount Vernon estate, and plantation life prior to the Civil War.

Scope and Contents This collection concerns the inheritance, maintenance, and sale of the Mount Vernon estate by its last private owner, John Augustine Washington III. A large majority of the collection is correspondence to or from John Augustine Washington III with a significant portion relating to the purchase of the estate by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Three diaries kept by John Augustine are also included and contain important information about his slaves, agricultural practices, and finances....

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of 10 boxes containing research materials relating the the Washington family genealogy. Some of the materials are organized by a numbering system, which may be available in the index of the published volumes.

Scope and Contents

This small collection contains records concerning land gifts, purchases, and easements obtained by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Types of records include deeds, memorandums, signed agreements, land plats, maps, drawings, and correspondence. The material dates from 1858 to 2006, however there is some information on Washington family property that dates from the 1830s (the originals of these items were removed and replaced with photocopies in 2001).

Content Description

This collection (269 letters) includes correspondence regarding family matters, farm business, legal questions about various wills, including that of George Washington, buying and selling of slaves and land, letters from friends, travels, and business interests. Also included are financial papers, including accounts and bills for various services, many dealing with daily life, building materials, education expenses, books, taxes paid/owed, and financial transactions.

Scope and Contents

A large portion of this collection consists of letters to and from John Augustine Washington III related to the sale of Mount Vernon. Other items include family wills, legal documents, receipts, correspondence related to Washington relics, as well as several photographs and miscellany. Inclusive dates, 1787-1932.

Scope and Contents

Maps collected by, or created by, Mount Vernon staff and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Includes maps of the estate itself, as well as the surrounding neighborhood, the viewshed, and Fairfax County. Dates range from the 1850s to 1992, with bulk dates in the 1930s-1960s.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains letters to and from Martha Washington that have been acquired by the MVLA since 1858. For more information, see content note for individual items. The collection grows organically as new items are acquired.

Scope and Contents

This collections contains the architectural drawings of Mount Vernon including the measured drawings of the Mansion, outbuildings, and other MVLA structures. The bulk of material dates from the 1930s (during the tenure of the Director of Research and Restoration, Morley Jeffers Williams) through the 1990s. The drawings were accumulated by, and transferred to, the library/archives over time and are now compiled into this collection based on format and purpose.

Scope and Contents The collection consists of correspondence, reports, surveys, newspaper clippings, biographies and other written works, bibliographies, excerpts from diaries, letters, inventories and ledgers, various types of architectural and archaeological drawings, maps, and images documenting the work and research conducted during Morley Jeffers Williams’s tenure at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Williams compiled the majority of the documents and images found in this collection between 1931 and...