Scope and Contents This collection documents the care and management of Mount Vernon through the work of the MVLA. Types of material include correspondence, reports, memos, notes, personal and biographical information, news clippings, meeting agendas, photographs, scrapbooks, and ephemera. Several highlights of the collection include the original minutes of Council meetings, scrapbooks and ledgers created by Vice Regents, and early correspondence with Regents and Vice Regents. While the library’s collection...

Scope and Contents This collection combines the papers and files of each Superintendent or Resident Director listed under “Creators,” as well as their office staff, assistants, and other Mount Vernon personnel. The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence to and from each Superintendent or Resident Director. Other types of material include reports, essays, memos, publications, clippings, official forms, logs or diaries of events, calendars, schedules, photographs, and ephemera. Subject matter...

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This collection consists of papers collected by various members of the Peter families. It includes letters from George Washington, letters of condolence to Martha Washington after George Washington’s death, estate documents, Major George Peter’s military papers, land plats and surveys, photo albums, letterbooks, and notebooks that tell of the life of this prominent family in Virginia and the City of Washington.

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This collection is comprised of three different types of documents: various accounts from individuals who have worked for the Potomac Navigation Company; lists of all the men employed by the company which details the amount of work that was done; and receipts and invoices.

Scope and Contents Educating the public on the life and legacy of George Washington, colonial life, slavery, and other relevant subjects is part of the MVLA's mission. The publication of books, brochures, and other printed material is one aspect of achieving this goal. This collection combines all printed formats published by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Associaton including books, booklets, brochures, information sheets, event announcements, bylaws, and handbooks or guidebooks. Annual Reports and the Minutes of...

Scope and Contents The Publications Committee Collection contains the files created by the MVLA and its employees who worked to research, write, and prepare publications for print. The MVLA often worked with private authors to produce educational and informative titles, and coordinated with printers to independently publish their own works. A small group of files from the Public Information Committee, which merged with the Publications Committee in 1982, is included as a second series. These records document...

Scope and Contents This collection contains publications concerning the history of Mount Vernon and George Washington that were not published by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The MVLA collaborated with other authors and publishers to produce many of these titles, however the Association was not the copyright holder. These items have been merged together into this collection but are from different sources or accessions. Most of the publications were either originally collected by the Library at Mount...

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This collection holds 34 volumes of notebooks kept by Elswyth Thane Beebe in preparation for two of her publications, "Mount Vernon is ours; the story of its preservation," 1966 and "Mount Vernon; the legacy" 1967. These notebooks contain the notes written by the author during her research on the history of Mount Vernon.

Scope and Contents This collection contains original records and photocopied documentation that was compiled in the early 1990s to provide necessary assistance for the preparation of the Historic Structures Report. Original materials include correspondence of Mount Vernon Superintendents, employees, and Vice Regents, accounts and financial documents, reports, photographs, and architectural drawings. Photocopied or printed documents were taken from ledgers, accounts, and correspondence of George Washington and...

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This collection contains approximately 300 rare printed maps, unique manuscript maps, and published texts collected by Richard H. Brown, which pertain to the American Revolutionary War era.

Scope and Contents Views of Mount Vernon spanning more than 100 years. The Robert Waldsmith Collection consists of approximately 315 stereographs and cabinet cards by Alexander Gardner, N. G. Johnson, Luke D. Dillon, and others. Highlights of the collection include: several west front views of the Mansion, including the earlist known one by Frederick Langenheim, circa 1856; an early view of the tomb, circa 1857, and an international collection of Washington statues and buildings honoring the first...

Scope and Contents Collection of 80 photographs which belonged to Miss Sarah C. Tracy (later Mrs. Upton H. Herbert), resident secretary at Mount Vernon during the Civil War years. The pictures most of which are cartes de visite were collected by Miss Tracy; some were obviously presented to her, after the fashion of the day, and are inscribed. Besides the one of herself there are three of Mount Vernon which must date from the years of her residence. Others include Leeds Castle, the English seat of Thomas, Lord...

Scope and Contents This collection includes the letter books and diaries of Superintendent Harrison H. Dodge from the 1885 to 1927, and the monthly reports to the Regent by Superintendent (later Resident Director) Charles Cecil Wall for the years 1948-1967. Dodge’s letter books contain letterpress and handwritten copies of outgoing correspondence. These were bound into 32 volumes in 1968-1969. The majority of these letters are to the Regent, and some take the form of a monthly report. Dodge’s diaries include...

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...

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The majority of this collection is made up of research files compiled by Worth Bailey while researching at Mount Vernon and other historical sites. These files contain correspondence, news clippings, images, articles, and studies. Another substantial portion of the collection contains Bailey’s drawings, woodcuts, and several printing blocks.

Scope and Contents Visitors to Mount Vernon have ceremoniously laid wreaths at the graves of George and Martha Washington for many years. This collection of “tomb books,” or registries of floral tributes, record the names and dates of the visitors and special guests who laid wreaths at the tomb. The books are originally kept by Mount Vernon employees who are assigned to watch over the tomb and facilitate the wreath-laying ceremonies. More volumes are expected to eventually be turned over to the MVLA Archives,...

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The collection of Washington forgeries and bookplates from the 19th and 20th centuries measures 1 linear foot. Found within the collection are forged Washington documents from notorious forgers Robert Spring, Joseph Cosey, and Charles Weisberg, as well as unidentified forgeries. The collection also contains bookplates – originals, restrikes, and spurious copies – from the Washington family and correspondence related to the sale of forgeries.

Scope and Contents The collection contains 41 manuscripts dating 1770-1831. Many of the manuscripts date from the era of the American Revolution, and several are directly relevant to the course of the war. Among the documents are single letters by John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, James Madison, John Marshall, James Monroe, Paul Revere, and George Washington, as well as letters and other documents that include the...