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Saving America's Past: Women in Preservation
Saving America's Past: Women in Preservation
with Amanda Roper
Wednesday, March 25th
7:00PM
The Lyceum, 201 S. Washington St., Alexandria
Doors open at 6:30. Light refreshments will be available
Still $5 for Non-Members / Members Free
This talk will explore the significant and evolving role women have played in historic preservation, particularly through house museums. In the decades following America’s founding, women engaged in civic conversations and shaped collective historical memory by saving sites connected to the nation’s early history. In the modern era, women led the way in ensuring more voices and places were reflected in our national narrative. This presentation will highlight some key people, properties, and moments in the history of preservation with a special emphasis on sites in Alexandria, including Mount Vernon and the Pope-Leighey House.
Amanda Roper is a public historian who has spent her career preserving historic places and sharing traditionally underrepresented stories from America's past. Amanda holds a degree in history from the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina where she helped open McLeod Plantation Historic Site in 2015. After relocating to Northern Virginia, Amanda worked for the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, D.C. She was also Director of the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Sr. Manager of Public Programs & Interpretation at Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria, Virginia.
Amanda is currently researching and writing a book about the history of women in preservation and is a 2025-2026 Research Fellow at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.
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