Potus1 for the Young
November 5, 2019
Today was our fullest day yet! We spent time touring both outside and inside of the mansion and listening to experts share and answer all the questions we had. We are so grateful to Zerah Jakub, our fellowship coordinator and Manager of Education Communication and Outreach, for getting us organized, introduced, and oriented to the estate!
Burgin, Jakub & Haas outside of Mount Vernon
Our first meeting of the day was with Tom Reinhart, Mount Vernon's Director of Preservation. Tom helped us understand the house from each phase of it's transformation, changing masters from George Washington's father, to half-brother, to himself. Washington was very particular, which this #ArchitectSpouse totally understands! Mount Vernon recently had the home's outer walls repainted in the same method Washington himself specified: paint the walls in a specific way with specific types of paint, then throw sand on them until not more sand sticks! It's quite striking when you look at it. Also, the outer walls are not stone, but wood! See how carefully they've been beveled and rusticated to look the way they do!
Top photo: The outer wall of Mount Vernon towards the east colonnade heading towards the kitchen.
Bottom photo by Haas: The outer wall up close.
Tom also spent time teaching us about the "new room's" stucco ceiling, done in an agricultural motif. Washington believed that agriculture would be the most important thing in the new country, and set the tone inside this room to reflect his beliefs by carefully selecting art, ceiling included! While stucco was already popular in Europe, most motifs involved musical instruments or designs to show off wealth and intellect. These motifs show off America's agricultural potential.
And yes...I had to lay down to get this shot, and I had permission! Can you see some of the agricultural tools around the center motif?
Stucco ceiling of the "new room."
Speaking of the new room, it holds a beautiful replica of a harpsichord given by George Washington to his step-granddaughter, Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis. It was said that the 14 year old was known to "whine, cry and play" while practicing, which reminds me of my own childhood piano lessons and namely the reason I stopped! Nelly continued to learn to play, however, and this instrument is known as the grandest of those at Mount Vernon.
Nelly Custis is a prominent figure at Mount Vernon in the late 18th Century; records confirm that she and her younger brother, George Washington "Washy" Parke Custis, lived with their grandparents while the older siblings lived with their mother. In a delightful 1970's book called Nelly Custis' Diary which The Washington Library has loaned us, Miriam Anne Bourne uses primary sources to reimagine what a diary written by Nelly Custis may have been like. It offers a female pre-teens view of Mount Vernon and 18th Century life that is certainly something we are taking note of for our book.
Speaking of Nelly's younger brother, he would eventually inherit the harpsichord and move it to his home at Arlington House. His daughter would grow up to run this house, and she would marry Robert E. Lee. The musical piece would eventually be returned to Mount Vernon. As for Arlington House, it would be seized by the United States' government for Lee's leadership within the Confederacy, and the land would become Arlington National Cemetery as well as the first Freedman's Village in Virginia. The house still stands today as is the symbol on Arlington County's Flag and is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation through January 2020, upon which I must go see it again with fresh eyes now that I've learned more about it from The Washington Library staff and through sharing A is for Arlington!
November 4, 2019
Today we became acquainted with The Washington Library at Mount Vernon! We began in the Reading Room, a gorgeous space filled with expansive windows, busts of the Founding Fathers, and a soft, velvet couch where Helen and I began our journey one year ago. It was in this space that we first analyzed a primary source document on Washington together and dreamed of this book!
Washington, Haas & Burgin at The Washington Library
Today we returned to begin that journey!
We met Samantha Snyder, a Reference Librarian, who took us to the children's book area among the stacks. Helen, Samantha and I had a wonderful time exploring the section, seeking books that would help us illuminate life at 18th Century Mount Vernon for young learners. Some of the books are over 100 years old and encased inside a protective box. Others are coloring books, picture books, biographies and historic fiction, plus one book with fabulous paper dolls of Martha Washington!
Above: Opening The Farmer Boy and How He Became Commander-In-Chief by Uncle Juvinell, a book over 100 years old and requiring a protective covering
Below Right: Burgin taking our book selections to the Reading Room!
Some of the stacks below the Reading Room have a wondrous system that allows more storage - automatic sliding shelving! Don't worry - sensors protect librarians and researchers from an Indiana Jones type event!
Some of the books we found had notes from a previous head librarian named Frank E. Morse. Like a librarian guardian angel, he wrote messages of questioning and warning in pencil, marking when illustrative or factual inaccuracies occur, with one book even warning "do not show this to children." Papa Morse, we appreciate you!
Later in the day we met with Mary V. Thompson, a research historian with The Washington Library. We were told she is like the Google of Mount Vernon, and she is! We asked her so many questions ranging from seasonal experiences, food, personalities of Washington family members and Enslaved Persons, dates, customs, holiday traditions, animals, aquaculture, illnesses, recipes and art. She is a fount of knowledge and the author of books about Washington, including her latest The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret": George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon. After four pages of typed notes and two hours of time together, Helen and I feel that Mary's sharing will undoubtedly shape the narrative of the book, in which the house shares memories of its past from the 18th Century.
November 3, 2019
One year ago I attended Mount Vernon Education's Fall Teacher Institute - the Life and Legacy of George Washington, at Mount Vernon. There I met another Kindergarten educator, Helen Haas, and while working together on primary source analysis experience...we had an idea. That idea turned into a Life Guard Teacher Fellowship application, which turned into an awarded 2019 fellowship! Here we are, one year later, embarking a journey to write a bilingual nonfiction picture book on 18th Century life at Mount Vernon - and we get to stay on campus all week to do it!
The Mount Vernon mansion in the Fall
Both Helen and I felt that our institute's leader, Dr. Denver Brunsman, taught us to see George Washington as a man, and that the man's story and setting had yet to be shared in a book for young learners. We want a book that talks about all people involved in daily life at Mount Vernon.
This weekend we got oriented at the fellowship house, met our housemates, walked the historic grounds, and prepared for an amazing week of research, exploration, and storytelling.
Today we visited the Be Washington exhibit, an interactive game that allows you to step into the boots of #Potus1. You can also play this on your own device and in the classroom (though I think it'd also be fun at a dinner party!).
Haas & Burgin at the Be Washington Theater
We also visited the Revolutionary War Theater: 4D Experience - one that made General Washington's triumphs and struggles come to life. The immersive sounds, lights, and weather (yes, I said weather) helped me understand the geography and culture behind the Revolutionary War in a way that movies, books, and lectures hadn't before.
Helen and I took so many notes during The Enslaved People of Mount Vernon Tour. This is a must next time you visit. Our tour guide, Annette, helped us understand how the opulence of Mount Vernon was built on the forced labor of hundreds of men and women. This story and perspective is something we want to include in our book, and I felt grateful to hear participants ask hard questions about equity.
This portion of our research has just begun, and I can't wait to see what Monday holds!
Want to see more about #Potus1fortheYoung work? Check out this hashtag on Twitter!