Mount Vernon Blog

The 600-Year-Old 'George Washington Oak Tree'

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Centuries before English settlers arrived in North America, a white oak tree took root in what is now the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards, New Jersey. This tree would grow to have a trunk circumference of 18 feet and reach 100 feet tall. After years of showing rot, this landmark of natural history was declared dead, forcing crews to cut…

After the initial preservation activities in the Blue Room, a major part of the architecture work involved removing the existing 20th-century mantel in preparation for re-installing the 18th-century one. The first step involved prying off the applied decorative trim on the face of the mantel, and then removing the horizontal sandstone piece (called…

In February 2017, Mount Vernon staff began restoring the Blue Room, a bedroom on the second floor of the Mansion. After the Collections team removed the furniture and décor, the Historic Preservation team began the restoration work. Once the Blue Room was deinstalled at the end of February, the Historic Preservation & Collections team quickly mobilized…

Change Agents of Tomorrow

Thursday, April 06, 2017

Mount Vernon’s education programs encourage students to think critically about history and explore the relevance of these lessons to the present. Last month, we hosted 27 high school students and 8 teachers from regional high schools for the Ammerman Youth Leadership Program at the Washington Library, titled George Washington as Change Agent: Empowering…