Education & Outreach

We live in an age when Washington’s coverage in the classroom continues to decline, while his many achievements, diverse interests, and versatile skills are vastly underappreciated. Combating this challenge becomes much more daunting when the Association reaches beyond the gates of Mount Vernon. But, no other institution in America is addressing the undisputed fact that with each new generation, our nation’s best example of character and leadership is becoming less of a great resource and more of a distant icon.

For the past 15 years, Mount Vernon has been increasingly active in developing special programs for visitor audiences at the Mount Vernon estate, as well as creating and distributing materials which can be used by teachers and students in the classroom. Many of these programs – particularly the George Washington Teacher’s Institute and the George Washington Biography Lesson – are time-tested and well-established in a number of states. The National Library will allow us to make great strides in educational outreach, as we use the new resources of the library to “turn up the volume” of these programs, so that they can touch the lives of many more students, teachers, and scholars across the nation.

Building on our success with proven education, preservation, and collections programs, we will invest in more intensive scholarship, new partnerships, and fresh creative outreach, all reinforced through on-site seminars and leadership training for students and professionals.