Class of 2022-2023

Preserving Historic Real Estate

May 2020
Dr. Whitney Martinko (Class of 2022-23)

Americans in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries battled over the preservation of historic sites, and capitalism shaped the choices and opportunities available to them. What gets saved and what gets destroyed is a lot more complicated than you might think.

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Intertwined Stories: Finding Hercules Posey

February 2022
Ramin Ganeshram (Class of 2022-23)

Hercules Posey: a man enslaved by the Washingtons, worked as their chef, and self-emancipated from Mount Vernon in February 1797. For over 200 years, we had little idea of Posey’s whereabouts after he left the plantation. But thanks to recent research, now we do.

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Class of 2021-2022

Negotiating Federal-State Relations

February 2022
Dr. Grace Mallon (Class of 2021-22)

For years after the ratification of the Constitution, Americans debated how the Federal Government and the several states should relate to each other, and work together, to form a more perfect union. Many of the same questions about government relations that American leaders faced in the eighteenth century remain evergreen in the twenty-first.

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Unravelling the Strange Genius of Mr. O

April 2021
Dr. Carolyn Eastman (Class of 2021-22)

In the early years of the nineteenth century, former Virginia schoolteacher James Ogilvie embarked on a lecture tour that took the United States by storm. As he crisscrossed the nation, lecturing on topics that spoke to American anxieties about the fate of their young republic, Ogilvie became a major celebrity. Many Americans admired him, some even hated him, as he asked them to look into the mirror to see themselves.

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Forging a Founding Partnership

August 2020
Dr. Edward J. Larson (Class of 2021-22)

Theirs was a three-decade-long bond that, more than any other pairing, would forge the United States. Vastly different men, Benjamin Franklin—an abolitionist freethinker from the urban north—and George Washington—a slavehold­ing general from the agrarian south—were the indispensable authors of American independence and the two key partners in the attempt to craft a more perfect union at the Constitutional Convention, held in Franklin’s Philadelphia and presided over by Washington.

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Patrick Henry And Jefferson Too

June 2018
Dr. Jon Kukla (Class of 2021-22)

In this episode, Dr. Douglas Bradburn, the President and C.E.O. of George Washington's Mount Vernon, sits down with Dr. Jon Kukla to discuss his book, Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty.

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Class of 2020-2021

March 2020
Dr. Cindy Kierner (Class of 2020-21)

How we now respond to disasters like the coronavirus, California wildfires, or Hurricane Katrina is the product of a long history that dates back to the 17th century. The origins of our modern attitudes toward disasters are explored through the first major international disaster relief effort after an earthquake in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon in 1755.

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Class of 2019-2020

Contesting Monuments and Memory in South Carolina

April 2021
Dr. Lydia Brandt (Class of 2019-20)

The South Carolina State House Grounds is a landscape of monuments and memory. Since the capital moved from Charleston to Columbia in the 1780s, South Carolinians have been erecting, moving, and contesting monuments on the capitol’s grounds, using them to debate the past as they really argue about their present. Monuments and statues are the subjects of great debate, not only in the United States, but around the world, and South Carolina’s commemorations can help us to understand why.

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Seeking a City of Refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp

November 2020
Dr. Marcus P. Nevius (Class of 2019-20)

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, planters and businessmen sought to transform Great Dismal Swamp into a plantation enterprise of rice, timber, and other commodities.

Hear how the enslaved people resisted their bondage, and even self-emancipated into the Swamp’s rugged interior.

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Setting the Table for the American Cincinnatus

February 2020
Ron Fuchs (Class of 2019-20)

In 1784, Revolutionary War veteran Samuel Shaw set sail on the Empress of China destined for the city of Canton, or Guangzhou, in southern China.

Shaw went to China acting on behalf of some American businessmen interested in tea, silk, and other commodities, but he also carried with him the insignia of the Society of the Cincinnati with the intent of having the design painted on porcelain.

His trip resulted in a magnificent 302-piece dinner and tea service later purchased by George Washington.

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Finding Ona Judge's Voice

January 2020
Sheila Arnold (Class of 2019-20)

Library Research Fellow and historic character interpreter Sheila Arnold joins Jim Ambuske in character as Ona Judge to give voice to her life.

During the first half of today’s show, Ambuske interviews Arnold as Ona Judge, as she might have been in the last years of her life.

He then talks to Arnold herself about historic character interpretation and the powerful ways that performing as a formerly enslaved person can build bridges between communities.

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Accounting for Women in the Business of Slavery

January 2020
Dr. Alexi Garrett (Class of 2019-20)

When George Washington died in December 1799, it changed Martha Washington’s legal status. Just as she did when she was widowed for the first time in 1757, Martha once again became an independent person in the eyes of the law. She was no longer in the shadow of her husband’s legal identity.

So what did this mean for Martha and other unmarried or widowed elite white women who ran businesses powered by slavery in early Virginia? How did they negotiate contracts, oversee enslaved labor, and manage their estates, all while navigating society’s expectations for women of their status?

On today’s episode, Alexi Garrett joins us to discuss three such women – Martha Washington, Catharine Flood McCall, and Annie Henry Christian – who by choice or by fate oversaw major business operations in the early republic.

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Growing Up At Mount Vernon

January 2019
Dr. Cassandra Good (Class of 2019-20)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Cassandra Good, former Library research fellow and Assistant Professor of History at Marymount University, to discuss her latest research on George Washington's step-grandchildren and their lives at Mount Vernon. 

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Intertwined Stories: How Historians History

March 2022
Dr. Marcus P. Nevius (Class of 2019-20)

Historians are in constant conversation with each other about the past. As we uncover evidence, ask new and better questions of our sources, and think about history in relation to our own present, the way that we interpret the past can and does change over time. We call this collective body of past interpretations “historiography,” or the history of history. We must understand what previous historians have said about a subject, before we can offer a new interpretation.

The study of people who were enslaved and the institution of slavery is no different. To better understand what questions inspired historians of the past, and what excites them now, we turned to Dr. Marcus Nevius, an Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Rhode Island. Nevius is an expert on the Great Dismal Swamp and marronage, another way of describing an enslaved person’s flight from slavery. He helped us understand the history of history about slavery, where he thinks historians are taking the field now, and the language we use to describe enslavement. 

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Intertwined Stories: Dividing Families

March 2022
Dr. Cassandra Good (Class of 2019-20)

In Episode 6 of Intertwined, we began to explore what happened to the enslaved community after January 1, 1801, the day that Martha Washington emancipated the people once enslaved by her late husband.

That day transformed the community forever. While it meant freedom for the people George Washington enslaved, it meant continued enslavement for the people owned by the estate of Martha’s first husband. She had no power to free the latter, and her death a year later fractured the community further still.

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Class of 2018-2019

Harnessing the Power of Washington's Genealogy

January 2020
Dr. Karin Wulf (Class of 2018-19)

Early Americans like George Washington obsessed over genealogy. Much was at stake. One's place on the family tree could mean the difference between inheriting a plantation like Mount Vernon and its enslaved community, or working a patch of hardscrabble. Genealogy was very much a matter of custom, culture, and law, which explains in part why Washington composed a long-ignored document tracing his own lineage. It was as much a reflection of his family's past as it was a road map to his future power, wealth, and authority.

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Republican Laws and Monarchical Education

June 2019
Dr. Mark Boonshoft (Class of 2018-19)

Dr. Mark Boonshoft of Norwich University joins Jim Ambuske to discuss how ideas about education were part of a larger argument about who should rule, and who should rule at home as Americans struggled to form a more perfect union.

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Albert Gallatin, the Early Republic, and the Atlantic World

April 2019
Dr. Sean Harvey (Class of 2018-19)

Dr. Kevin C. Butterfield sits down with Dr. Sean P. Harvey, Library research fellow and associate professor of history at Seton Hall University, to discuss his research topic tilted, Albert Gallatin, the Early Republic, and the Atlantic World.

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The Proof of the Pudding will be in the Eating

April 2019
Justin Cherry (Class of 2018-19)

Dr Kevin C. Butterfield, sits down with Library research fellow and world-renowned chef Justin Cherry to discuss his research topic, "The Impact of George Washingtons Mount Vernon in 18th Century Foodways."

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Constitution Making In Early America

April 2019
Dr. James Hrdlicka (Class of 2018-19)

Dr. Kevin C. Butterfield sits down with research fellow Dr. James Hrdlicka to discuss his latest findings on the origins and development of American democratic constitutionalism. 

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The Ultimate Lightning Conductor: Benjamin Franklin, Espionage, and Propaganda

November 2018
George Goodwin (Class of 2016-17)

Access Services Librarian Samantha Snyder sits down with author and Library research fellow George Goodwin to discuss his latest findings regarding Benjamin Franklin, espionage, and the propaganda dealings in Europe in the American Revolution. 

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How Uncle Tom Came To Be

October 2018
Dr. Daniel Livesay (Class of 2016-17)

Dr. Kevin C. Butterfield sits down with Washington Library research fellow Dr. Daniel Livesay to discuss his recent book, Children of Uncertain Fortune: Mixed-Race Jamaicans in Britain and the Atlantic Family, 1733-1833, as well as his new research topic about the treatment of elderly slaves in the Chesapeake region.

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Birthing a Nation

May 2019
Dr. Sara Collini (Class of 2016-17)

Associate Curator Jessie MacLeod sits down with Library research fellow Sara Collini to discuss her latest findings on the topic titled Birthing a Nation Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Early America 1750-1820.

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The Return of the Harpsichord

February 2019
Joyce Lindorff (Class of 2016-17)

Access Services Librarian Samantha Snyder sits down with Library research fellow Dr. Joyce Lindorff to discuss her research on Nelly Parke Custis as well as the newly restored harpsichord that has been recently brought back to Mount Vernon in honor of our "Year of Music" celebration.

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'A Deserving Brother': George Washington And Freemasonry

October 2018
Mark Tabbert (Class of 2016-17)

Dr. Kevin C. Butterfield sits down with Washington Library research fellow Mark Tabbert to discuss his latest research regarding George Washington and his membership in/relationship with Freemasonry. 

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Class of 2017-2018

Becoming Citizens of Convenience on the U.S.-Canadian Border

November 2020
Dr. Lawrence B. A. Hatter (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Lawrence B. A. Hatter joins Jim Ambuske to discuss the politics of the northern border, taking us on a journey from the diplomatic halls of Paris and London to the trading grounds of Detroit, Ontario, and Quebec in the aftermath of the American Revolution. 

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Eatin', Sleepin', and Thinkin' George

September 2018
Krysten Blackstone (Class of 2017-18)

Access Services Librarian Samantha Snyder sits down with Ph.D. candidate at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Washington Library research fellow Krysten Blackstone to discuss her fellowship experience.

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The Florida We Deserve

September 2018
Dr. Robert Paulett (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Associate Professor of American History at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Library research fellow Robert Paulett to discuss his research regarding maps and the Proclamation of 1763.

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Battlefield Office Politics

July 2018
Mark Edward Lender (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Washington Library research fellow Dr. Mark Edward Lender to discuss the Conway Cabal and the challenge to General Washington's leadership position.

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#SoulClave

July 2018
Dr. Iris de Rode, (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Washington Library research fellow Iris de Rode to discuss the relationship between George Washington and François Jean de Chastellux.

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Codfish Olé

July 2018
Elisa Vargas (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Washington Library research fellow Dr. Elisa Vargas to discuss the early diplomatic relationship between Spain and the United States, focusing on the work of Diego María de Gardoqui, Spain’s First Diplomatic Envoy to the United States.

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Feisty Fluid Free Trade

June 2018
Dr. Lawrence Hatter (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Washington Library research fellow Dr. Lawrence B.A. Hatter to discuss his topic, Negotiating Independence: American Overseas Merchant Communities in the Age of Revolution.

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Another Badly Behaving Woman

June 2018
Dr. Charlene Boyer Lewis (Class of 2017-18)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Washington Library research fellow Dr. Charlene Boyer Lewis to discuss her topic, The Traitor’s Wife: Peggy Arnold and Revolutionary America.

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Mining King George III's Papers

July 2020
Dr. Zara Anishanslin and Dr. Arthur Burns (Class of 2017-18)

Professors Zara Anishanslin and Arthur Burns speak about the Georgian Papers Programme.

Researchers, librarians, and digital humanists on both sides of the pond are busy digitizing and interpreting the papers of the Georgian Monarchs, their families, and the members of the royal household from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

What can we learn about early America, and especially the American Revolution, from these documents?

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Class of 2016-2017

Reconstructing the Indian World of George Washington

July 2020
Dr. Colin Calloway (Class of 2016-17)

Library Executive Director Kevin Butterfield’s conversation with 2019 George Washington Book Prize winner, Dr. Colin Calloway. 

The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Peoples, and the Birth of the Nation is the definitive work on the relationship between Washington and indigenous peoples in the eighteenth century, and it illuminates the complicated, culturally diverse, and often contentious world in which they all lived.

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Depressions, Recessions, and Panics, Oh My!

August 2018
Dr. Scott Miller (Class of 2016-17)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Scott Miller, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia and a former Washington Library research fellow, to discuss his latest findings regarding the economy of the early American Republic.

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John Jay is Here to Stay

August 2018
Dr. Jonathan Den Hartog (Class of 2016-17)

Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Associate Professor of History at the University of Northwestern St. Paul and former Washington Library research fellow Dr. Jonathan Den Hartog to discuss his findings on John Jay.

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Making a Pilgrimage to Washington's Tomb

April 2020
Dr. Matthew Costello (Class of 2015-16)

In December 1799, George Washington died after a short illness. His body and his legacy quickly became fodder for nineteenth century Americans – free and enslaved – who were struggling to make sense of what it meant to be an American as well as the nation’s identity.

Americans across the divide used Washington and his memory to advance various political and economic interests.

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Creating George Washington's Cabinet

April 2020
Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky (Class of 2015-16)

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky joins Jim Ambuske to explore the cabinet’s emergence during George Washington’s presidency. She also answers listener questions about this formative moment in American history.

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Finding Washington at the Plow

January 2022
Dr. Bruce Ragsdale (Class of 2014-15)

In the 1760s, tobacco was one of Virginia’s chief exports. But George Washington turned away from the noxious plant and began dreaming of wheat and a more profitable future.

Washington became enamored with new ideas powering the agricultural revolution in Great Britain and set out to implement this new form of husbandry back home at Mount Vernon. His quest to become a gentleman farmer reshaped Mount Vernon’s landscape and altered the lives of the plantation’s enslaved community, and his own ideas about slavery, forever.

On today’s show, Dr. Bruce Ragsdale joins Jim Ambuske to chat about his new book, Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery.

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Honor Amongst Georges

September 2018
Dr. Craig Bruce Smith (Class of 2014-15)

In this episode, Dr. Joseph Stoltz sits down with Assistant Professor of History at the William Woods University and former Washington Library research fellow Dr. Craig Bruce Smith to discuss his new book, American Honor: The Creation of the Nation's Ideals during the Revolutionary Era. 

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