Publications and Printed Material of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

Access and use

Location of collection:
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
3600 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
Mount Vernon, VA 22121
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Reference services
Phone: (703) 780-3600
Restrictions:

This collection is open for research during scheduled appointments. Researchers must complete the Washington Library's Special Collections and Archives Registration Form before access is provided. The library reserves the right to restrict access to certain items for preservation purposes.

Preferred citation:

[Name and date of item], Publications and Printed Material of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, [Series, Folder], Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington [hereafter Washington Library], Mount Vernon, Virginia

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Summary

Extent:
to be updated Volumes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Name and date of item], Publications and Printed Material of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, [Series, Folder], Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington [hereafter Washington Library], Mount Vernon, Virginia

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Background

Scope and content:

Educating the public on the life and legacy of George Washington, colonial life, slavery, and other relevant subjects is part of the MVLA's mission. The publication of books, brochures, and other printed material is one aspect of achieving this goal. This collection combines all printed formats published by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Associaton including books, booklets, brochures, information sheets, event announcements, bylaws, and handbooks or guidebooks. Annual Reports and the Minutes of the Council provide background and information on the yearly activities and business of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The material includes a wide date range, 1854 to the present.

This series contains published books, hardcover and paperback versions, published and produced by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Multiple editions of some publications are represented.

This series compiles small publications produced in a paperback, booklet format.

This series compiles information brochures printed for Mount Vernon. The brochures were created for a variety of purposes from educational to event announcements.

This series holds the printed, official versions of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association's bylaws, articles of incorporation, and charter. Several copies represented in this collection originally belonged to a Vice Regent.

This series compiles the official handbooks or guidedbooks created by Mount Vernon for its visitors.

Annual Reports of the MVLA.

Minutes of the Council of the MVLA.

Biographical / historical:

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association was founded in 1854 by Ann Pamela Cunningham. The purpose of the Association was to purchase Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, in order to restore the property and open the grounds to visitors and admirers who desired to see Washington's house and tomb. Ann Pamela Cunningham became interested in the preservation of Mount Vernon when her mother, traveling down the Potomac River in 1853, viewed the house in its neglected and dilapidated state and wrote to her daughter of its condition. Both women thought it shameful to allow the first President's home to fall into ruin. A determined Ann Pamela Cunningham assembled twenty-two like-minded women together to raise money to purchase the property, pay off all debt, and return the gardens and grounds to the condition in which they were left by Washington himself. John Augustine Washington III, George Washington's great-grandnephew and the owner of Mount Vernon at the time, delayed several years in selling the home to the Ladies' Association. He preferred a sale to the State of Virginia or the federal government, both of which declined purchase. In 1858 he finally agreed to sell Mount Vernon to Ann Pamela Cunningham and the MVLA for $200,000.

Today the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association is remembered as the first organization dedicated to historic preservation in the United States. The Association remains loyal to its original goals, the restoration and care of George Washington's Mount Vernon, while also opening the estate to visitors 365 days a year. Members of the MVLA continue under the structure designed by the first Ladies' who joined, operating as the Executive Board with one Regent and Vice Regents from different states. The estate now consists of not only the Mansion and tomb of Washington, but restored gardens, outbuildings, a Pioneer Farm, Gristmill, Distillery, museum and orientation center, National Library for the Study of George Washington, gift shops, food pavilion, and a restaurant.

Processing information:

Part of Accession number 2015-A-010

Arrangement:

This collection is divided into series based on format and type of publication. All publications within each series are filed in alphabetical order by title, then in chronological order. This is the list of series: Series 1. Books Series 2. Booklets Series 3. Brochures Series 4. Bylaws, Charters, Constitution Series 5. Handbooks, Guidebooks Series 6. Minutes Series 7. Reports

This series is arranged alphabetically by title.

This series is arranged alphabetically by title.

This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

This series is arranged chronologically.

This series is arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard