Collections : [The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon]

Collection of 80 photographs which belonged to Miss Sarah C. Tracy (later Mrs. Upton H. Herbert), resident secretary at Mount Vernon during the Civil War years. The pictures most of which are cartes de visite were collected by Miss Tracy; some were obviously presented to her, after the fashion of the day, and are inscribed. Besides the one of herself there are three of Mount Vernon which must date from the years of her residence. Others include Leeds Castle, the English seat of Thomas, Lord Fairfax; the President's House at the Soldiers' Home, Washington, D.C.; the Milwaukee residence of Mrs. Mitchell, Vice-Regent for Wisconsin; General Winfield Scott; General George B. McClellan; W. W. Corcoran of Washington, D.C.; George W. Riggs, Treasurer of the Association; Lord Fairfax; Prince Napoleon; Louis de Geofroy (of the French Legation, who accompanied Price Napoleon to Mount Vernon in August, 1861), inscribed; and Miss Nettie Chase, daughter of Hon. Salmon P. Chase of the Lincoln Cabinet. Also included are pictures of others, chiefly celebrated figures of the nineteenth century; these were probably acquired through gift or purchases, and not presented by the subjects themselves.

This collection includes correspondence between John Augustine Washington III and his mother and wife, as well as other family members, mostly dealing with family matters and running Mount Vernon.

The Bushrod Washington Family Papers consist of documents gathered by the descendants of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The collection comprises an assortment of correspondence and legal documents documenting the lives and property ownership of several branches of the Washington family. The collection is organized into five series: Correspondence, Legal Documents, Social, Miscellaneous, and Indenture Notices (Land Deeds).

This collection consists of papers inherited and collected by Washington family descendants. Many were purchased in 1927 at auction to reunite Washington family correspondence. The collection includes correspondence, financial documents and legal documents that relate primarily to the Custis and Lewis families, but include other items related to Virginia history. Charles and Peter Chapin, the previous owners of this collection, descended from Eleanor Parke Custis and Lawrence Lewis through Esther Maria Lewis and Charles Chapin. This collection was originally assembled by Esther Maria Lewis Chapin who inherited some of the Washington/Custis papers, but was also an avid collector and brought back together family items that were being dispersed nationwide. This collection is an example of that effort; much of which was at auction in 1927 (Anderson Galleries, sale 2201, 28-29 November 1927).

The collection contains 41 manuscripts dating 1770-1831. Many of the manuscripts date from the era of the American Revolution, and several are directly relevant to the course of the war. Among the documents are single letters by John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, James Madison, John Marshall, James Monroe, Paul Revere, and George Washington, as well as letters and other documents that include the signatures of signers of the Declaration of Independence.

This collection concerns the inheritance, maintenance, and sale of the Mount Vernon estate by its last private owner, John Augustine Washington III. A large majority of the collection is correspondence to or from John Augustine Washington III with a significant portion relating to the purchase of the estate by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Three diaries kept by John Augustine are also included and contain important information about his slaves, agricultural practices, and finances. Other types of material in the collection include legal documents, receipts, photographs, and ephemera. Photocopies were made for most of the manuscripts and can be viewed as surrogates to the originals.

The collection contains correspondence between John Augustine Washington III and his wife Eleanor Love Selden. The letters begin during the Washingtons' engagement and continues through eighteen years of marriage, ending with a letter from John Augustine to Eleanor composed the day prior to her sudden death. The letters contain information on family matters, the management of the Mount Vernon estate, and plantation life prior to the Civil War.

This collection includes bound volumes of primary sources by the Superintendent or Resident Director of Mount Vernon: the letter books and diaries of Superintendent Harrison H. Dodge from the 1885 to 1927, and the monthly reports to the Regent by Superintendent (later Resident Director) Charles Cecil Wall for the years 1948-1967. Dodge's letter books contain letterpress and handwritten copies of outgoing correspondence. These were bound into 32 volumes in 1968-1969. The majority of these letters are to the Regent, and some take the form of a monthly report. Dodge's diaries include handwritten day-to-day descriptions of the activities going on at Mount Vernon. Copies of Mr. Wall's monthly reports to the Regent were also bound in 1968 "for ready reference." (Council Minutes 1968) The monthly reports and some of Dodge's correspondence are also found in the Papers of the Superintendent and Resident Director.

The bulk of this collection is made up of letters from Jane Charlotte Washington to her son, John Augustine Washington III. Also included are letters to Eleanor Love Selden Washington, a few letters to or from John Augustine Washington III to various individuals, several letters from George Mason of Hollin Hall (1797-1870) to John Augustine Washington III, letters by Lackland and Alexander family members (relatives of the Washingtons) and three receipts. The subject matter of most letters is family or personal affairs and Mount Vernon business with some discussion of the enslaved people owned by the Washingtons. Inclusive dates are 1837 to 1861.