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

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
Primary Collecting Areas:
George and Martha Washington, Mount Vernon, Founding Era and Early Republic, Historic preservation, Decorative arts, Mount Vernon Ladies' Association
Description:

The Fred W. Smith National Library includes general collections, special collections and archives as a resource for scholars, students, and those interested in George Washington, colonial America and the Revolutionary and founding eras.

The library's general collections include secondary source materials on the Washington and Custis families, and the colonial and founding eras.

The Special Collections materials highlight the lives of George and Martha Washington as well as their descendants through correspondence, financial materials, and original books from George and Martha Washington's library.

The archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association holds the historic institutional records of the organization dating back to its founding in 1853.

POC: Reference services
Phone: (703) 780-3600
Start Over Repository The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon Subjects Invitations
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

George Washington collection, 1654/1799

approx. 25 Linear Feet

This collection contains letters to and from George Washington that have been aquired by the MVLA since 1858. For more information, see content note for individal items. The collection grows organically as new items are acquired.

Top 3 results view all 6

Invitation, to Edmund Lee, 1789 Box 5, Folder 1789.09.03, Folder OUT

On September 3, 1789, George Washington sent this letter to Edmund Jennings Lee inviting him to dine at Mount Vernon along with John Marshall and Bushrod Washington. Marshall had recently returned from service as peace commissioner to France and Washington hoped to persuade him to run for Congress in the upcoming election. Lee must have declined this invitation, because his name is not recorded in Washington's diary among his dinner guests that evening.

  1. Series 1. From George Washington, 1654/1799
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

Historic manuscript collection, 1601/1933

approx. 60 Linear Feet

This collection of historic manuscripts dates from 1607-1933, with the bulk of materials dating from 1738-1868. The correspondence, journals and diaries, legal and financial records, estate documents, and printed ephemera in the collection primarily relate to the Washington and Custis families, the Revolutionary War, and society life in antebellum Washington D.C. and Virginia.

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Proclamation to Canada, Marquis de Lafayette, 1780 Box 7, Folder 1780.00.00

D. 1 page. An invitation to Canadians to join France in aiding the United States against the British--appeals to their common French blood, recent ties with France asks them to set up their own government and join the confederacy of 13 states. Printed document, laminated, watermark (fleur de lis), printed in French, endorsed in later hand "Sent by LaFayette to Washington Presented to the Assoc. by Mr. Herbert."

  1. Series 1. Documents and Manuscripts
  2. Manuscripts Box 7, 1780/1782
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

Historic ephemera collection, 1796/1986

1 Linear Feet

This collection includes ephemera from 1796-1986, and contains a variety of formats that primarily relate to the portrayal of George Washington.

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Invitation to marriage ceremony of Martha Custis and George Washington, 1759 Box 1, Folder INVITE 1

Fragment of engraved wedding invitation, which reads "Mrs. Mary Washington requests your prescence at the marriage ceremony of Miss Martha Custis to Col. George Washington." This is a fictitious imagining of what an invitation could have looked like, if one existed, for the wedding of George and Martha Washington.

  1. Invitations, 1855/1859
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

Martha Washington collection, 1761/1802

1.25 Linear Feet

This collection contains letters to and from Martha Washington that have been acquired by the MVLA since 1858. For more information, see content note for individual items. The collection grows organically as new items are acquired.

1 result

Invitation, to Mrs. Hamilton, 1789 Box 1, Folder 1789.08.30

"Mrs. Washington presents her compliments to Mrs. Hamilton, and if she's disengaged this Evening, will do herself the pleasure to visit her." On reverse an undated letter from Robert Lewis to Dr. Thornton.

  1. From Martha Washington, 1761/1802
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

Geo. Gregory Smart collection of Washington and Mount Vernon ephemera, 1793/2017

4.83 Linear Feet

Ephemera collected by Geo. Gregory Smart related to the memory and popular image of George Washington. The collection includes postcards, calendars, cigar boxes covers, stamps and first day covers, programs for anniversary events, books and pamphlets, hat stands, billheads, stationary, cartes-de-visite, playing cards, and puzzles. Some items are catchy such as a hat stand touting the motto "friends you can hang your hat on," while others are designed to be more educational such as grade-school primers or the story of the presidents from the makers of Planters peanuts.

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