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

At the time of her death, Mrs. Ball was preparing to publish a book on the life and ancestry of Mary Ball Washington. She struggled during her later years, however, and never completed the project. A portion of the research files she used for this project are represented in this collection. Mount Vernon received this material from Alison Burdick, Vice Regent for Delaware, sometime around March 1965 after she sorted through the collection and weeded some of its content. A report written by Mrs. Burdick (now copied and filed with this collection) explains how the papers were organized when she received them, what type of information was contained in them, and why she disposed of "80-85% of the material." The majority of the collection consists of notes, transcriptions, and genealogical tables or charts drafted by Mrs. Ball while researching. Several letters and clippings are also interspersed throughout. Most of the notes and compilation of the collection probably occurred circa 1911-1912 when she visited England, however, the letters and clippings have varied dates.

The nucleus of this collection was created from papers given to the Association by Ann Pamela Cunningham around the time of her retirement as Regent. Several other Vice Regents followed her example and later donated their papers as well. These records were referred to as the "Early Records" since the time they were first established as an archival collection. A large portion of this collection is correspondence concerning the founding of the MVLA and the operation of Mount Vernon as a historic site. Other important resources are the appeals written by Ann Pamela Cunningham and the Vice Regents, governing documents, subscription or donation lists, printed material or publications, and bound volumes such as ledgers or scrapbooks. Individual items were added to the collection as they were acquired. The Early Records includes items dated 1852-1951, however the bulk of the material dates from 1858 to around 1880.