You likely think Martha Washington was a plump, dowdy matron.
If that’s your mental image of the wife of President Washington, it’s time to visit Mount Vernon. There you’ll see a reconstructed bodice of one of Mrs. Washington’s gowns — which historians date back to about 1765 — that shows the nation’s original first lady when she was slim and stylish.
The bodice is just one highlight among many in Mount Vernon’s new special exhibition, Bringing Them Home: 150 Years of Restoring the Washington Collection.
If you go
Bringing Them Home: 150 Years of Restoring the Washington Collection
Where: Mount Vernon, 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, Va.
When: Through Jan. 8, 2012 (Note: Some documents and fabrics will be on limited display because of their fragile state.)
Info: Check Web site for hours, fees and special events; 703-780-2000; mountvernon.org
“She wasn’t everyone’s grandmother,” Mount Vernon Assistant Curator Laura Simo said when noting the slender, fashionable silhouette of Martha Washington’s gown. “George’s accounts record that almost every year before the Revolution she received a new gown from London.” The bodice, reconstructed from eight fragments of silk, is just one of about 100 never-before-seen items that put a different perspective on George and Martha Washington and give insights into other prominent members of that era.
If you have misconceptions about the Washingtons, though, you’re not alone. Even Mount Vernon’s Melissa Wood was surprised when she delved into some of the history.
“She was very stylish and modern,” Wood said about Martha Washington. “And she used [her charms] to attract a handsome, tall, prominent soldier — George Washington.”
The majority of objects in Mount Vernon’s collection — such as 45 volumes from Washington’s personal library and thousands of written documents — were purchased through auction or donated.
Consider a silver bottle roller possibly designed by Washington while he was president. Later owned by Martha Washington’s great-granddaughter — who was the wife of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee — it was sent for safekeeping from Arlington House to the Virginia Military Institute during the Civil War. As troops threatened VMI, the family carefully wrapped the silver pieces and buried them for safekeeping. Lee family descendants found them in 2007 while cleaning out old trunks.
Or what about a French porcelain sugar bowl donated by private owners related by marriage to Washington’s step-granddaughter Nelly Custis Lewis? Though the owners were horrified that the bowl had been broken and repaired, that very damage is what makes it even more valuable to Mount Vernon.
“It’s a very good repair for the 19th century,” Simo said. “That just shows that someone cared enough to repair it and not toss it away when it was broken.
All of these pieces went out and had journeys and now are back at Mount Vernon.
The exhibit also tells us more about the personalities of George and Martha Washington. In numerous writings and journals, George Washington writes lovingly of children and the presents he buys for them. One such present — a doll’s trunk purchased by the president for his great-granddaughter Eliza — is on display.
“We have found in recent years that visitors coming to Mount Vernon with only the most basic knowledge about George Washington,” said James C. Rees, executive director of Mount Vernon.
It is hoped, Rees said, that new facilities and exhibits such as this will give visitors a more thorough understanding of Washington and those who work to preserve his legacy.
“This exhibit is the perfect way to say thank you to everyone who has made Mount Vernon what it is today,” Simo said.
