Historical narrative. Of castella is a historian the organization that hosted the event. Good evening, everyone. Association. L i would like to welcome my friends joining us by cspan and those who are here with us tonight. You have chosen to be here above so wetional ballgame, think we have the best thing going here tonight. I would like to acknowledge some very important people with us this evening. His wife, kristin is here tonight. Important, the most are at home, i guess. Kristins wonderful little kids. I would like to welcome our members from the board of directors. Give them a hand. [applause] melt. E two and both will be a little bit late. Steve strong is the national on whitef the house house history. He and his wife are here with us tonight. This is one of our most important groups. Their support, encouragement, their wisdom really puts the and we are sales proud to have you here with us tonight. , dr. Mattm tonight castella is going to share with us about his brandnew book. This is the first time that we are making it available. He is one of our historians at the association. Us for threeith years on november 1. He makes quite a contribution. Contributedbuted to the project and he was a fellow at mount vernon. He has done two things that i am proud of. He taught a course on white house history. Beyond to broaden that american university. It is really a first mover. He is also working on his next book. We are very proud to have the opportunity to publish his next book, on the renovation of the white house. Following his remarks, this podium will be moved away from the stage, so everyone can have a clear view. A few probing questions that i have about his book, then we will open the door to questions and you are asked to join us for questions, following. I will turn it over to you. [applause] good evening and thank you for that wonderful introduction. It is a privilege to be here with you. One of the most gratifying exercises is about writing acknowledgments. You can take the time and really think through the people and places that made this project possible. I am thrilled that many of those people are here today, including my colleagues at the association. Thank you for your support and encouragement. In the spirit of that, ensuring something collectively constant i am going to talk about the subject of the book, of the property of the nation. Who owns history . Tomb toshington and his understand. This project began as an offshoot of research i was doing around the washington monument. I was drawn to this particular incident. Members of congress were debating. Into making it just low the credit in the capitol rotunda. Was butered that this one of many attempts to physically remove washingtons body. What wasious about happening at the gravesite. I found some fascinating stories. It served for tourism, popular culture, religious expression. Howe experiences illuminate the democratic impulse transcended as more american soft yellow, touch pieces of the past. Different individuals and groups interacted with the final place. Artists, politicians, we collected the memory of washington. Creating this popularly held belief that he was the property of the nation. Unfortunately, we have to start with washingtons demise. Whatngton came down with appeared to be in winter cold and it accelerated quickly. Suffered frome he the swelling of the larynx. Essentially, the medical treatment of the time only accelerated his declining health. He passed away between 10 00 and 11 00 at night. Six days later on christmas eve, president john adams asked for consent to move martha yes has been spotty. That there was a National Mourning period until february 2. And Gerald Taylor detailed all the different funeral pro sessions. Processions. Different over 400 instances. I mean, this was an outpouring of National Grief that the Young Country had never seen before. Now, at mount vernon itself, letters of condolence streamed in to martha. Not all of them were sympathetic. Some of them were very opportunistic. For example a number of individuals were asking for locks of her deceased husbands hair. Which sounds strange to us but what common in the 18th and 19th century. There was one man who claimed he had served with George Washington and he asked if he could get a pardon because he had been accused of stealing the horse. They had not been able to find the real thief and only the widow of washington could faith him from his unfortunate fate. She did not reply. Now, with this resolution to move washington in the future in 1799, this opened up a new question about worship in early america. How would we venerate the memory of our past leaders . Would it be things like education or would it be public displays of things like statues, monuments or even something that appears anthetical to the revolution, something that appears at mausoleum. This one was proposed by the architect who designed decatur house. This was supposed to be 100 by 100 feet, which would have made it one of the tallest structures in the u. S. It would have been made out of granite and marble. He issue of hero worship is this for a man or a pharaoh . With the usb different from other countries . Obviously, there were comparisons with egypt, ancient rome and reese, but the measure is ultimately defeated and public turned against the idea. It is not what washington would have wanted and that was the funding issue. The federalists really think their ship. This issue of entering washington never really goes away. Vernon isner of mount the nephew of George Washington. He is actually solicited or the General Assembly and was moving the body to richmond to be placed under a monument that has not been built yet. Another attempt by a State Government this time. They inquired about moving washington again to the capital. They are having these conversations. Attempt. Nother comeasonry, the freemasons along in the 1820s and oppose raising money to build a new tomb in honor of his accomplishments. A number of lodges will actually propose putting together money raised at different lodges, even creating a National Launch and lodge. Lunch large more americans are becoming suspicious of what they see as the elitist freemasons. They are somewhat still attributing his memory to their they were aood and great example of Societal Organization using washington as a shield to guard against criticism. Really, where we see a major transition and how he was perceived, marketed and how people profited from it was this gentleman. He is the last private owner of the mount vernon estate. He agreed to a contract in 1858 and formally vacated. He really labors to turn mount vernon into the first historic tourism destination. Several ventures, hoping to capitalize on the public fascination. He negotiated the steamboat company. So that they could have direct access. A constant flow of steamboat between alexandria and mount vernon. He authorized the building of a plank walkway and charged it to the company. Probably one of the funnier things that i came across in my research is that the land was so that a man was holding up a deed saying he owned part of the shoreline of that warm mount vernon. Essentially, the land he was claiming was technically underwater. You. Es go to show there were other agents who were operating on terms of reading people to mount vernon, who wanted access as well. He took a cut of their ticket sales. This was actually the advertising and that was the one that went down several times. This is where we see the beginnings of the spirit of mount vernon today. Making the estate more accessible and affordable to people. They started offering confectionerys, sometimes they offered liquor and they also had music. It became an experience that Many Americans enjoyed. He was not only investing in this particular company, but taking a cut of their sales. He started buying stock and selling wood from the estate. To idea behind it was package and sell pieces of washingtons world so that American Consumers could be more direct connected to the man himself. This was made by english man. Had this business on the side where he was manufacturing washington trinkets made from wood from the estate. Any time you get something that is supposed to be authentic, you are going to need a certificate to go with it to prove it is legitimate. Somean see, you can get poetry, but also a statement from the mayor of washington dc, attesting to the character of the men in question, telling you exactly where the wood came from. He says it is from the same hell where George Washington is buried. That is particularly interesting because this is a place considered sacred to Many Americans, but when i went through the farm books to plot out exactly where he was taking the wood from, it was not always from the hill. I think he was good at sales. This is what people wanted to hear. This was a place that george hegton had called could not grow anything to grow there. That is why he called it the hellhole. , this one isrnon. Ated november he was also simultaneously selling things and mount vernon. And hecollecting sales was also collecting any type of revenue when people came in. There was a number of different and then, that organization, also embracing a strategy on how to capitalize on people drawn to mount vernon. It was the enslaved community of mount vernon that were the primary story keepers. These were the people who were the onsite storytellers and interpreters. Them use positions to exact tips from people who were not as knowledgeable about George Washingtons life. Others were able to highlight his treatment and the freeing of his slaves in his will. There is one instance in gets calledhere he out for selling slaves and they question his character. Holdingpare it between a slave account. Using enslaved people to serve as tour guides was not a new he was shocked when he found out that his enslaved storytellers were telling things about what happened on the estate. They were not bound by the same type of rules of etiquette. Andan see and other sources this is postcivil war. Muchanamericans are very involved in telling the stories of washingtons life at out mount vernon. That is one of the difficult is trying to track down the voices of the enslaved. Hey played a prominent role this is a piece of sheet music. There were many musical scores about washingtons tomb. You can see an africanamerican man and he has a number of walking sticks line that. It was something that tied people directly to the estate. Many accounts of enslaved people either selling the walking sticks or making a number of them for people. Sometimes they say they are peddling the trinket, but apparently this was much more successful. Storytellers sell them through the civil war. Whether it was their role of cutting the wood, whether it was their role, laying the plank from the wharf to the tombs, whether it was then selling things on site and sharing africanamericans were very involved in perpetuating washington legend, writing themselves into it, but also challenging thoughts about how washington felt about things like emancipation. One of my particularly favorite stories, because oftentimes, they would not make comments about being given gratuity or a tip. It was one instance where a gentleman was not able to give any thing to an elderly enslaved woman and she asked for tobacco. It goes to show you that it was not always about money. That was an expectation they would be in exchange for a service. We also border around things that a little more unorthodox or strange. Really starting from the 1830s therd, lisi does trope of last servant of George Washington. Leastcount, i found at five. When you unpack that, it tells you more about why it has meeting in the 19th century because from the 1830s onward, the founding generation is mostly gone. Americans are looking to the next generation of leaders and contemplating how will the country survived without that leadership . The claim that association and relationship, it did carry some social weight. We see this time and time again. Some of my particular favorite, there was a man named john kerry who said he was 113 years old. He claimed he had served washington in the french and the more and the revolution. It does not go anywhere, but it is interesting that there are people making that claim. It was moved to committee and got tabled. Continues postcivil war. This is a picture of a man named jim mitchell. Has though the civil war ended and slavery has been abolished, africanamericans are still taking up his roles. Of course, you can see behind him a series of walking sticks. They would have been the prime storytellers but also selling items from the estate. At the same time that we have congress and the Virginia Assembly arguing and bickering about washington should be buried, we have enslaved storytellers delivering different types of the experience and we have these writers, poets and artists sharing different pieces of lower through biography or through visual artwork. They play a major role in this process. Most americans will not get to mount vernon, so they will rely on things like visual to fill in the gaps. Adoptedactually his grandson and he essentially became a washington publicist and spokesperson. He traveled the country and , but most important where his recollections published before the civil war. Of course, we cannot forget about the most influential washington more popular. He had continuously adding more and more material based on but it was a washington that people wanted to hear about. He seemed more ordinary and worked really hard to prove the and getting to the white that he needed to. Was hisrt of it marriage to martha. That is where a lot of his fortune came from. Putting out this different image of washington being more humble, more folksy resonated with more americans in the 19th century. Then we start to see these visual that very much coincide with the rise of the hudson river school. Part of what it was getting at was highlighting the bounty and discovered richness. You will probably see examples , butis in the white house washingtons tomb became a place that artists continuously captured. Frameworkays that with a rustic setting, you see the tomb and a very humble abode. Here is another engraving. You can see things have shifted. Now we have the new to. You can see maryland in the background and the potomac river. Another example. Artists are not formally trained, so when we talk about democratizing washingtons memory, there are more and more people not trained in a formal sense. They are the ones capturing the tomb, his gravesite. With visuals, along Literary Works made his final resting place a part of american popular culture. All these represented representations. Remaining visitors found the tomb unacceptable. The tomb needed to reflect the sacredness. Doingany visitors started was talking about going on a pilgrimage and they use religious language. Items taken from not Vernon Mount Vernon are considered relics. Certainly for americans, who essentially had to invent the country and invent the government to go with the country, washington was the natural selection. Because of this visitor traffic to mount vernon, we hear the accounts of these people stripping trees of their branches or pulling off the andes of a limited tree there was one example where a man came and dug up three flower barrels. What sounds a little bit strange to us actually happened quite more often in the 19th century. This is a piece of the coffin fragments. She was taken out of and put into a new coffin. In 1831. Ved there that, it goes to show you these bits and pieces that we are notday, either they something that most people would save or they are not sure where they came from. These are the kinds of things to hold onto. This is actually a closeup shot. This was actually done by a mason. John struthers was a marble basin and offered to build a marble sarcophagus and Lawrence Lewis took him up on the offer. Strickland designed the eagle motif and gave it an interesting account of them going to mount vernon with the newly finished sarcophagus and that they cannot actually get the sarcophagus into the tomb. Why is part of the reason there is this outer enclosure because they had to build a space that could fit a sarcophagus. But by building this new to, the insured that they would remain intertwined forever, which meant that any attempt would mean purchasing the property. They tried to do this, but they could not fully reached the terms. Story comes tour an end. We have seen it from a political side and economic side. Takes is anwhat it organized group. In organization of vitamin d people like minded people to purchase it. Vernon Ladies Association emerges out of the thought process. She actually originally put down a call to southern women to save it. When that not get as far she decided, maybe we need some northern women. A great line where she says it might not be a bad idea to have the years of the capitalist in the north. She was right, because if you are going to raise money, you need a large infrastructure and you need or people involved. She decides to open it up to northern women as well. Is print the mount vernon record that keeps track of fundraising. Everett to edward essentially go around and give speeches about washington and donate ticket sales. It is a massive campaign. Taken0, the ladies have possession of the property. In one of their triumphant statements, they say that mount vernon is the property of the nation. Likey, the process seems you would think that this is the high point, but then we have the civil war. One of the pressing concerns for the ladies was, what are we going to do if the federal government seizes mount vernon . Is, would theyen acquire the property . , here is a picture of union troops visiting the tomb. They adopted guidelines and tried to remain as control as possible. No firearms were allowed on the grounds, soldiers are allowed to is it the tomb, but it is not supposed to be a place where the war continues. It was supposed to be in island of neutrality. If you go to mount vernon and look at the new to very closely, you will see initials from union soldiers. Them probably were making a mark on that tomb for a deliberate reason. I think it was because they wanted to claim washington, essentially putting their mark on why they were fighting this war. Part of it was to uphold the memory of washington, as a president. The south had a different interpretation of who washington was. The confederate seal beach or George Washington. Washington was so malleable, he could be used by the freemasons, by southerners, by slaveowners, by abolitionists. He fit the bill in different ways at different moments in his life. Appointed actually sarah tracy and a virginia man named Upton Herbert as a superintendent, so the pairing of a southerner and a northerner was supposed to put out this idea of neutral property, no reason for either side to bring the war to the doorstep. The history of how americans remember George Washington tells us more about how we bytinuously struggle constantly recasting washington, americas attempt to keep him relevant to inspire future citizens and to promote shared religious beliefs. Groupsorts of the eliminate his importance in how we define who we are as americans. The malleability speaks to the many paradoxes of the american character. They often emphasize on how certain groups remember the past. How groups determine what is remembered and what is forgotten. The memory of the republican washington served its purpose. Reimagined the symbol of the rapidly changing president. Educationa formal this washington appealed to 19th century americans. Many of them based the same circumstances and obstacles in their own lives. It did not take much for americans to be convinced that washington always supported political democracy. Historical sources remain mostly intact. Speaksspeak of the past to the uncertainties of the future. Cite personaln beliefs or to criticize their opponents. Usedngtons words could be for Foreign Policy decisions and background checks for firearms. Religious freedom and the legalization of marijuana. These attempts are often filled with errors and inconsistent, sometimes, downright historical ignorance. Gravitas to the issue at hand. Americans, much like their counterparts deliberately chose to remember in washington that comforts their anxieties, affirmed their beliefs. Thank you. [applause] i just want to pose a few questions and i hope you will have something that you want to ask as well. He did not mention the property of the nation, which is the title of the book. What is the meaning behind that . That kept a phrase coming up in my research. A federalist senator from maryland also ran one of the most prolific newspapers. 1812,around the war of the destruction of the capital city and the idea of moving washington to richmond. I saw his newspaper talking about how washington should not belong to anyone state. He is the property of the nation. I saw that phrase pop up again and again. The widerart of ethers that americans felt like they had some rightful claim to washington. Steam. A picks up you talked about his death. A few days later, his burial. How was he grieved by his family and how did the people come to mount vernon . Did faith play any role in the ceremony . Per his instructions, he wanted to be laid out for three days to make sure that he was dead. It was common at the time. A lot of americans had the fear of being buried alive. He said to make sure that he had been expired for some time. Washington was laid out and not running. Portico,t out on the and that is where the funeral would have taken place. They expected hundreds of people. Private. N even said in not all the wishes were closely adhered to. Wereof the pallbearers also freemasons. Connection between freemasonry, the different churches that washington supported in his private life and those individuals being responsible for leading the funeral procession, giving a ies of last words and we saw images of the old tomb and the new tomb. Probablyd tomb was built by lawrence washington, so by the time of his death, it was probably very old. There,ily members buried it was limited. A preside said money. He wanted the family to build a new tomb so that he and the remainder of his family members to be moved there and buried there. They waited about 30 years. I do not know is part of it was it was not a priority at the time, but that is the reason why there are two tombs. The new tomb was built and finished in 1831. It has a feeling like the stone has been rolled away. Some americans when they were beingng would talk about in the presence of a saint of sorts. Iher times, people would say, would not start my livestock and Something Like this, so there is a wide range of perception, and what people put out there in their observation. There were a couple of will. How is that resolved . He instructed them to bring his private secretary. Will andought the washington kept one and burned the other. What exactly was in that other will, people never know. The one that he did keep was very specific about how Different Things would be freeing including people from the estate. He could not free the slaves that belonged to the state, which was about 150 or so. 140 workingnother from neighboring nations, so washington, who i think was very conservative, he did not really cover the lines a lot when it came to making medical decisions. That was one that most people overlook because his peers, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison did not take that course. It was interesting, talking about freeing those enslaved to him. They became storytellers. Did they continue talking about washington . When was there evidence that they became niagara for his hand . Some of them dead. Anderson essentially lived to be about 100 years old. He was part of the process of being freed by the terms of the will, but he never goes very far because a lot of these enslaved. Eople had intermarried they had families. Was somee side effects people were going to be free and some people were not. Eitherot of them, they tried to stay as close as they. Ould trying to keep the family together. Left the estate period. All these attempts to move into the capital and richmond. Who prevented that from happening . The washington family. They were the ones with the authority. Martha had technically given her consent and actually agreed to it. It was sort of a pipe dream of sorts. It was sort of a foregone issue. Things had changed a lot politically. Martinough they said approved it, different perspectives, how the will should be interpreted or the letters should be interpreted, it all boiled down to virginians tended to say that he was a virginian. They were really putting their stamp on who he was. Members of the National Like to argue, well dont you think delaware has as much claim as new york or pennsylvania . Fishersue speaks to the happening in the Political Parties at different times. How did the word spread across the country that George Washington had died . How did people grieved him across the country . The story got picked up pretty quickly in the papers. Working its way northward to massachusetts and georgia. Week, americans knew that George Washington was gone. Local communities and state legislatures to decide what type of activities they would do. One that sticks out is that there was a mock numeral, where there was an empty coffin paraded through the street, which was supposed to represent that even though his physical remains were not there, they would honor his memory. Left the presidency by time he passed, but about greatn have the demonstrations of morning our president. Did the washington funeral, the way that he was mourned as the first president set a precedent for president ial morning . Absolutely. He was looked towards so not only in his time in office, but how did a former president interact in the new political culture . They supposed to be very active and vocal . She tried his best to stay out idea of types, but this creating a state funeral was not around until the first president died in office, but when they were planning harrisons funeral, where did they look . From the model of washington and jefferson, they were able to concoct what the funeral would look like. With harrison moving forward for sitting president , it involved a taking the remains to the capitol rotunda. There is a period of morning. I think the last part in particular is important because washington was not entombed in the capital. What what had happened with the other president s . Would they all be in the capital . Washington forward, our leaders retire and go back to private life. Lets wrap up our part of the conversation talking about this place. Washington was the only one of our president s who did not live in the white house. He selected the young irish architect who built the white house. Did he ever see the white house russian mark did he see it once it was finished . After he had left the presidency and he was headed back to mount vernon from philadelphia. We know that he stopped and he saw it on his way. I do not think that he ever stepped foot inside, but he did see it. Thoughpeople today, even he did not live in the white house, he had his hands in just designvery facet of that , the planning, the execution, the plan. He was an intense micromanager. Even though he did not live there, it is a representation of what his vision, the home of the american head of state should be. Other images and references to washington today. Bus ine are a number of the white house. I recentlyones that noticed is that washington always seems to have a presence in the oval office. It does not matter if we are talking about republicans or democrats. Republicans like republican president s. It seems that George Washington is always above the fireplace. In one form or another. That also speaks to the importance of his legacy. It does not really matter who sits behind the desk in the office, they are still looking up at washington. They can look out on the balcony and they can see the washington monument. It is very different from the lincoln memorial, that has the statue, the Jefferson Memorial with jefferson standing bear. There not a great statue of George Washington there russian mark they tried to do a washington statute. Horatio was actually commissioned by congress to do a massive sculpture of George Washington. The original intent was to put it in the capitol rotunda. Created looked like a half naked George Washington. He was wearing a toga and looked more like zeus. About exposing your hero, most people thought it was distasteful and ugly. They eventually put it within the capital but then moved it outside the capital. Tried to do a Washington Statue and it did not work well, so the monument 1848 and of course, it is interesting. But the idea behind the design was to capture any one facet of his life. Really, people make their own memories of that person. They remember what they want to about that person. Is idea behind it was imposing and the center of the national mall, the city that bears his name. It is not really descriptive, one way or another. They can see that washington was important. Recognize washington today . I think she would recognize certain parts of it. He might recognize some of the streets because he was part of that survey mission. But i think from washingtons perspective, he had always envisioned the city as the capital of an empire, a great, international power. The u. S. Had a lot of other but hisn its plate, vision of this place being a place of power, one that would andess visiting dignitaries a place to educate citizens, i think you can see those. Questions from our audience. If you have a question, just raise your hand. Anybody . I promised you a question. , some in prep fdr some president s were entombed with their libraries. I believe the tombs of the museums are not part of the National Archives system, but they are attached to papers. Was any effort made after washingtons death to link his legacy to his papers, that the nation could buy and own . Try to washington family sell his papers to country . Instancesere some with washingtons paper is. Said he would write the first major biography about George Washington. Every time that happens, when a new biographer gets involved, they say, have added. Takeof them will just papers and others will cut them up. It is part of the reason why washingtons letters, the papers are up to 150,000 different bits and pieces of letters. They have scattered. To theily holds on selection. They do get confiscated. In terms of how they relate to the modern, it is interesting because they were family properties. Buried. Roosevelt being we have the new addition, the creation of the National Archives and essentially, hinging and attaching it to a set of morning. With the exception of johnson, who is buried in stonewall, kennedy, who is added in buried in arlington cemetery. All of their president ial libraries are family homes. Rule. Is no cut and dry seemost modern president s it as going hand in hand. Also, it is very telling that leaders want to be buried in a place where people are going to learn more about them. Andle can study the good bad. It is interesting. A lot of president s follow suit. Anybody else . Questions
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