Historic Battersea

View Historic Battersea in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Historic Battersea in Petersburg, Virginia.
Photo courtesy Battersea Foundation.

Historic Battersea

1289 Upper Appomattox Lane
Petersburg, VA

Headquarters:
29 W. Bank Street
Petersburg, VA 23803
Phone: 804-732-9882 

Website:  Battersea Foundation

The Treasure:  Completed in 1768, Battersea is an unusually fine example of the Palladian style of architecture, retaining many original details that reflect the highest standards of the time.

Accessibility:  Restoration is still ongoing so the site is not technically open to the public. While restoration is ongoing, public and private tours can always be arranged by calling Battersea’s offices.

Restoration is currently underway at
Battersea. Photo courtesy
Battersea Foundation.

Background:  With this visit to Battersea, we depart Richmond for the nearby City of Petersburg. Located on the Appomattox River, Petersburg has a rich history of its own. It became of considerable geographic importance in the 19th century when the city emerged as a major transfer point for the country’s new rail system. The trains brought money and goods, but they also pegged Petersburg as a constant target for Union forces during the Civil War. The novel and movie Cold Mountain depict one of the major Petersburg wartime events, the Battle of the Crater in 1864.

Meanwhile, in the rural area on the western edge of the city, the Battersea mansion quietly weathered the centuries. Its builder, Colonel John Bannister, was a third-generation Virginian, grandson to the Reverend John Bannister who arrived in Virginia in 1677. Thanks to the Reverend Bannister’s sponsorship by the powerful William Byrd family, the Bannisters were able to establish themselves as important Virginia gentry. As he reached his early 40s, Colonel Bannister undertook the building of a residence appropriate for a fashionable family of the time.

The Chinese lattice staircase at Battersea.
Photo courtesy Battersea Foundation.

Battersea draws upon Palladianism, a style of architecture espoused by the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio that was based on the classical architecture of Rome. Palladianism caught on in Europe in the 18th century and spread to the fashionable areas of the American colonies around mid-century. Drayton Hall in South Carolina is a notable early example of  American-style Palladianism. Thomas Jefferson adopted the style whole-heartedly in his architectural designs, referring to Palladio’s books as his bible.

Battersea offers a sophisticated presentation of the Palladian style, with its classically balanced five-part structure. There’s a two-story central block, radiating out to one-story wings, and finishing with one-and-half-story end pavilions. Everything is properly symmetrical in the Palladian style. Each side of the house even gets its own columned portico. Inside the house, many original architectural details remain in place, most notably an elaborate Chinese lattice staircase.

Notes from the Editor:  The stately look of Palladianism become a defining architectural style in the early years of the United States, gradually shading into neoclassical architecture. This movement’s roots in Greek and Roman styles appealed to the idealists of the young republic, as they openly embraced the leadership of the humble Roman general Cincinnatus as their political ideal. So it should be little surprise that one of the grandest Palladian-style buildings in the country is where the President resides: the White House.

Other Recommended Sites:  There’s plenty to see on your visit to Petersburg! You can enjoy exploring the Petersburg National Battlefield (the crater is still there), the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum on the grounds of Fort Lee, the Siege Museum, and the opulent Center Hill Museum, a 19th century mansion.

Bird's eye view of the Battersea estate.
Photo courtesy Battersea Foundation.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Wednesday’s destination:  Off to southern California!
Friday’s destination:  Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park

© 2012 Lee Price

Historic Jackson Ward District

View Historic Jackson Ward District in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

The historic cast-iron porches frequently seen in the Jackson Ward District.

Historic Jackson Ward District

The boundaries of the Jackson Ward District are: Broad Street to the south, North Belvidere Street to the west, West Duval Street to the north, and North 3rd Street to the east.

Richmond, VA

Website:  The Historic Jackson Ward Association
The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia

The Treasure:  The architecture, culture, and history of achievement within this historically African-American neighborhood, once known as the “Harlem of the South.”

Accessibility:  It’s a neighborhood! Stroll the streets and enjoy the history. For orientation to the area and its history, visit the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia located at 00 Clay Street. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5.

Background:  You see layers of history when you explore an area like this. Much of the architecture dates back before the neighborhood’s most famous years—from the early 1920s to the 1940s when Jackson Ward earned its nickname of the “Harlem of the South.” The oldest surviving house, Tucker Cottage at 701 Chamberlayne Parkway, dates all the way back to 1802. Many other buildings along these streets display the Greek Revival and Second Empire styles popular during the 19th century. Charming historic cast-iron porch railings, usually made at local Richmond foundries, lend some of the streets a distinctive and welcoming appearance

In the years following the Civil War, many freed slaves moved to Jackson Ward where there was already an established community of free blacks. Working together, they created a thriving business community. One early leader was the Reverend William Washington Browne, who was a lead founder of the Savings Bank of the United Order of True Reformers in 1888, the first bank chartered by African Americans in the United States. Formerly listed as one of the country’s

most endangered National Historic Landmarks,

Maggie L. Walker House.

the W.W. Browne House has been successfully renovated in keeping with its historic past by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Walker Row Partnership, Inc.

The most famous figure to emerge from this period was Maggie Lena Walker (1864-1934), the first woman (of any color!) to charter a bank in the United States. The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank was a roaring success, too, offering opportunities for first-time home ownership to many. Today, the National Park Service manages the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site at 600 North Second Street, open Monday through Saturday from 9 to 5.

The Leigh Street Armory.

Save America’s Treasures funding was primarily used to stabilize the upper portions of the Leigh Street Armory at 122 West Leigh Street. Officially known as the First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory, the 1895 building is the oldest standing armory building in Virginia and has a good claim on being the oldest African-American armory in the country. Richmond’s first African-American regiment met and drilled here. Other historic buildings that have benefited from Save America’s Treasures support include the Booker T. Washington School (an 1871 building that is the oldest public school building in Richmond) and Tucker Cottage, the 1802 building which was successfully moved within the neighborhood to save it from demolition.

John Mitchell, Jr. in 1886.

Notes from the Editor:  History can be fickle, temporarily forgetting true giants in the struggles that shaped the country. Let’s hope that the name of John Mitchell, Jr. (1863-1929) is on the rebound now as places like the Library of Virginia and the National Endowment for the Humanities have published work celebrating his heroism.

Mitchell was born into slavery in 1863 and spent his life fearlessly championing civil rights for African Americans. As editor of the Richmond Planet, Mitchell publicly denounced all aspects of racial injustice, most notably in his long-term crusade against lynching. At a time when the Ku Klux Klan was on the rise, Mitchell publicly faced down threats against his life, promoted organized resistance, and used his skills as writer and cartoonist to expose injustice wherever he found it. He should not be forgotten.

Finally, let's briefly glance at the culture of the Jackson Ward. Hippodrome Theater in Richmond opened in 1914 and became the centerpiece of the Jackson Ward’s reputation for being the “Harlem of the South.” A 1945 fire effectively ended those glory years. Here’s a nice two-minute video piece celebrating the Hippodrome’s history:

Who would you see at the Hippodrome? How about…

You might see Richmond native son Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Jeni Le Gon, and Fats Waller doing “I’m Living in a Great Big Way”...

... or maybe Duke Ellington performing “Rumpus in Richmond”...

... or even a young Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb doing “St. Louis Blues.”

I wish I could find clips that were actually FROM the Hippodrome but at least these treats are period appropriate. Enjoy!

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  Battersea
Wednesday’s destination:  Off to southern California!

© 2012 Lee Price

Library of Virginia: Thomas Jefferson Gubernatorial Papers

View Library of Virginia in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Central staircase at the Library of Virginia.
Photo courtesy Library of Virginia.

Library of Virginia (Thomas Jefferson Gubernatorial Papers)

800 East Broad Street

Richmond, VA

Website:  Library of Virginia

The Treasure:  The official gubernatorial records of Thomas Jefferson from his two 1-year terms as governor, 1779-1781.

Accessibility:  Specific library collections such as the Thomas Jefferson Gubernatorial Papers are only placed on view for special exhibitions. At other times, the fragile documents are preserved in cool, dry, and dark storage as recommended by current best practices. Thanks to the Save America’s Treasures grant and matching funds from the Roller-Bottimore Foundation, many of these documents are currently in the process of being conserved. Following treatment, they will be digitized for greater accessibility.

Background:  The Revolutionary War years were a turbulent and dangerous time to serve in public office. Up until Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, Virginia was under the leadership of governors appointed by the English monarchy. If the appointee happened to live in England, the crown colony was managed by a lieutenant-governor, appointed by the crown governor.

Then came Revolution. Virginia was ready for freedom and already had their crown governor, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, on the run at the time that Thomas Jefferson was composing the Declaration of Independence for the Second Continental Congress. The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, and in Virginia, Patrick Henry took office as the new governor on July 5. Henry served for three consecutive 1-year terms.

Jefferson signature and state seal on a 1781 document
from the Thomas Jefferson Gubernatorial Papers.

Jefferson followed Patrick Henry as governor but it was not a congenial role for him, especially near the end of his second term. Failing to hold back the approaching British troops of General Benedict Arnold, Thomas Jefferson evacuated the government from Richmond to Charlottesville in early 1781. The British continued to advance and Jefferson and his family retreated further west to his Poplar Forest house, southwest of Lynchburg, where his term in office ended. The General Assembly expressed disappointment with his leadership during this time.

The Library of Virginia cares for a major collection of letters and other documents pertaining to the Virginia Governor’s Office during the first six administrations:  Patrick Henry (July 6, 1776-June 1, 1779), Thomas Jefferson (June 2, 1779-June 3, 1781), William Fleming (June 4-12, 1781), Thomas Nelson (June 12-November 22, 1781), David Jameson (November 22-30, 1781), and Benjamin Harrison (December 1, 1781-November 30, 1784).

For their Save America’s Treasures request, the Library of Virginia focused on the most famous of these governors, Thomas Jefferson. Within the Jefferson collection, there are 1,992 manuscript pages and three letterbooks. Jefferson’s correspondents at this time included John Jay, James Madison, Baron Frederich von Steuben, John Paul Jones, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

Senior Conservator Leslie Courtois from Etherington Conservation Services is currently working to delaminate and conserve the documents at the Library of Virginia’s conservation laboratories. The Library of Virginia has mounted this informative video on the treatments:

Notes from the Editor:  In many ways, Jefferson’s stint as governor of Virginia was a low point in his life. But Jefferson—a truly great writer and thinker—is a hero of mine, so I’d like to accentuate the positive. After all, this came in the middle of a ten-year period, 1776-1786, during which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, Virginia’s “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom,” and the book Notes on the State of Virginia—more greatness than most mere mortals accomplish in a lifetime!

Jefferson introduced the “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom” in 1779 while serving as a Delegate in the Virginia General Assembly. While the bill took seven years to finally pass in 1786, it was a milestone statement of separation of church and state and a clear influence on the future writing of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Jefferson’s only full-length book published during his life, Notes on the State of Virginia was inspired by a set of questions he received while serving as governor of Virginia. He began writing the book while in office. In 1784, Jefferson had 200 copies privately printed. Subsequent public and enlarged editions sold well. Conceived primarily as a volume on the state’s natural history, Notes on the State of Virginia turned out to be not only a state-of-the-art scientific description of the state but also a heartfelt discourse on Jeffersonian political theory and philosophy.

Other Recommended Sites:  From the background section above: “The British continued to advance and Jefferson and his family retreated further west to his Poplar Forest house, southwest of Lynchburg, where his term in office ended.” A good deal less known than his famous Monticello residence, Jefferson’s Poplar Forest home is open to the public as well. It’s another Jefferson architectural masterpiece and a very personal place for him where he could “enjoy the solitude of a hermit.”

Three treated documents from the Thomas Jefferson Gubernatorial Papers
at the Library of Virginia.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s destination:  Historic Jackson Ward District
Monday’s destination:  Battersea Foundation

© 2012 Lee Price

Washington Monument Sculpture Group

View Washington Monument Sculpture Group in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

George Washington equestrian statue from the Washington Monument
Sculpture Group in Richmond's Capitol Square.

Washington Monument Sculpture Group

9th and Grace Street

Richmond, VA

Website:  Virginia State Capitol: Capitol Square

The Treasure:  Celebrating pride in Virginia’s Revolution-era patriots, the Washington Monument Sculpture Group in Richmond’s Capitol Square is capped by the commanding figure of George Washington on horseback. The entire sculpture group comprises the George Washington equestrian statue, the pedestal, six statues of other Virginia patriots, and smaller allegorical figures.

Accessibility: The Washington Monument Sculpture Group is located in Capitol Square, a 12-acre public park and civic campus. The Capitol building is open to visitors Monday through Saturday from 8 to 5 and on Sundays from 1 to 5.

Washington Monument Sculpture Group.

Background:  I suggest approaching from Grace Street, a city street that ends at a gated entrance to Capitol Square. From the street, you can see the park opening out in front of you with the imposing Washington Monument Sculpture Group serving as a centerpiece to the park.

The Washington Monument Sculpture Group is largely the creation of Thomas Crawford (1814-1857). A New York-born sculptor living in Italy at the time he won the competition to create the memorial, Crawford’s design places the bronze statue of Washington high above visitors to Capitol Square. Six prominent Virginians—Patrick Henry, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Nelson, Jr., John Marshall, and Andrew Lewis—are symmetrically arranged around the central pedestal. Crawford’s assistants and the American sculptor Randolph Rogers completed work on the sculpture group in the 12 years following Crawford’s death in 1857.

Capitol Square is a working government complex, centering on the second oldest working Capitol in the United States. From the entrance on Grace Street, look behind the Washington Monument Sculpture Group to see the Executive Mansion where Virginia’s governor resides (the oldest governor’s mansion still in use in the nation). Now look to the right and you’ll see the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson. Expanded since its original design, the House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia still meet in session here.

Notes from the Editor:  As a professional fundraiser, I’ve been known to grow impatient with the length of capital campaigns for “brick and mortar” projects. They can seem interminable! But judging from the story of the funding of the Washington Monument Sculpture Group, work may not have been any easier for fundraisers in the 19th century. The Virginia General Assembly began active discussion on the creation of a Washington memorial in 1800, shortly after Washington’s death in December 1799. Then for nearly 50 years, the project ebbed and flowed along, with short bursts of active fundraising separated by years of inactivity. Finally, the General Assembly announced the competition for a sculptor in 1849. The last of the allegorical statues was placed on the monument in 1869.

Think of that stretch of time… If you were 20 when the project was first broached in 1800, you would have been 89 when the project reached completion. That’s too long a project for this impatient fundraiser!

Patriot statues on the Washington Monument Sculpture Group: Andrew Lewis
on the left, Patrick Henry in the center, and George Mason on the right,
with an allegorical figure in the foreground.

Other Recommended Sites:  The Washington Monument Sculpture Group is an official American treasure. But the most famous statue in Richmond’s Capitol Square is another one of Washington located in the Capitol rotunda. Sculpted by French artist Jean Antoine Houdon, this life-size marble statue of Washington was completed during Washington’s life and is based on detailed measurements of his body. According to legend, Washington’s friend the Marquis de Lafayette declared upon seeing the statue, “That is the man, himself. I can almost realize he is going to move.”

The Capitol’s old House of Delegates chamber is maintained today as a museum and it’s filled with more statues. The most imposing of these is a bronze statue of General Robert E. Lee, standing on the spot where Lee accepted command of the military and naval forces of the Commonwealth of Virginia in April 1861. If you can’t arrange a time to visit in person, the Virginia General Assembly website has posted an informative Virtual Tour of the Virginia State Capitol and its grounds.

And if you grow tired of all the political statuary, Richmond boasts other statuary, notably including an Edgar Allen Poe statue in Capitol Square and a Bill “Bojangles” Robinson statue in a small park at the intersection of Adams and West Leigh Streets in Richmond’s Historic Jackson Ward District.

Other statuary in Richmond's Capitol Square.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Wednesday’s destination:  Library of Virginia (Thomas Jefferson Gubernatorial Papers)
Friday’s destination:  Jackson Ward Historic District

© 2012 Lee Price

Virginia Historical Society: Hoffbauer Murals

View Virginia Historical Society in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Signs announcing the restoration work on the Hoffbauer murals at the
Virginia Historical Society.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Virginia Historical Society

428 North Boulevard

Richmond, VA

Website:  Virginia Historical Society

The Treasure:  To explain why these murals are a national treasure, I yield the floor to Dr. Paul Levengood, Virginia Historical Society President and CEO:

“The Memorial Military Murals by Charles Hoffbauer are an American treasure because they are one of the best examples of how elements of the United States population overcame the pain and destruction of our bloodiest conflict. They are the preeminent visual artistic symbol of what came to be known as the ‘Lost Cause,’ a southern response to defeat in the American Civil War.”

Spring Mural  by Charles Hoffbauer.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Summer Mural  by Charles Hoffbauer.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Autumn Mural  by Charles Hoffbauer.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Winter Mural  by Charles Hoffbauer.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Accessibility: The Virginia Historical Society’s library and galleries are open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 5 and on Sunday from 1 to 5, except for major holidays. Admission is free for all visitors. There are always great exhibitions in the galleries to visit, most drawing heavily upon both the Historical Society’s permanent collections and the large archaeological collections of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The Virginia Historical Society maintains a museum of changing, long-term, and traveling exhibitions; offers public lectures, seminars, conferences, and consulting services; arranges school and general group tours and activities; publishes teacher resource materials; conducts teacher training and re-certification workshops on- and off-site; operates a research library; and supports research through an endowed fellowship program and minority internships. Their long-term exhibition The Story of Virginia: An American Experience can be viewed online.

A painting conservator at work
on the Spring Mural.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical
Society.

The Four Seasons of the Confederacy (also known as the Memorial Military Murals) by Charles Hoffbauer are in the gallery to the left of the main entrance. Depending upon the current nature of the restoration work, limited access to the gallery is sometimes permitted. At those times, you may get to see conservators from Richmond Conservation Studio at work cleaning and restoring the murals.

Notes:  Charles Hoffbauer (1875-1957) was a French artist who received a commission in 1913 from the Confederate Memorial Association to paint four giant Memorial Military Murals commemorating the Civil War. Hoffbaeur immediately began work on his grand Four Seasons of the Confederacy concept but his work was interrupted by World War I. He returned to France to fight in the war and what he saw changed his vision for the murals. When Hoffbauer returned to Virginia at the end of the war, he altered his earlier work to express his new insights.

Usually interpreted as capturing the “Lost Cause” movement, a nostalgic historical view that celebrated the nobility of Confederate troops in a doomed crusade (see Gone With the Wind for a robust example of “Lost Cause” sentiment), the Four Seasons of the Confederacy can also be viewed as a universal depiction of disillusionment following warfare. In the Spring Mural, the troops are young and eager. The Summer Mural indulges in hero worship, mythologizing the Confederate leadership. The Autumn Mural leads the enthusiastic troops into battle. And the harsh and despairing Winter Mural depicts retreat and defeat.

World War I had profoundly influenced Charles Hoffbauer. During his service in the war, his illustrations of battle scenes were published in the French magazine L’Illustration.  Their somber mood is close in spirit to the Winter Mural—suggesting that for the war-weary artist, all war was a “Lost Cause.”

Artillery Convoy by Charles Hoffbauer (published in L'Illustration).

Senegalese Soldiers on the Road to Assevillers
by Charles Hoffbauer (published in L'Illustration).

Infantry Pushing Through a Village at Night
by Charles Hoffbauer (published in L'Illustration).

(I stumbled upon these evocative World War I illustrations by Hoffbauer on Shane Peterson’s delightful “Accidental Historian” website. There’s more Hoffbauer art to admire there!)

Notes from the Editor:  A very sincere thank you to E. Lee Shepard, Vice President for Collections at the Virginia Historical Society, who introduced me to the Dinwiddie and Custis collections and then very graciously allowed me inside the mural gallery for a close-up look at the conservation of Four Seasons of the Confederacy. The Richmond Conservation Studio is cleaning and conserving the murals, an enormous task that they hope to complete by 2014. As for the murals, they are magnificent.

Other Recommended Sites:  The Hoffbauer murals aren’t the only impressive artwork in the immediate vicinity. Just a block further down the road, you can visit the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and enjoy its remarkable permanent collections. We could mention the South Asian, Himalayan, and African collections, or the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, but this blog is about American treasures, so we’ll simply point out great works by Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Hart Benton, Robert Henri, George Inness, Cecilia Beaux, Louis C. Tiffany, and many more.

Visitors witness conservation in action as restoration work
progresses on the Spring Mural.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  Washington Monument Sculpture Group
Wednesday’s destination:  Library of Virginia

© 2012 Lee Price

Virginia Historical Society: Custis Family Papers

View Virginia Historical Society in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

The front sign welcoming you to the Virginia Historical Society.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Virginia Historical Society

428 North Boulevard

Richmond, VA

Website:  Virginia Historical Society
The Custis Family Papers: Saving an American Tradition

The Treasure:  The Custis Family Papers at the Virginia Historical Society shed considerable light on life in colonial Virginia, but remain of particular lasting popular interest because of their insight into the world of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington—or, as she’s better known, Martha Washington.

Accessibility: The Virginia Historical Society’s library and galleries are open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 5 and on Sunday from 1 to 5, except for major holidays. Admission is free for all visitors. There are always great exhibitions in the galleries to visit, most drawing heavily upon both the Historical Society’s permanent collections and the large archaeological collections of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The Virginia Historical Society maintains a museum of changing, long-term, and traveling exhibitions; offers public lectures, seminars, conferences, and consulting services; arranges school and general group tours and activities; publishes teacher resource materials; conducts teacher training and re-certification workshops on- and off-site; operates a research library; and supports research through an endowed fellowship program and minority internships. Their long-term exhibition The Story of Virginia: An American Experience can be viewed online.

Specific library collections such as the Custis Family Papers are only placed on view for special exhibitions. At other times, the fragile documents are preserved in cool, dry, and dark storage as recommended by current best practices. This digital Document Gallery offers an accessible view of some representative papers from the collection.

A slave list from the Custis Family
Papers, before treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical
Society.

Notes:  Settling on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in the mid-17th century, General John Custis and his wife Margaret took full advantage of the opportunities of a new land. Custis served as a member of the Governor’s Council and worked the land, steadily expanding his initial holdings. The family grew wealthy and powerful over the next three generations.

Custis’ grandson Daniel Parke Custis was 38 when he married the charming 18-year-old Martha Dandridge in 1749. Five years and four children later, Daniel was dead and Martha found herself young, wealthy, and very eligible for remarriage. At the age of 27, Martha Dandridge Custis married one of her admirers—that handsome up-and-coming militia officer and Virginia gentleman, George Washington.

The Custis Family Papers provide wonderful detail on life in early colonial Virginia (Northampton County and Williamsburg) in the decades before the George and Martha union. Then the Washington-Custis portion of the collection offers valuable documentary evidence of the workings of the Washington-Custis estates as well as an inside look at the care the couple lavished on Martha’s one surviving son, John Parke Custis, and their grandchildren. While George and Martha had no children of their own, the future President enjoyed—and was fully dedicated to—his stepfather responsibilities.

Conservation treatment of the Custis Family Papers was performed at the conservation laboratory at the Virginia Historical Society and at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts.

Notes from the Editor:  The conservation of the Custis Family Papers offered an opportunity to investigate a story associated with this collection. While it’s natural for colorful legends to attach themselves to collections, it can be very difficult to authenticate seemingly apocryphal stories. Family legends get notoriously garbled as they pass down the generations, often making it impossible to separate truth from myth.

Former Confederate General George Washington Custis Lee (the eldest son of Robert E. Lee, a president of Washington and Lee University, and a Custis family member) gave the Custis Family Papers to the Virginia Historical Society in 1900. At the time it was shared that, according to family legend, the papers had been buried for safekeeping during the Civil War to preserve them for posterity. With this story in mind, the conservators were asked to look for any signs that the papers may indeed have been buried. Sure enough, the conservators noted signs of water damage that would be typical of documents buried in a container in the ground. Granted, this doesn’t conclusively prove the story is true, but the physical evidence lends some credence to the anecdotal evidence.

True or not, it’s my type of story—demonstrating a family’s commitment to preservation even in the face of impending hardship and war.

Before and after treatment of a document from the Custis Family Papers.
Photo courtesy of Virginia Historical Society.

Before and after treatment of a document from the Custis Family Papers.
Photo courtesy of Virginia Historical Society.

Other Recommended Sites:  Head a few blocks south toward the James River and spend a relaxing day at Maymont. Located on 100 scenic acres, a day at Maymont should include a tour of the handsome Victorian estate, time for strolling through the gardens, a detour to the nature center, and probably a picnic lunch. It’s perfect for families. Why, there’s even a petting zoo! Richmond natives rightfully treasure this beautiful park.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (Charles Hoffbauer Murals)
Monday’s destination:  Washington Monument Sculpture Group

© 2012 Lee Price

Virginia Historical Society: The Dinwiddie Collection

View Virginia Historical Society in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Front entrance of the Virginia Historical Society.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Virginia Historical Society

428 North Boulevard

Richmond, VA

Website:  Virginia Historical Society

The Treasure:  The Dinwiddie Collection:  The papers of Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770) who served as lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia and was a mentor to George Washington while he was serving as a young militia officer in the French and Indian War.

Accessibility: The Virginia Historical Society’s library and galleries are open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 5 and on Sunday from 1 to 5, except for major holidays. Admission is free for all visitors. There are always great exhibitions in the galleries to visit, most drawing heavily upon both the Historical Society’s permanent collections and the large archaeological collections of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The Virginia Historical Society maintains a museum of changing, long-term, and traveling exhibitions; offers public lectures, seminars, conferences, and consulting services; arranges school and general group tours and activities; publishes teacher resource materials; conducts teacher training and re-certification workshops on- and off-site; operates a research library; and supports research through an endowed fellowship program and minority internships. Their long-term exhibition The Story of Virginia: An American Experience can be viewed online.

Specific library collections such as the Dinwiddie Collection are only placed on view for special exhibitions. At other times, the fragile documents are preserved in cool, dry, and dark storage as recommended by current best practices. This digital Document Gallery offers an accessible view of some representative items from the collection.

A letter from the Dinwiddie Collection.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Notes:  The roots of major historical events often become obscured by time. Robert Dinwiddie’s name may have largely faded from history but his letters are forceful reminders of the historical currents that were gathering force while he served as lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1751 to 1758.

Dinwiddie’s actions as lieutenant governor of Virginia triggered and shaped the course of the French and Indian War, a turbulent period that significantly influenced future events. First, the eventual English triumph over the French was a victory for the English model of permanent settlements. English settlers would continue their westward push, establishing permanent homesteads. Second, the Native American tribe alliances with the French increased animosity between settlers and Indians, deepening tensions that would continue to increase throughout the next century and a half. And third, George Washington rose to prominence.

The Dinwiddie letters provide essential research details for all three of these subject areas but may be most intriguing in regards to George Washington. Only 19 when Dinwiddie took office in 1751, Washington was a young man of good family but uncertain prospects. Impressed by Washington, Dinwiddie appointed Washington a Major in the Virginia militia in 1753. Despite Washington’s subsequent record of less-than-stellar engagements against the French, Dinwiddie maintained his faith in Washington, enthusiastically encouraging, protecting, and promoting him. Meanwhile, Washington quickly fine-tuned his own political and leadership instincts—a key phase in forming the personality that would inspire a young country.

Letters from the Dinwiddie Collection, before treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Notes from the Editor:  With the best of intentions, a 19th century English autograph collector named Henry Stevens decided to preserve the Washington letters in the Dinwiddie Collection by pasting them into a scrapbook. The original rag-based paper of the letters was extremely good—they might have held up well for centuries. But mid-19th century scrapbooks are an altogether different matter. The high acidity of the scrapbook paper transferred to the letters, causing them to become brittle. With similar good intentions, Stevens had the Dinwiddie letterbooks rebound but used poor quality material that eventually did far more harm than good.

These 19th century preservation choices created some of the many challenges involved in conserving the letters. The painstaking work of conserving each letter fell largely to Wendy Cowan, a contract paper conservator at Richmond Conservators of Works on Paper. Her work has ensured the continued accessibility of this major collection.

Letters on the drying rack, during treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Determining placement of fragments, during treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Other Recommended Sites:  In addition to all the activities mentioned above in the Accessibility section, the Virginia Historical Society maintains a fascinating separate museum called Virginia House. Romantically reconstructed from a dismantled 16th century English manor house, Virginia House was built specifically to serve the Virginia Historical Society. The wealthy couple who conceived this plan, Alexander and Virginia Weddell, moved into the very large building in 1928 and lived there for the next 20 years. Upon their deaths, Virginia House became the responsibility of the Virginia Historical Society.

The Virginia House museum and gardens are used for many special events. The house overlooks the James River, just a short drive from the Virginia Historical Society’s main building. Tours are available by appointment.

A letterbook from the Dinwiddie Collection in a custom storage enclosure,
after treatment.
Photo Courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Wednesday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (Custis Family Papers)

© 2012 Lee Price

Monumental Church

View Monumental Church in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic Richmond Foundation.

Monumental Church

1224 East Broad Street

Richmond, VA

Website:  Historic Richmond Foundation: Monumental Church

The Treasure:  You might consider Monumental Church an American treasure because it commemorates the site of the greatest urban tragedy to take place in the United States up to 1811. Or you might consider Monumental Church to be an American treasure because it’s an architectural masterpiece by Robert Mills, famed architect perhaps best known for the Washington Monument. Either reason would be sufficient. Both reasons combine to make it unforgettable.

Interior view of pulpit at
Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic Richmond
Foundation.

Accessibility:  Monumental Church is in the final stages of being restored by the Historic Richmond Foundation. Currently, it is open for tours by request only. You can contact the Historic Richmond Foundation to schedule a personal or group tour.

Or… plan your wedding at Monumental Church. Scroll down on the website page linked above for information on wedding planning. It would be a lovely—and very historic—location choice for your wedding. And afterward you get to say you were married in an official American Treasure!

Notes:  First the tragedy: This site wasn’t always a church. From 1806 to 1811, the Richmond Theatre was located here. On the day after Christmas in 1811, a capacity crowd gathered in the theatre for a benefit concert. A chandelier accidentally touched off flames that quickly spread, fueled by combustible paints and oils. Panic ensued and people found themselves trapped in the crush for the doors. In all, 72 people died that night. More would have died if not for the heroic efforts of Dr. James D. McCaw and Gilbert Hunt, a slave blacksmith. From inside the building on the second floor, McCaw lowered people from a window while Hunt waited to catch them as they fell. Working together, McCaw and Hunt were classic first responders, answering a crisis with heroic action.

A brick vault was built on the site to serve as a final resting place for the fire’s victims. Then United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall led the campaign to build a memorial and church over the vault. A young architect named Robert Mills won the competition to design the church and memorial.

Mills has the distinction of being Thomas Jefferson’s only architectural student, having worked with Jefferson on the design of Monticello. Mills’ design for Monumental Church is a domed octagonal building in the Greek Revival style. Inside, the church’s interior is stately and graced with unusually fine acoustics. The marble memorial to the victims is on the front portico.

For a century and a half, Monumental Church served the community as an Episcopal church. Over the years, the congregation dwindled and finally the building was deconsecrated in 1965. A 2002 Save America’s Treasures grant launched the current restoration campaign which is now in its final stages.

The marble funeral urn
at Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic
Richmond Foundation.

Notes from the Editor: A large marble funeral urn commemorating the Richmond Theatre victims stood outside on the Monumental Church portico for 185 years. Then in 1999, the urn broke off its base. Determining that the original was too fragile to repair, a team of architectural conservators recommended placing it in storage to protect it from further damage from the elements.

But visitors to Monumental Church still see an urn today, looking exactly like the original. To create this precise replica, Historic Richmond Foundation contracted with Direct Dimensions, Inc., a laser scanning, digital modeling, and reverse engineering company. Close study of historic photographs combined with analysis of detailed laser scans enabled the team to create a replacement urn that captures minute details that had been largely obliterated by urban erosion.

Special thanks to Amy Swartz, Director of Preservation Services at Historic Richmond Foundation, for sharing her article “The Restoration of Monumental Church in Richmond, Virginia” (CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, Summer 2008) which has been invaluable in preparing this blog entry. Also, thanks to our Monumental Church tour guide who led a group of us on a delightful and informative tour of the church a couple of months ago!

Other Recommended Sites:  John Marshall (1755-1835) was one of the most influential of Supreme Court Chief Justices, putting his firm stamp on American constitutional law in its early years. As noted above, Marshall was also the head of the committee that raised the funds to build Monumental Church. Dedicated to his adopted home city of Richmond, Marshall lived several blocks away at 9th and Marshall. Today, the John Marshall House is open for tours on weekends from March through December (with tours only by appointment in January and February). Check the John Marshall House website for details.

The memorial on the portico of Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic Richmond Foundation.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (The Dinwiddie Collection)
Tuesday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (Custis Family Papers)

© 2012 Lee Price