History, Natural History & the Arts
Christmas conjures up images of festivity, family, and especially sumptuous dinners but it wasn’t that way for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from May 1775 to December 1783 or about 104 months.
During that time, he visited his beloved Mount Vernon just once, in 1781 following the victory at Yorktown before returning to his home for good in 1783. [Read more…] about George Washington At Christmas
Beginning with George Washington, it has been a custom for the President of the United States to have an official portrait sculpted or painted during his time in office.
From the beginning artists were faced with conflicting demands of aesthetics, the need to evoke the significance of the nation’s highest office, and the personal inclination of the sitter (varying from modesty to pomposity). How to reconcile such different strands in a work of art? [Read more…] about Portraying Presidents: A Sketch of Cultural History
As the first President of the United States, George Washington set many precedents for the new nation. One of the biggest precedents Washington set came in the form of the Cabinet, a body of advisors from across the U.S. government who advise the president on how to handle matters of foreign and domestic policy.
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, we investigate Washington’s creation of the Cabinet and how it became a government institution with Lindsay Chervinsky author of the book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution (Harvard Belknap Press, 2020).
This week on The Historians Podcast, Matthew Costello, author of The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President Costello explains how Washington’s reputation evolved in the 1800s. [Read more…] about How George Washington’s Reputation Evolved (Podcast)
Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is set to celebrate General George Washington’s 288th birthday on February 15th, 16th and 17th. Events will include demonstrations, topical talks, historical presentations, take-home crafts, and more. [Read more…] about Washington’s Birthday At Washington’s Headquarters
Acting Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History, Matthew R. Costello’s new book The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President (University Press of Kansas, 2019) looks at the life of George Washington, and how he has been viewed throughout history. [Read more…] about Book Talk: Memory of the First President
Following the capture of British forces by the allied armies of France and America, at Yorktown, Virginia, in the fall of 1781, the Continental Northern Army returned to the Hudson Highlands. The destruction of the principal British army in the field in the South broke England’s will to continue the struggle.
In the fall of 1782, near New Windsor, 7,500 Continental Army soldiers built a city of 600 log huts. Along with some of their family members, they braved the winter and kept a wary eye on the 12,000 British troops in New York City, just 60 miles away. [Read more…] about New Windsor Cantonment Celebrating Washington’s Birthday
Over the winter of 1780-81 at this headquarters, General Henry Knox organized the artillery for the projected attack on New York City. Soldiers, at the nearby encampment, repaired and trained on the guns, howitzers and mortars.
“Mount Ellison,” the genteel combination English and Dutch-style stone house was built for prominent local merchant Thomas Ellison by an unknown number of skilled artisans and laborers between April and September 1754 under the direction of stonemason William Bull. [Read more…] about Knox’s Headquarters Celebrating Washington’s Birthday
On November 26, 1883, a large statue of George Washington by the American Sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward was erected in front of New York City’s Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street, which statue remains there to this day.
This more than life size statute of George Washington was erected as part of a huge celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Evacuation Day, the day that the British finally left New York City on November 25, 1783 and Washington entered the City to claim it for the new American government. [Read more…] about Hoisting the Flag: An Evacuation Day Tradition
General George Washington, Governor George Clinton and Lord Stirling all knew about Anthony’s Nose. Not because it was part of someone’s anatomy, but because it was a prominent feature along the Hudson River, the highest place in Westchester County. Anthony’s Nose resembles a person’s nose when viewed in profile from the Hudson River, and so was a well known landmark.
Anthony’s Nose was also strategically important. [Read more…] about Hudson River Chain, Anthony’s Nose, and the American Revolution