![]() You can understand the fun Tad would have had sliding down the main banister worn smooth with use. Mitchell explains that, “Standing in these rooms and hallways you can envision the Lincoln family in day to day activities. Now involved in this project she has developed a deep and abiding interest. She admits that prior to working at the Cottage she held a great admiration for the 16 th President as well as a general, but not consuming interest in the Civil War. Alison took up her duties just three months before the public opening of the Cottage in February 2008. Alison attended Holy Spirit School in Annandale, Paul VI High School in Fairfax, and the University of Richmond where she studied Art and Art History. Our tour invitation came from the Development Coordinator for President Lincoln’s Cottage, Alison Mitchell. You continue to reflect for days afterwards. You are haunted by the legal difficulties, and the personal convictions required to enact the 13th Amendment to the U.S. You view a family without pretension, and you are troubled with the issues of civil war, mounting death tolls, battle losses and victories. Through well trained and personable guides, and an excellent multimedia presentation, you are transported in time. You recognize that this is a quiet reflective space where the difficulties of State could be carefully considered. In the main Drawing Room, you gather on reproduction period furniture experiencing the proportions and appointments of the room from the perspective of a seated guest. You listen to historic voices reading from private letters, and watch images of the household staff, friends & family. You wonder how ladies in large hoop skirts navigated the narrow stairs you welcome the breeze provided on the generous porch and though the jib windows. As you progress from room to room, you grow close to the Lincoln family as though you are walking in their footsteps. ![]() ![]() Touring the Cottage is a surprisingly intimate experience. Finally, after eight years and $17 million of donated funds, this memorable home is open to the public. Impressive marble mantles were cleaned, walls that were added in subsequent decades were removed, roofs replaced, and the grounds meticulously landscaped. Lighting had to be reinstalled using fixtures reminiscent of the period. Countless layers of paint on deep wood moldings, doors, walls and coffered ceilings had to be painstakingly removed along with layers of wallpaper. By July 2000 it had been declared a National Monument, spending the next eight years in restoration. The Cottage was used by succeeding presidents as a summer retreat during the 19 th Century to include Presidents Hayes and Arthur. Everywhere they looked, the carnage of the Civil War was evident. By 1862 the First Family shared the grounds with three hundred veterans as well as Company K of the 150 th Pennsylvania Volunteers who had been detailed to guard the president. On the grounds thirty to forty burials a week took place in full view of the Lincolns. They also provided feed-back on political actions he took or planned to take, especially when it came to the issue of Emancipation. These discussions provided the President with first hand accounts that influenced the direction he set for the war. Many of these soldiers were wounded in recent battles and housed in military hospitals along the route. Riding daily on horseback to and from the White House, the President frequently stopped to trade stories with soldiers and solicit their opinion on current issues. President Lincoln was quoted as saying on January 1, 1863, “If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.” Nineteen carts loaded with furnishings, toys, and personal belongings from the White House accompanied the family each summer including the famous desk upon which the Emancipation Proclamation was drafted at the Cottage, and later signed at the White House. It became the Camp David of the 1860’s and the most meaningful historic site associated with his Presidency next to the White House. From June to November in 1862-1864 (almost a quarter of his presidency) the President, Mary, and Tad Lincoln shifted residences. Perched on the third highest point in Washington and set in a rural park, the house offered some relief f rom the high summer humidity and disease so prevalent in the Washington of Lincoln's day. Three miles north of the White House on the grounds of the Soldier’s Home, resides President Lincoln’s Cottage, a thirty-four room Gothic Revival country residence. Former Annandale Student Promotes Lincoln Heritage: Hi s toughest decisions were made here.įirst published in The ENDEAVOR News Magazine
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |