Presidents’ Day, which falls on Monday, February 15, 2021, is a great time to pay a visit to Virginia’s many U.S. Presidential landmarks around the state. The Commonwealth calls itself “the birthplace of Presidents” because so many of those leaders called Virginia home. Accessing these historical properties is only a drive from Richmond. With preserved buildings, docent tours and plenty of open space at almost all of these landmarks, visitors can absorb the stories and lives of the famous residents. The reality is many of these leaders were also slave owner, so their lofty ideas of leadership and rights for all are questionable when we learn about the forced labor and harsh lives lived by those who were under bondage.
Hundreds of people were enslaved at Thomas Jefferson’s estate Monticello which is approximately one hour west of Richmond, Virginia. / Facebook
Presidents Day also falls during Black History Month, so when you visit these estates, take time to learn about the lives of the enslaved African Americans who also lived in these properties. To their credit, curators at these historical sites are taking a tough look at the lives and experiences of the enslaved workers. That means visitors can learn those often heart wrenching details – their names, forced family separations, and harsh lives – sometimes told in their own or their descendants’ words.
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- Mount Vernon (3200 Mount Vernon Hwy, Mt Vernon, VA 22121) is the historic home of George Washington the first president of the United States, and his wife Martha, located 13 miles south of Washington, D.C. The exhibition Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon explores the personal stories of the people enslaved at Mount Vernon while providing insight into George Washington’s evolving opposition to slavery. On the 60-minute tour tour: The Enslaved People of Mount Vernon, visitors can listen to the stories of the enslaved people who built and operated Mount Vernon, and learn about their daily lives on the estate.Daily in February at 11 am.
⭐️ special event: February 15, 2021 — 9:00am – 5:00pm-Washington’s Birthday Celebration-FREE admission
George Washington’s Mount Vernon will continue its annual tradition of opening to the public for free on Washington’s Birthday Observed (colloquially known as Presidents’ Day, Feb. 15) as well as George Washington’s actual birthday, Feb. 22, but advanced ticket reservations will be required this year.
Tickets will be available for both days on the Mount Vernon website starting Feb. 12 at 12 am. Mount Vernon members may reserve a limited amount of tickets starting Feb. 1 at 12 am. Tickets can be reserved at mountvernon.org/birthdaytickets. Visitation capacity will be limited on both days and there will be no tickets available in-person. Guests who reserve tickets in advance will be assigned an entry time and will only be let on the estate at the time on their ticket. All guests will have to follow Mount Vernon’s COVID-19 safety protocols, face coverings are required, and when possible guests should remain 6 ft. apart. Learn more at mountvernon.org/open. Visitors are invited to tour the grounds, gardens, and museum.There will be no mansion interior tours on either day due to COVID capacity restrictions, but guest services staff and our historical character interpreters will be positioned throughout the estate.
The Presidential wreath-laying ceremony will not be available to the public in person, but will be live-streamed on the Mount Vernon website, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts on Feb. 15. Guests who are unable to visit in person on Washington’s birthday, are invited to join for the virtual George Washington National Birthday Celebration online on Feb. 22 starting at 7 pm EST. To RSVP visit mountvernon.org/gwbirthday
- Monticello (931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy, Charlottesville, VA 22902) was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Thomas Jefferson enslaved over 600 people throughout his life. Four hundred men, women and children lived in bondage at Monticello including Sally Hemmings and her family. Monticello is operating under winter hours and will be closed most Tuesdays and Wednesdays in February. Live Slavery at Monticello Virtual Tour
Join a Monticello guide for a tour of the Monticello quarters, and along Mulberry Row, the industrial hub of the Monticello plantation. Guides will share stories and answer questions about the enslaved African Americans who lived and labored on this plantation, confront Jefferson’s conflicting ideas on freedom and race, and discuss legacies of American slavery. Offered at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays
- Poplar Forest (1542 Bateman Bridge Road, Forest, VA 24551) was Thomas Jefferson’s country retreat. The Enslaved Community Tour gives visitors a change to discover the men, women and children who lived and toiled on the property. Guides tell the authentic stories of resistance, despair and perseverance. From April through October.
- Madison’s Montpelier (11350 Constitution Highway, Montpelier Station, VA22957) Was the home of President James Madison, the Father of the Constitution and architect of the Bill of Rights and Dolley Madison, his wife. The estate features the historic home, gardens, exhibits, tours and miles of walking tours. The mere distinction of Color is described as a “groundbreaking exhibition uses slavery to connect the past to the present through the lens of the Constitution, and honestly examines the paradox that is America’s founding era.” Visitors can also take a tour of Montpelier’s Enslaved Community.
Montpelier’s gardens, grounds, and trails are open for the public to enjoy, Saturdays and Sundays and holiday Mondays, 9 AM to 3:30 PM. This includes the historical core, Annie duPont Formal Garden, Madison family and Enslaved Community cemeteries, and walking trails, on 2,700 acres.
Register for a virtual program with John Douglas Hall, an historical performer who first portrayed James Madison at Montpelier in 1987, on the day the site first opened to the public. Hall has since presented Madison in numerous other forums, reflecting the length and breadth of Madison’s interests and faculties in the political, academic, diplomatic, agrarian, and natural science disciplines. He is particularly noted for his ability to represent Madison on constitutional issues for legal and academic venues, as well as at colleges and universities, high schools, and a variety of public forums around the country. In this program, Hall, as himself, will reflect on his 34 years of “being Madison,” in conversation with his daughter, Sarah Lee Hall, Interpreter and Archaeology Program Coordinator at Montpelier. Free/members; $10/nonmembers.
- Tuckahoe Plantation, the boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson (12601 River Rd, Richmond, VA 23238) The site’s website states: “An effort is underway at Tuckahoe today to deal more candidly with the brutal institution of slavery that the Founding Fathers relied upon to build their homes and their wealth.” Visitors can see still standing cabins of the enslaved workers.
- Highland, The Home of James Monroe, fifth president of the United tates (2050 James Monroe Parkway, Charlottesville, VA 22902) Monroe enslaved as many as 250 people in his lifetime. The drop-in program Slavery at Highland is offered during the months of April through October, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays. Slavery at Highland offers a discussion of historic slavery in the United States with special focus on the men, women, and children enslaved at Highland. Visitors can browse images and historic documents while discussing slavery and its legacies with a specially trained museum interpreter.
- Berkeley Plantation – (12 William Henry Harrison – 9th president and ancestral home of his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third president. (602 Harrison Landing, Charles Cty, VA 23030)
- Sherwood Forest – Home of John Tyler 10th president (14501 John Tyler Memorial Hwy, Charles City, VA 23030
- The cabins of the President Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover Rapidan Camp retreat are open for National Park Service ranger tours to explain the Depression-era usage by Hoover, the 31st president of the United States. Rapidan Camp is located within the central district of Shenandoah National Park. 3655 U.S. Highway 211 East, Luray, VA
- The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, Explore the life of our 28th president, Staunton, VA Wilson & Slavery Tour is a special guided tour that focuses on the experiences of the enslaved people who lived and labored in the Presbyterian Manse where Woodrow Wilson was born. During his presidency he allowed discriminatory Jim Crow laws to be put into place in Washington D.C., and allowed the secretary of the treasury and the postmaster general to segregate their departments.
Here in Richmond we are lucky to access these sites and that historians and archeologists are making these histories public for our education and to honor those who lived through those times.
Related post: Richmond Institutions Celebrate Black History Month
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