“If the men of America have seen fit to allow the home of its most respected hero to go to ruin, why can’t the women of America band together to save it?” -Louisa Bird Cunningham
Ann Pamela Cunningham is often noted as “The Mother of Historic Preservation.” Cunningham was an early leader in preservation and, through her work with the Mount Vernon Ladies Association (MVLA), is credited with saving George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate.
In addition, Cunningham and the Women of the MVLA also founded the first women’s patriotic society in the United States, united a politically divided country under their cause, and created a long-lasting legacy of grassroots organization in preservation.
In the 1850s, just over 50 years after George Washington’s death, Mount Vernon had fallen into disrepair. At this time, the estate was owned by the great grand-nephew of George Washington, John Augustine Washington, III. Cunningham’s mother, Louisa Bird Cunningham, passed the estate while traveling on the Potomac. Concerned about its deteriorating condition, she wrote in a letter to her daughter, “If the men of America have seen fit to allow the home of its most respected hero to go to ruin, why can’t the women of America band together to save it?”
Inspired by her mother’s words, Cunningham founded the Mount Vernon Ladies Association to raise funds for the maintenance of the mansion and grounds and lobby the Virginia legislature to purchase the property as a historic site. When the state declined to purchase the estate, the MVLA got to work raising funds to purchase it themselves.
The organization hosted lectures and festivals, sold crafts, and offered membership to the association. Cunningham also published a newsletter entitled The Mount Vernon Record. The newsletter featured woodcuts of scenes from Washington’s life and era, kept readers updated on the status of fundraising, and published the names and contributions of donors. The MVLA put a down payment of $18,000 on the estate in 1858 and raised the remaining $182,000 of the asking price in the following four years.
In the midst of growing tensions and sectionalism leading up to the Civil War, Ann Pamela Cunningham and MVLA managed to unite the nation in an effort to preserve the home of America’s first president. Their fundraising efforts received nationwide support from states in the north and the south. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association assumed ownership of Mount Vernon just before the Civil War began. Though the war halted much of their restoration efforts, the women of the MVLA kept the property maintained and open to the public through its duration.
Ann Pamela Cunningham resigned as regent of the MVLA in 1874, a year before her death. Her legacy lives on in the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, one of the first preservation organizations in the United States, which still exists and maintains Mount Vernon today. The MVLA protects and preserves not only the Mount Vernon Estate, but its viewshed as well. The beautiful view of the Potomac River and the treed landscape beyond is a direct result of the continuing efforts by the organization and has even led to the founding of Piscataway National Park, located across the river from Mount Vernon.
In 2018, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Mount Vernon and Piscataway National Park as one of its 11 Most Endangered Places (the same year Annapolis City Dock was listed). Dominion Energy had proposed constructing a gas compressor station directly adjacent to Piscataway National Park. This project had the potential to negatively impact the historic view from Mount Vernon and the natural beauty of Piscataway National Park, as well as pose environmental and safety threats. The MVLA, in partnership with our friends at Preservation Maryland, launched a "Save The View" campaign and worked to discourage Dominion Energy from pursuing these plans. The MVLA and the Save the View partners successfully convinced Dominion Energy to abandon their plans and seek an alternative location for the station.
Thanks to the historic - and current - leadership efforts of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, when you visit Mount Vernon, you will still see it much like George Washington himself did over 200 years ago.
Bonus Content: Mount Vernon recently highlighted Ann Pamela Cunningham for their new #ProfilesinPerseverence series - give it a watch!
Carolyn Currin Preservation Assistant
Sources:
Egner, Kate D., “Ann Pamela Cunningham.” Mount Vernon Washington Library. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ann-pamela-cunningham/.
National Park Service, “Ann Pamela Cunningham.” December 2, 2019. https://www.nps.gov/people/ann-pamela-cunningham.htm.
Norwood, Arlisha R., “Ann Pamela Cunningham.” National Women’s History Museum, 2017. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ann-pamela-cunningham.
Thompson, Mary V., “The Early History of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.” Mount Vernon Washington Library. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/early-history-of-the-mount-vernon-ladies-association/.
“The Civil War Years.” Mount Vernon Washington Library. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/the-civil-war-years/.
