Browse Exhibits (38 total)

Taverns were at the forefront of the American Revolution in terms of the spread of ideas and motivation throughout the colonists. Taverns provided food, drink, and comfort for travelers to the courthouses and cities. The founding fathers played important roles in the taverns in Boston and Philadelphia. However, women are forgotten in this seemingly masculine environment.

The role of women during this time focuses on the maintenance of the home and family. Most women that received land deeds during the 18^thcentury were likely widows, yet many were also mothers and daughters that worked in taverns, public houses, inns, and shops. For instances, in Petersburg, Virginia, a woman named Ann Forbes, “held the town record for liquor sale violations” and about 30% of all violations and failures to obtain liquor license were by a woman.[1]This raises the interesting question about how many women were active participants to local economies and governments. Historic Taverns are knowns as breeding ground for revolutionary thoughts as well as the operation of governments.

A complete history of women in taverns is important to the understanding of cultural traditions and the work of women in a public setting other than a mother, wife, or daughter, but as a businesswoman. This research will explore the way in which females ran taverns and the relevance of their establishments in society. The analysis of women in the workplace would provide insight to the social constructs between genders and the female influence on public life and drinking.

[1]Lebsock, Suzanne. The Free Women of Petersburg: Status and Culture in a Southern Town,

1874-1860. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1990. 177.

            With the signing of the Constitution, those who would later become known as the ‘Founding Fathers’ knew they were placing a great responsibility in the hands of American citizens through the creation of a democratic republic. Thomas Jefferson went on to root his legacy in the field of education through the creation of the University of Virginia, hoping that this institution would provide future Americans with the means to become proper citizens equipped with everything necessary to guide their own futures. Initially, there were contentions over how to approach education as a means of preserving the republic: was there a need to educate the public as a means of safeguarding against elites who would corrupt government and political power to serve themselves (as those such as Jefferson suggested), or was there a need to educate the public as a means of cultivating leaders while also seeking to calm or control a self-interested and fickle public?[1] However, while ideological differences over institutionalized education were only getting started, it became clear that “over the course of the eighteenth century, more and more people came to believe that children were born neither good nor bad but were malleable. Developing adults therefore required proper socialization and education. Creating the right kind of schools took on a heightened importance because external influences shaped inner character.”[2]

            What exactly is meant by the right kind of schools? Johann Neem argues that the types of schools that took shape in the United States were ‘democracy’s schools.’ He goes on to explain this by saying that America’s schools were “democracy’s schools in four important ways: they were local in origin; they promoted a curriculum designed to prepare people for citizenship and self-culture; disagreements over public schools become a part of democratic politics; and citizens struggled to balance the needs of the broader community with the rights of religious and other minorities in a diverse society.”[3] Through this frame of reference, a larger picture of the American education system comes into focus – one where it can be seen as an active and institutionalized means of creating the nation’s culture by shaping the minds and understanding of future generations.

            When the United States found itself at war in 1861, very few could have predicted how long the struggle for defining the Nation’s history and culture would continue after the fighting stopped. What Americans would later come to realize is that education and the fight over historical memory can perhaps be just as important in shaping their culture and society through times of peace as the resultant conditions brought by times of war.

[1] Johann Neem, Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America Baltimore, (Maryland: John Hopkins University Press, 2017) 8.

[2] Ebd, 24

[3] Ebd, 2.

Sheldon (aka. Shelley) Krasnow was named after the Krasnow Insitute for Advanced Study--that now stands as a building that mainly operates for Natural Science Majors. This exhibit exists to test the following hypothesis: If Krasnow’s purpose for this building was fulfilled, then this building should be a well known resource for students. By doing this, the history of Shelley Krasnow will be explored along with the development of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study in order to know if Krasnow and George Mason University’s purpose for this building was fulfilled or not. Then the purpose and how far the modern usage of this building is from the intended usage of the building will be compared in order to help readers understand the true usage of this building to hopefully gain another resource towards academics. 

In 1969 Mason Neck became the first national wildlife refuge and became federally protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge was originally 845 acres encompassing the bottom left of the peninsula. In 2010 the refuge was renamed the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge and now encompasses 2,277 acres. The 1960s did not have the same understanding of the importance of preserving living history in its natural state. Preserving living history and wildlife is a major reason why refuges are created today, with our current understanding of ecology. If that’s not the reason the refuge was created, it's important to analyze what caused Mason Neck, specifically, to become the location of the first wildlife refuge.

Using the findings of other historians and scientists helped establish three main motives that led to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to create the Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge. This exhibit analyzes those three catalysts: they were the proposed residential development Kings Landing that would have absorbed the majority of the peninsula, Mason Neck resident Elizabeth Hartwell's fight towards the preservation of Mason Neck's bald eagle population, and the behavioral needs of bald eagles. These three main motives establish the start of preserving land in an act of environmental conservation. This is why the history of the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge is important for scholars to analyze and interpret.

    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men.[1] It was one of the most influential conservation movements in the history of the United States. The Corps did a lot for the improvement of America's landscape, especially in Virginia and without it, many public lands in Virginia would not exist today. While many of the ideas may sound alarming to the modern environmentalist. Many of their ideas were the first large scale environmental movement in American history. Nearly 3 million young men joined the movement to take to better opportunities during the Great Depression.[2] Little did they know their legacy would lead to one of the landscape shifts in human history.[3] It leads to the democratization of nature.[4]

1.Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (New York, Oxford University Press, 2008), pg.3-10

2.Ibid

3.Ibid

4.Ibid