Browse Exhibits (38 total)
The George Mason Memorial: A Closer Look at the Design
The George Mason Memorial in Washington, D.C. was finished and dedicated in April of 2002. However, the project was suggested to Congress a whole decade earlier, in February of 1992. It is obvious that many people strongly believed Mason deserved a spot in the National Mall. I intend to show, from the perspective of those who pushed so hard for this memorial, how important the design, placement, and timing of the memorial's construction was.
Influence of Edwin Lynch on Mason Neck and Fairfax County
Edwin Lynch is not a household name, but he was a very influential man in his community. Through this research project, the author will look at sources from scholars, reporters, and Lynch himself to explain how he has influenced the Mason Neck and greater Fairfax County communities. By looking at important issues that Lynch was concerned with, such as desegregation and peace studies, the reader can piece together an image of how far Edwin Lynch’s leadership reached. The author will look specifically at Edwin Lynch’s background, the poll tax in Virginia, education and desegregation in Virginia, and Lynch’s contributions to George Mason Unversity. While there are no scholarly works directly linked to Mr. Lynch himself, there are many sources from the time period that can assist in determining his greater effect on his community and hometown.
Jaxon Upchurch
The Diverse Groups of Artisans at Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is best known as the home of America’s first president, George Washington. From 1754 to 1799, Washington expanded his estate extensively, he added nearly 5,000 acres of land to the estate during his ownership. At the time of his death, his estate was a little under 8,000 acres of land, split into five different farms: Mansion House Farm, Dogue Run Farm, Muddy Hole Farm, River Farm, and Union Farm. During the 45 years that Washington owned and lived on the estate, he relied on the labor of hundreds of workers to keep it running. Although there have been hundreds of people who worked at Mount Vernon from the colonial era to today, this project will focus primarily on the diverse group of artisans that worked at Mount Vernon during the time that George Washington resided there. These groups will include the enslaved, indentured, and hired workers, who found themselves working at Mount Vernon during Washington’s ownership. Specifically, this project is focusing on the social and economic lives of these diverse groups of artisans and how their lives impacted Mount Vernon.
The Anti-Slavery Movement and the Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution is a largely unknown event for most Americans. Most popular histories fail to cover it and even fewer address its impacts with any significant depth. Despite this absence, the revolution had a major impact on early American society and their thoughts on race and slavery.
Fortunately, the absence of the Haitian revolution from mainstream narratives of American history has been observed by many Historians. A number of scholars such as Alfred Hunt and Tim Mathewson have pointed out that the Haitian revolution influenced early American law, culture, and foreign policy. Haitian scholars have done excellent work documenting the impact that the revolution had on southern America and the American political class. However, little work has been done examining the Haitian Revolution’s impact on the early Anti-Slavery movement.
For the south, the impact of the Haitian Revolution is easy to see. The Haitian Revolution was a bloody reminder that slavery was an inherently dangerous and unstable institution. In response to the revolution, pro-slavery advocates across the south strengthened old slavery laws, created new laws protecting slavery and created new justifications for maintaining slavery based on white supremacy and fear of genocidal racial conflict. The political class was similarly impacted. U.S. leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson continued to promote and defend slavery in the Atlantic. Even John Adams, who was morally opposed to the institution of slavery, was only interested in the revolution because it fit his Anti-French policies and America’s economic interests.
However, the impact of the revolution on the early Anti-slavers is much less transparent. Many scholars who have attempted to explain the revolution’s impact on anti-slavery often begin from the 1820s, nearly 30 years after the revolution began and 20 years after it ended. Scholars that do examine the revolution's impact earlier have mixed views about its effects. Mathewson argues that the revolution placed the antislavery movement on the defensive, as it now faced criticisms from pro-slavers that their movement incited violence. Hunt argues that the Haitian Revolution barely interested most Northern Americans, who mostly accepted white supremacy and believed they had nothing to learn from Haiti’s example. Neither of these accounts sufficiently compares the different reactions within the anti-slavery movement, why the movement generally failed to take the revolution seriously, and how these may have impacted the abolition movement in later years.
By comparing the responses of the slave-owners and political elites with the reactions of the anti-slavery movement, we can better understand the disparities between their responses and recognize how the anti-slavery movement largely failed to react to the Haitian revolution.
Kate Mason Rowland: Bias and Historical Contributions
Kate Mason Rowland, later referred to as Kate Mason, was known as a historian and many other professions such as an author and more. She is best known for her biography on her ancestor, George Mason IV. Rowland served as a nurse in Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War. After her involvement, she went on to become a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy which championed the idea of the Lost Cause. Her views were sympathetic to the Confederate States of America and she supported the idea of secession since she subscribed to the idea of the war’s primary cause being the issue of States’ Rights. Rowland's published works, primarily her biography on George Mason IV, exhibit the views she held and what she hoped to attempt by recounting the story of one of America's Founding Fathers. Given her strong and controversial views, was Kate Mason Rowland a true historian? Did her views manifest themselves in her work?
This exhibit examines what views Kate Mason Rowland held alongside how she conducted and wrote her works centered on history. Furthermore, this exhibit also explores public perception and reviews on Rowland's works as well as her views regarding the South. It is the aim of this exhibit to explore the colorful and interesting character of Kate Mason Rowland and how that translated in her writing. Not many speak of Rowland and her visibility has died down. Many times, she is only briefly mentioned as a descendent of George Mason IV. Rowland does not get enough attention even though her ideas and involvement in the American Civil War only add to the depth of this nation’s history.
Comparative Analysis of Mount Vernon and Gunston Hall’s Enslaved Communities
George Mason and George Washington enslaved 434 people in total on their respective plantations in Fairfax County.[1] Despite relying on the labor of the enslaved communities at Gunston Hall and Mount Vernon only recently has information been compiled to detail the lives of these individuals. It is known that many Virginian plantations were remarkably similar to how the enslaved communities that resided there lived and worked. However, what can we learn from the differences between the enslaved communities lives at Gunston Hall and Mount Vernon plantations, and how does this reflect on the two owners?
Scholars of George Washington’s Mount Vernon tend to describe the plantation and Washington’s treatment of the enslaved living there as better than other plantations. There are primary source examples in which other white landowners describe the plantation and Washington’s treatment of the enslaved living on the plantation with some of the opinion that slaves lived much better there than on other plantations while others disagreed. How does this stand up to scrutiny? Was there a substantial improvement in the quality of life for the enslaved at Mount Vernon compared to other Virginian plantations such as Gunston Hall? What are the substantial differences between the two plantations if any?
1. Jackson T. Main, “The One Hundred” The William and Mary Quarterly 11, no. 3 (1954): 378-383.
The Mason Family Gentry and the Civil War
The Civil War devastated the nation and had economic consequences that ravaged the ex-Confederate south. Historians agree that with the Union blockade which resulted in very few imports and exports, along with mass destruction of infrastructure, the south was severely hit by the destructive effects of the war. Specifically, the planter gentry class were hit worse than the average citizen since they lost their main means of income and prestige as plantations were targeted for destruction along with the passage of the 13th amendment to U.S. Constitution. The war would not effect the south only economically however, as the war would also have social effects of bitterness and shame which would contribute to the development and spread of myths regarding the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. Members of the Mason family during this time period were part of the southern gentry and would no doubt lose significant amounts of property along with their pride. This project hopes to see how the Civil War effected the gentry class socially and economically by using three examples from the Mason family. The three examples that will be examined are Betsey Clapham Mason (wife of Thomson Francis Mason), Gunston Hall, and James Murray Mason.
Children of the Confederacy: Colonel John S Mosby Chapter
The Colonel John S Mosby Chapter of the Children of the Confederacy (CofC) was a youth Auxiliary Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).
The United Daughters of the Confederacy was founded in 1894. Some of the key cornerstones of the Organization were to protect "southern heritage," fulfilling the needs for veteran’s charity, erection of monuments to the southern lost cause, and the spread of pro-southern education. Membership was only eligible to those who were blood descendants lineal or collateral men and women who served in the Confederate army. The group was most well known for their effort’s southern monuments, and flags. Less known is their successful ideology indoctrination and education and creating the auxiliary organization the Children of the Confederacy.
The children's auxiliary like the parent organization was organized and an arm of the southern Democratic party. This insured the organization to be effective with top-down communication and coordination with chapters. The use of separate committees of interest assured that the work of the organization would be accomplished. The education committee, for example, worked closely with local governments and schools to assure that a sympathetic curriculum would be taught to southern children. “UDC members placed Confederate flags and portraits, Confederate heroes, in southern classrooms and worked with the teachers to plan history lessons.”[1]
The Children of the Confederacy's first chapter was started in Alexandria VA in 1896. It wasn't until 1956 when the Fairfax chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy would patron a children's auxiliary group adopting John Singleton Mosby as the namesake for their newest chapter of the Children of the Confederacy.
[1] Cox, Karen L. Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2019.
Rachel Amon, Fall 2020, Prof.Oberle undergrad
Dueling in the Antebellum Era
