Visiting Montpelier–A Virtual Tour

I know I have said this many times before, but one of my most desired historical places to visit is Montpelier, the home of President James and First Lady Dolley Madison. I finally had the opportunity to visit on an absolutely gorgeous Virginia day in May. I couldn’t have asked for better weather and my boyfriend was a great sport through the whole thing. Below I will attempt to give you a little bit of a tour of our trip. I’m going to warn you up front that this post may take on the tendency to ramble because I’m still having trouble composing coherent thoughts about this trip even after a month of being home.

Driving up the driveway I was so excited because this is the place I had always wanted to go and the home is so beautiful and set on an amazing landscape. The views from this place can really take you breath away as you look out toward the mountains. As you enter the property you drive past a horse racetrack which I was very confused by. But apparently the Dupont’s, particularly daughter, Marion DuPont Scott, who later owned the house after the Madison family sold it, used to own racehorses. That was a kind of cool piece of trivia. Each year the Montpelier Hunt Race is held there at the property. I also found that there is a small, secluded cemetery for 3 of the DuPont’s favorite racehorses (Battleship, Annapolis, and Accra) – that you won’t find on the Montpelier map anywhere! You can learn more about the DuPont/Montpelier horse connection here.

When you arrive you first go to the Visitor Center where you can view the Madison Exhibit and the DuPont Exhibit. You can also take in a short introductory film about the Madison’s and their estate. As you exit the theatre you begin the short walk up to the home. Guided tours of the main floor of the home are scheduled to coincide with the departure of each group from the theatre. I was a little surprised by the state of the home – however I didn’t realize how much renovation it is still going through.

When the DuPont’s made their home at Montpelier they added 50 (that’s right, 50!) additional rooms on to this house. Once the historical society was granted the property they decided that they would be able to pull down all of these additional rooms and restore the home to its original state as it would be when the Madison’s lived there around the time of his presidency. Amazingly so much of the original structure was preserved and features that had been taken down had been put into storage on the property and were able to be salvaged. So while the physical construction work is complete, they are now currently undergoing a major search for the furniture and decorations that would have graced these rooms. You can read more about the exterior restoration here and the ongoing interior restoration here.

So, the inside leaves a little bit to be desired in some places. Dolley’s entertaining room is beautifully refurbished just as it would have been, even down to the placing of the paintings. It was a little weird to see cardboard cutouts of Dolley, James, Thomas Jefferson, et al at the dining table; it felt a little out of place. As you move upstairs there is still much unfurnished. They are primarily using this space for special exhibitions right now. We went at just the wrong time as there wasn’t currently an exhibition. The day before they had taken down the Dolley Madison fashion exhibit (I was SO disappointed when they said that – by one day!) and were working on setting up the bicentennial exhibition for the War of 1812.
Beyond the house there are many other fascinating stops if you have the time. Right out the back is a bronze statue of James and Dolley. You can also take a walk through the DuPont’s garden – they redesigned the original Madison gardens. Right near the entry to the garden is the Cedar of Lebanon tree that was one of the seedlings that Lafayette gave to Madison upon his return trip to the US. This tree is absolutely massive; my photos do not do it justice. You can also walk down to Madison’s Temple. Apparently beneath this temple is the icehouse. It overlooks a beautiful pond, the front grounds of Montpelier and off to the side is the aforementioned horse cemetery.

After we got our fill of the house and the immediate grounds we headed off on a walk toward the front of the property. First we encountered an active archeological dig site. There is the archaeology lab toward the rear of the property where you can look at some of the million or so artifacts that have been found on the property that belonged to the Madison’s. Most of the artifacts have come from the slave quarters or an area known as “Dolley’s Midden” or trash heap. There are five archaeological sites on the property: the mansion and yard, Mount Pleasant site (more on that in a minute), work complex, Gilmore Cabin Freedman’s Farm, and Confederate winter camp sites. They were currently working on the field slave quarters when we were there. You can keep up with the archaeological progress at their blog.

After passing the active site you come to the Mount Pleasant site. This is where the original Madison family home had been built by James’ grandfather, Ambrose. There are not any buildings above the ground, they buried over them to protect the site while they are waiting to have more of a chance for excavation. It is just nicely mown grass with a few signs right now. You can check out this aerial photograph of what the site looked like when some of it was excavated and the locations of the buildings.

The most poignant moment of the visit for me was the time we spent at the Madison cemetery. Beyond James and Dolley, his siblings and their descendants, his parents, and grandparents are buried here – although many are in unmarked graves. We were the only ones visiting the cemetery at the time at it was quiet and respectful. James’ gravestone you cannot miss – it is a giant obelisk, however it is very reserved. There is just the word, Madison, on it. Dolley’s grave, also marked by an obelisk but smaller, is directly behind James’. After we left the Madison cemetery we walked over to the slave cemetery. Located at the edge of the woods it is non-descript. The graves are only marked by infrequent head and foot field stones and the grave depressions.

That essentially rounded out our trip. It was so beautiful and enjoyable. I recommend you drop by it if you ever get the chance. You won’t be disappointed. I have linked to many of the interesting resource pages from the Montpelier website but certainly feel free to check it out yourself as there is SO much information to explore.

All the photos on this page were taken by me during our visit.


Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

Ranking Dolley

As I reported last week, Siena Research Institute has been ranking the Presidents for the last 25 years or so – they have also been ranking the First Ladies. Their most recent results came out in 2008. They survey a large number of American History professors and ask them to rate the First Ladies in 10 different categories on a scale of 1 to 5. They then weigh these categories to come up with the overall result and compare.

The 10 categories are: Background, Value to the Country, Intelligence, Courage, Accomplishments, Integrity, Leadership, Being Her Own Woman, Public Image, and Value to the President.

Unlike with the Presidents – I cannot find the breakdown for each First Lady in each of the 10 categories. They only provide the Top 5 and Last in each of the categories as well as the overall ranking across the 4 polling years: 1982, 1993, 2003, 2008. So while we cannot get a complete picture of how the overall score was made up, we can get some data.

Before even looking at the results, I knew Dolley Madison would be toward the top of the list. But let’s see how she did:

Overall Score:
1982: 4th
1993: 4th
2003: 3rd
2008: 6th

Value to Country: 4th
Public Image: 5th

Although she doesn’t appear in the top 5 in the rest of the categories – I would hazard a guess that she is within the top 10 for the rest of the categories. Over the last 25 years her position has stayed relatively consistent – only really making a move in 2008.  I was very surprised that she dropped 3 positions in 2008 after holding so steady.  This longevity goes to show that over time she is still respected among the First Ladies.





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Dolley Madison...At Work

FYI – I should point out that this is going to be a very eclectic post!

So, it’s no secret that I am a huge Dolley Madison fan – and that goes for at work too. Over the last couple weeks I have been talking with a few of my coworkers about her (mostly because I was just reading A Perfect Union by Catherine Allgor at that time). One of them mentioned Dolly Madison Bakery (conveniently spelled wrong I instantly pointed out) and this turned into an entirely ridiculous conversation about whether the First Lady was actually a baker or not, compete with a Photoshop-ed version of the formal portrait with Mrs. Madison holding one of her Zingers!

Well, I guess I’m too young to ever remember the height of Dolly Madison Bakery fame (it has since been merged with Hostess), but here are some of their commercials for your first time viewing pleasure or for a trip down memory road!

Zingers!

Pies!

One of my other coworkers sent me this recipe that I am going to share with you for Dolly Madison Cookies. I haven’t made these before, but let me know if you do how they are.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. graham crackers
1 stick butter
6 oz. Nestles chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 can condensed milk

Directions:
1. Place graham crackers in blender to make crumbs.
2. Melt stick of butter and pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Press in graham cracker crumbs to make the crust.
3. Top with chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans.
4. Pour condensed milk over the entire dish.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350° F for 30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Makes approximately 2 dozen

From what I have just described you would wonder if we get any work done – the answer is somehow, mysteriously, YES! But we have a little fun too. Hope you enjoy!





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: A Perfect Union by Catherine Allgor

A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor

Unabridged, 15 hr. 58 min.

Macmillan Audio

Anne Twomey (Narrator)

March 28, 2006

★★★½☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Source: Downloaded audio from my local library

“When the roar of the Revolution had finally died down, a new generation of politicians was summoned to the Potomac to assemble the nation's capital. Into that unsteady atmosphere--which would soon enough erupt into another conflict with Britain--Dolley Madison arrived, alongside her husband, James. Within a few years, she had mastered both the social and political intricacies of the city, and by her death in 1849 was the most celebrated person in Washington. And yet, to most Americans, she's best known for saving a portrait from the burning White House.

Why did her contemporaries so admire a lady so little known today? In A Perfect Union, acclaimed historian Catherine Allgor reveals how Dolley manipulated the constraints of her gender to construct an American democratic ruling style and to achieve her husband's political goals. By emphasizing cooperation over coercion--building bridges instead of bunkers--she left us with not only an important story about our past but a model for a modern form of politics.”

First of all, I was drawn to this book because of my fascination with all things Dolley Madison. I was actually trying to find a biography that I had read about her years ago and stumbled across this one. Without knowing the title of that previous read, I think I enjoyed this one a little less and I will elaborate on the reasons further on. Like the blurb above states, most people today do not know that much about this amazing woman – more than the cursory of saving Washington’s portrait and serving ice cream in the White House. But she was so much more than that – really she was much of the power behind her husband’s presidency.

This book did do a great job of giving the reader a solid understanding of just how much of a political role Dolley had and how important she was not only to her husband’s presidency but that of Jefferson as well. You get a well rounded idea of who she was and why she was so well known.

I was also thrilled by the quantity of primary source documents and references that were peppered throughout the book. We are privy to many of her letters to her friends and sisters which provide not only a glimpse at the political but also the private life of this lady. You are able to feel very connected to her thoughts and feelings through these words.

But, there were also some aspects of this book that I thought could have been much better. First of all, there is a lot of repetition of phrases – and it’s not done to drive home a particular message – it is more like there needed a better job in the editing process. When these things are noticeable there is a something wrong. I kept thinking, “you already told me that!”. I also thought that there was a little bit too much time spent on the personal life of Thomas Jefferson. To some extent this is necessary as Dolley did a lot for Jefferson as well, but there came a point when I started thinking I was reading a Jefferson biography instead and lost sight of the subject of the book. I would also have liked a little bit more about James Madison – he just appears and then they are wed. He is someone who’s backstory would have fit well into the book and helped support more of Dolley’s story as well.

Overall this was a decent read, but I have read better – and I would recommend it if I could come up with the title!

★★★★☆

The narrator, Anne Twomey, did a decent job of narrating this non-fiction work. I never lost interest in the narrative and she was able to keep your attention – which can sometimes be difficult when listening to a biography. The sound of her voice leant itself to the subject – I could believe her to be Dolley as her personal letters were being read.

Author Allgor also has written Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government. You can listen to an excerpt of A Perfect Union at the publisher’s website.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Honestly Blog
• Framed and Booked

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

TV Show Review: Dolley Madison: America's First Lady

Dolley Madison: America’s First Lady
American Experience Series

WGBH (PBS)

90 mins

March 1, 2010

Source: Received for Preview from WGBH

“Dolley Madison lived through the two wars that established the U.S., was friends with the first 12 Presidents, and watched America evolve from a struggling young republic to the first modern democracy in the world. She was nicknamed “Queen Dolley,” and when she died in 1849 at the age of 81 — one of the last remaining members of the founding generation — Washington City honored her with the largest state funeral the capital had ever seen for a woman.” (from PBS.com)

I first heard about Dolley Madison in my sophomore year in high school (which was only almost 7 years ago). I had to write a research paper about a famous American and I have no idea what drew me to her. As I read about her, I realized just how brave she was and all of the contributions she gave to this fledgling country. I was so impressed by her. I tried to learn everything I could about her. If anyone is wondering about my screen name/email address – yes, it was inspired by Dolley Madison! When I was contacted by Jen from WGBH about receiving a preview of this episode, well, you can imagine how excited I was!

This episode was the kick off episode to celebrate Women’s History Month and I’m not sure that they could have picked a better woman to spotlight. She isn’t as well known as some of the other famous female contributors to our country’s history, but she was definitely influential. There were so many things that I loved about this episode – I’m just going to highlight a few of them.

• The actress who plays Dolley (Eve Best) looked almost perfect for the role and I really felt that she was Mrs. Madison. My only critique, and it was a funny one, was that in the movie they quoted some lines which described Dolley as having “jet black hair” and they you see Dolley, and she has a medium brown. But everything else was lovely. Jefferson Mays, who plays James Madison, looked a spitting image of the 4th President.

• The lines said by the characters are all taken from letters or other primary sources available. I think that this is awesome because you get to hear the opinions and actual words that these people said and thought at that time. They really don’t put words in people’s mouths! The episode juxtaposes the characters speaking historical words with the discussions of historical experts.

• The costumes and settings were gorgeous! It is clear that a lot of time was spent on clothing the characters. Dolley was known for her outfits and the costume designer lived up to my expectations.

I only have one critique about this episode. The names and titles of the experts were not provided. I do not doubt that they experts, but being an interested party I would like to know who they are.

There are many additional features and information that you can find on The American Experience website. This episode will be available for purchase April 13, 2010. I am unaware at this point if it will be reaired on television, I would check your local listings. In the meantime you can watch this interesting video about the costuming of the show.

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Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court

Caught on Tape: Dolley Madison

Dolley Madison is one of our First Ladies that really doesn’t get as much attention as she should. As the wife of the 4th President, she essentially created the position of the First Lady. I have always admired everything that she did. With all of the “firsts” she brought to the position, her bravery during the War of 1812, and her connection with the founding of this country, it is amazing that she isn’t seen as more important than many other First Ladies. In all of my searching, I was only able to come across two films that focus on Mrs. Madison. It is almost as if these two movies are polar opposites of each other – and I think you will see why.

Magnificent Doll (1949)

“Dolly Payne is adored by two leaders of the fledgling American government, James Madison and Aaron Burr. She plays each against the other, not only for romantic reasons, but also to influence the shaping of the young country. By manipulating Burr's affections, she helps Thomas Jefferson win the presidency, and eventually she becomes First Lady of the land herself.” (from IMDB)

Ginger Rogers plays Dolley Madison. I haven’t seen this film but I can tell you from just the description it is nowhere near historically accurate – Dolley Madison was not interested in Aaron Burr romantically – but he did help her to meet James Madison – her future husband. This movie was not generally seen as one of Rogers' best movies – and she is considered to have been miscast as Dolley.

Here is the best clip I could find, which isn’t really saying much:



Dolley Madison: America’s First Lady (2010)

“As the wife of the fourth president, James Madison, Dolley Madison played an important part in the political and social experiment that was the early American Republic. Long before women held any overt political power, she used her unelected position to legitimize the nation's new capital, to create a political and social style for the new country and to give Americans a sense of their own national identity” (from PBS)

I have had the pleasure of seeing this movie on a preview from WGBH. It will premier tonight, March 1, 2010 on WGBH/PBS (check your local listings). While my review will be posted later this week, I can say that I think this was done VERY well. I think you can expect this to be done well coming from PBS. Very much historically accurate, all the words by the characters are actual words from letters and other primary sources. Dolley is played by Eve Best and she looks almost perfect as Dolley. I would say this is a must see for anyone interested in Mrs. Madison.  You can check out my review here.

If you have seen Magnificent Doll let me know how it is.

Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court

Sunday Salon #5

Good morning! I hope you are all having a good weekend and I hope to have a much better week this week than the last. It’s been a little stressful around here, but being able to focus on blogging does relieve that a little. I have several things to discuss this week, so let’s get started.
I accomplished a lot of reading this week. I finished listening to Mercy by Jodi Picoult on audio book. I enjoyed the story a lot, but not as much as the previous two books I have read by Picoult, The Pact and Salem Falls. Now I just have to keep my eyes open at my library for more of her audio books. Yesterday I finished reading The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick for our March Round Table event. I will save my feelings on this book for my review – but I will share that it was quite enjoyable for a new Chadwick fan. I also finished reading the short inspirational book Alphatudes by Michele Wahlder yesterday for review. I decided that I would squeeze this one in before I got into my next book. I will have a giveaway for my copy when I post the review – in about a week. It was a beautiful book. So I have a couple of reviews to get caught up on now. Tomorrow I will be starting Dear John by Nicholas Sparks on audio book and I am currently reading Roeing Oaks by Kristina Emmons.
Today is the last day of the HFBRT February event for The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin. Check back here later today for my creative post on “The Making of the Glass”. I will be working on that after I finish this post. You can check out our Calendar of Events for links to all of the events that have happened this week. Also up today:
• Book review by Lucy at Enchanted by Jospehine
• Info on Donna Russo Morin’s upcoming 2011 release To Serve A King at HFBRT

Also, I have a winner to announce in the giveaway of The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. The winner is: Sarah E! Congrats, you will very much enjoy this book. I will be emailing you shortly for your address. Thank you to everyone who entered.
This week will be a Dolley Madison week here at The Maiden’s Court. Dolley Madison was the wife of the 4th president, James Madison. I recently received for review Dolley Madison: America’s First Lady, an episode from the American Experience series on PBS. I will likely have another segment of Caught on Tape, a review of the episode, and an informational post on Dolley this week. But I wanted to alert you all to the episode – it will air tomorrow, Monday March 1 (check your local listings). I watched it this morning and loved it – very well done and Dolley has always been one of my heroes.

Here is a preview for your enjoyment:



Thanks everyone for sticking around for this lengthy Sunday Salon. Look forward to seeing you around this week.




Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court