People On The Move In Washington D.C.
WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
Washington Business Journal highlights Tudor Place Executive Director Mary-Frances Wain.
Read the feature here.
Tudor Place is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sunday Noon – 4 p.m.
Washington’s Revolutionary War Encampment at Tudor Place
3 Ways to Cover “The First Oval Office” in its Sole D.C. Appearance
(L) Washington’s Revolutionary War Encampment in 2015 (credit: The First Oval Office). (R) First Oval Office watercolor by Peter Waddell.
media advisory |
contact |
| April 24, 2016 | Communications Director Mandy Katz Bicentennial Communications Assistant Jen Pollakusy |
| mobile: 202.486.7645 press@tudorplace.org, bicentennial@tudorplace.org |
A Tudor Place Bicentennial Event
George Washington Parke Custis’s most famous acquisition from his grandparents’ home at Mount Vernon was Gen. Washington’s Revolutionary War “marquee,” a hard-used tent in which Custis hosted parties and commemorations. But Custis’s Lee descendants lost it when they sided with the Confederacy, and after the Federal government took the tent for safekeeping, it took Lees descendants more than a century to reclaim it, later selling it for public exhibition. While the original undergoes conservation, reproductions of Washington’s headquarters tent and the dining tent that stood alongside are on tour, coming to just one site in the capital region for just one weekend, and featured during two public events.
Washington, DC –On April 29 and 30, George Washington’s Revolutionary War headquarters and dining tents will be the site of three novel events at Tudor Place in Georgetown, during the exhibition’s only stop in the Washington, D.C., region. On the Tudor Place South Lawn, visitors can tour the scrupulous reproduction of “The First Oval Office” and many of its furnishings, experiencing the linen-walled spaces where General Washington and his staff slept, ate, and strategized during critical moments of the Revolutionary War.
Tudor Place has invited the public to view the tent in an adults-only “sneak peak” evening party, April 29, and a day-long “encampment,” April 30, featuring the tents, colonial crafts and activities, and story-telling and history discussion about the roles of women and African-Americans during the Revolutionary War. Also April 30, a private dinner for donors, served in the tent, will feature a menu and entertainment reminiscent of how Washington would have dined.
WHAT
Special exhibition of the dining marquee, office, and sleeping quarters that served as George Washington’s Revolutionary War headquarters. The tents will open first for a “Sneak Peek” Tudor Nights cocktail party for adults, Friday evening, April 29, with appearance by costumed interpreter “Mrs. Martha Peter,” founder of Tudor Place, who will chat and answer questions about life on the estate, 18th-19th century politics and events, and early times in the nation’s capital. On Saturday, April 30, guests of all ages can tour the tents during the Revolutionary War Encampment program with activities and features including Mrs. Peter and soldier-enactors, storytelling, and colonial crafts.Saturday evening, April 30, donors will enjoy a historically themed private banquet served in Washington’s reproduction dining tent.
Press are invited to cover any or all three of these events.
WHEN
- 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Friday, April 29 (Tudor Nights “Sneak Peak” private event)
- 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday, April 30 (public viewing)
- 6 pm, Saturday, April 30 (private donor banquet)
WHERE
Tudor Place
1644 31st St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
FEATURING
- Revolutionary War Encampment featuring George Washington’s Revolutionary headquarters marquee and accompanying dining and baggage tent
- Costumed interpreters to include Tudor Place founder “Mrs. Martha Peter,” played by award-winning actress and Smithsonian scholar Mary Ann Jung (Friday evening + Saturday afternoon), and two costumed revolutionary war interpreters (Saturday daytime).
- In the HQ tent, furnishings including reproductions of Gen. Washington’s traveling camp stools based on the original in the collection at Tudor Place, one of two remaining from the original set of 18.
- Candle-making and tea-blending demonstrations and activities (Saturday daytime)
- Interactive storytelling and discussion about roles of women and African Americans in the Revolutionary War (Saturday daytime)
- Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, tours of the tent and garden strolls by twilight, and conversation with Mrs. Peter during the Tudor Nights Tent “Sneak Peek” (Friday evening)
- Gala sit-down dinner catered with a menu based on cuisine Washington and his officers would have recognized (Saturday evening)
School Programs Online Registration
Oops! We could not locate your form.
Scout Programs Online Registration
Newsletter Signup
1st Annual Tree Fest Celebrates the Tudor Place Canopy
March 29, 2014 | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Register Now
The shelter and dignity of the property’s historic trees — and the risks they face from the violent weather of recent years — have inspired a new event at Tudor Place: a Tree Fest, free and open to the public. Our local environment and the canopy of heritage trees are the focus, and there will be something for everyone!
- An artisanal Market Fair offering sustainable merchandise and information from people and organizations working on behalf of the environment and landscape.
- For families, puppet shows at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and games and crafts all day.
- A 1 p.m. guided walk with tree expert Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of City of Trees, will help you learn to understand and identify local species.
- A chance to say “hello” to the newly planted white oak tree! It replaces the two-century-old specimen lost last year to age and storm damage and represents Tudor Place’s ongoing investment in the tall trees of tomorrow.
NOTE: Public transportation recommended. Tudor Place is easily reached by bus, Metro and a short walk, and bicycle (including Bike Share).
Vendor Information
Now taking vendor registrations for October! The Tree Fest is fully subscribed, but we are taking registrations from vendors and organizations now for the October 18 Fall Harvest Fest, also free and open to the public. Are you a talented regional artisan or food purveyor? Do you have crafts, merchandise, creative eats, and/or useful information to offer? Please contact us today!
Special for “Where” Readers: 20% off Tours!
WHERE IS WASHINGTON’S BEST DEAL ON HISTORY TOURS?
Here — at Tudor Place!
Use promo code “WHERE” when booking to receive 20% off regular guided tours.
Tales of a Tudor Place Intern: The Peppercorn Puzzle
By Sarah Dickey, 2011 summer Collections Intern
 |
| Sealed for 90 years, this packet revealed surprises when our Collections experts opened it. |
 |
| Sarah was one of several interns inventorying collections in 2011. |
One day this summer, conducting textile inventory with Collections Assistant Joni Joseph, we came across a box that contained several feather fans. Many were in small boxes that had been wrapped with newspaper and tied with string. One of the boxes was wrapped in sheets of the New York Herald from May 22, 1921, and did not appear to have been opened since that date:
 |
| Its wrapping, a Long Island newspaper, dated the object to May 22, 1921. |
Carefully removing the string and paper, we found a box containing a bright pink feather fan with a tortoiseshell handle. Although the fan was beautiful and extravagant, what caught our attention first was debris covering both it and the bottom of the box.
 |
| Part of Caroline Peter’s luxurious wardrobe (including Hermes, Lanvin and stylish gowns from several eras), this dramatic feather fan was littered with mysterious black debris. What was it? |
Our first thought was pest damage, the worst nightmare of any Collections Manager. Upon closer inspection, though, we realized it was actually some sort of plant material. We turned to conservator Barbara Roberts, who determined it was… peppercorns!
Now, why would a fan be sealed in a box strewn with peppercorns? Our instinct was, it must be a home remedy to repel moths or other bugs. Preliminary internet research produced no evidence to back this up, however. Only after more in-depth studying did Joni confirm our suspicions at last, in a 1919 how-to book, Housewifery: A Manual and Text Book of Practical Housekeeping. Writing shortly before our fan went into storage,in a chapter called “To Put Away Clothing,” author Lydia Ray Balderston instructed:
The thoroughly clean garment should be packed in moth-proof containers, which range all the way from tight newspaper wrappings, and sheets of tar paper, to tar-paper bags and cedar chests. Pepper, tar balls, camphor, cedar chips, or a combination of cedar, camphor, and tar, such as is sold in packages, are usually enclosed with garments as an extra precaution. The object of these materials is to keep out moths and other insects, as they are pungent and irritating to the air passages of the insect.
— Balderston, Lydia Ray. Housewifery: A Manual and Text Book
of Practical Housekeeping.Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1919.
 |
| Sarah Dickey at Tudor Place. |
The peppercorns certainly worked, as the fan showed no sign of pests or pest damage. It would be interesting to know whether someone at Tudor Place had read this very same manual, or whether the method was common practice at the time. Whatever the case, it was gratifying to see that whoever wrapped this fan 90 years ago was as concerned about preservation and conservation as we are!
Sarah Dickey recently received her M.A. in Museum Studies from George Washington University, with concentrations in Collections Management and Anthropology.
Getting to Know the Trees at Tudor Place
By Kelly Whitson, Summer Intern, Garden & Grounds
My internship in collections management at Tudor Place this summer introduced me to a type of “artifact” I had never worked with before: trees. Tudor Place is rare among historic house museums in undertaking a complete inventory of its woody plant material – some 400 trees on 5.5 leafy acres – to officially accession them into its collection, the same as it does with interior items like dishes, beds and paintings. As a horticulture collections intern to Director of Gardens and Grounds Suzanne Bouchard, my main task was to help research and document about 100 of these trees and enter them into the collections database Suzanne created in the PastPerfect program, with codes and formatting developed to professional standards. |
| Histories and mysteries: This towering Scarlet Oak, planted in honor of George Washington, left a hefty “paper trail.” Stories behind other specimens are harder to trace. |
In evaluating my internship experience, I find the most unexpected result was a sense of knowing the trees personally. Some of their histories were easily discovered, like the Scarlet Oak, above, planted in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth. Others are mysterious in origin: historic photos, slides, family records, garden committee notes – nothing reveals their planting date or story.
 |
| The trees’ solidity is comforting, while their changes are fascinating, even to a novice. |
The trees’ structures and growing habits depend on their locations in the garden and provide interesting visual dynamics. From the towering Border Oak and famous Tulip Poplar (at left), which have reigned over the house and garden since the their inception, to the tiny seedlings just “joining” the collection, they all have personalities. Getting up close and personal with them, measuring them, evaluating their health and discussing their histories creates a feeling of intimacy.
I want to visit in the fall to see their changing leaves and return again in the winter to see their “bones.” I want to visit in the spring to see their flowery offerings and in the summer, to be enveloped by their lush green leaves. I encourage visitors, too, to return repeatedly to get to know the trees at Tudor Place:
Their solidity is comforting, while their slow changes and distinct characteristics are fascinating, even to a horticultural novice.
Kelly is an M.S. Candidate in Museum Studies at The George Washington University.
Old Roses
 |
| Old Blush Rose |
The Peter family has had a long history of admiring and cultivating a very special type of plant…the rose. In the early years of Tudor Place, roses were found in almost every area of the garden: down near the southern perimeter which borders what is now Q St, along the lower walk, and scattered throughout the north garden. Today, visitors to the Tudor Place gardens can still see some of the descendents of the first roses cultivated on the property.
Roses were first mentioned in the family writings referring to Martha Custis Peter, who with her husband Thomas purchased Tudor Place in 1805. Their daughter, who inherited Tudor Place, Britannia Kennon remembered a small double flowering white cluster rose, a damask rose, and the hundred leaf roses were in the garden before she was born in 1815. She later wrote, “Every year mother would have the old hundred leaf roses gathered and sent to Mrs. Arney who owned a sweet store on Bridge Street. Mrs. Arney would distill rosewater from rose leaves. It took one bushel of roses to make a bottle of rose water – about a quart. She would keep one bottle and send mother the other.” At one time hundred leaf roses could be found in a large clump in the area which is now known as the Orchard garden. The roses were divided and replanted along the center axis path by Armistead Peter 3rd and were present well into the 20th century. Rosa × centifolia are highly fragrant and still used in perfume making.
Another family favorite was the old monthly rose, pink daily, or “Old Blush” rose. This rose is a hybrid of the first China rose and was brought into cultivation in the 1750’s. The old monthly rose was at Tudor Place from the beginning. Martha Custis Peter had this rose saved and transplanted in the garden while the house was being built. It was returned to its proper place and replanted by the parlor window after the house was complete in 1816. The monthly rose is still grown on the south side of the house by the parlor window. We believe the specimens on the south façade are cuttings from the original rose bush.
Tudor Place has many antique varieties and newer cultivars in the garden. Some are in their original locations while others have been moved due to changing growing conditions. The roses have been admired by family and visitors for over a century. In an 1879 article for the Georgetown College Journal, Mrs. Anna W. Dorsey writes ”In summer the grounds, in which Mrs. Peter took great delight and pride, present a scene of unrivalled beauty with their great shade trees, and sloping velvety lawns, flowers of every shape and hue, vines, shrubbery with rare varieties and, above all, thousands of roses as famous for their beauty and fragrance as the ‘thrice blooming rose of Paestrum'”. Tudor Place continues this tradition.
