11 a.m.: Cake service begins.

11:30 to 12:30: Performance by Eve Watters, “I Love My Love with an ‘A.’” This lively presentation of authentic sounds from the parlors and hearths of Monroe, Jefferson, Madison and their neighbors reveals glimpses of historic everyday Virginia from a fresh and fascinating perspective.

2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Living history presentations by Monroe character interpreter Jay Harrison.

All at the James Monroe Museum. Free!

Read the UMW press release about this event.

This event is supported by a JumpStart! grant from the Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority (EDA).

Read more about the Rush-Bagot Treaty.

One grant, for $1,000, supports performers at two museum events commemorating the birthdays of James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe. The events include a presidential birthday celebration on Saturday, April 28 and Mrs. Monroe’s birthday tea on Saturday, June 9.

The second grant, for $2,000, supports performer fees and logistics for the 23rd Annual Fredericksburg Welsh Festival on September 22.

Read more about the JumpStart! grant program.

Monroe had just been elected to a fourth term as governor of Virginia, but had only served for three months when he was called to Washington. Madison had originally appointed Robert Smith, a member of a prominent Maryland political family, to the post, but Smith was proving unsuited to the role.

Relations between Monroe and Madison had been uneasy, as Monroe believed that Madison, as secretary of state, was responsible for the rejection of a treaty with Great Britain that Monroe negotiated as Minister to that country. The two men had also been rivals in the 1808 presidential election. However, during Monroe’s tenure as secretary of state, they renewed their friendship and came to trust each other once again.

Read more about James Monroe’s service as secretary of state here.

Maria was the true musician of the Monroe family. She compiled sheet music from popular songs of the day, as well as marches written for her father, and had them bound into a music book, which was published in Philadelphia, where she went to school.

Here is the book opened to “Blue-Eyed Girl,” a favorite maudlin song of the era!

Noted historian Rosemarie Zagarri, professor of history at George Mason University, will speak on “Women and Politics in the Era of the American Revolution.” Her talk will explore the central role women played in securing American independence, despite their formal exclusion from politics. She will discuss the individual contributions of women such as Mercy Otis Warren, Esther de Berdt Reed, and Phillis Wheatley, as well as women’s collective forms of participation before, during and after the American Revolution, and will also examine the changing meaning of “women’s rights” in the era of the Revolution.

The lecture will be co-sponsored by the James Monroe Museum, the UMW Department of History and American Studies and UMW’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program. A reception will follow.

The program will be held at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, Woodard Campus Center, UMW campus. For a campus map and directions, go here.

James Monroe, attributed to Rembrandt Peale

On February 16, the museum’s portrait of James Monroe, attributed to Rembrandt Peale, was installed in the State Dining Room at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion in Richmond. The portrait will be loaned to the Mansion for two years in commemoration of the bicentennial of the building’s construction.

In 1811, during his fourth term as governor, Monroe signed legislation authorizing the construction of a gubernatorial residence, so this loan is a fitting celebration both for us and for the Mansion. It is sure to increase awareness of Monroe and his achievements, and of the James Monroe Museum!

View a slideshow of the portrait’s installation.

Read our press release about the loan.

Read the rest of the UMW press release about our important new acquisition here!