Mount Vernon Ladies' Association
Through historic preservation of a national symbol, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association hoped to transcend or "heal" the sectional divisions that were deepening over the issue of slavery in the United States.
According to popular legend, on a moonlit night in 1853, Louisa Bird Cunningham was riding a steamboat on the Potomac River, when the ferry captain sounded the horn as they passed Mount Vernon.
[7] Writer Gerald W. Johnson later described the sight she saw: The paint was peeling from the walls, the roof was sagging, at least one of the great pillars along the front had collapsed and been replaced by scantlings, the lawn was waist-high in rioting weeds.
[7] The younger Cunningham, who suffered from chronic pain as the result of a horseriding accident, ignored the advice of friends and other relatives who initially tried to dissuade her in light of her poor health.
"[10][6] Cunningham also wrote to Eleanor Washington to try to convince her husband to hold off on selling Mount Vernon until "the Southern ladies" raised the required funds, which they hoped to turn over to the governor of Virginia for the eventual purchase of the estate.
[2] Keenly aware of the sensitivities between North and South, Ann Pamela Cunningham strove to make the movement more inviting and inclusive of Northern women without alienating her Southern supporters.
When Cunningham informed them that title would be given to the state of Virginia, the Philadelphia committee "dropped the whole like a hot potato" and considered sending their own delegation to ask Congress to buy it instead.
"[6] On the advice of John M. Berrien, a former U.S. senator from Georgia and attorney general under President Andrew Jackson, Ann Pamela Cunningham moved to establish the "Mount Vernon Association" as the equivalent of a modern nonprofit corporation.
[6] Following the sudden death of Berrien, James L. Petigru, a former attorney general of South Carolina and a staunch unionist, took over drafting the charter, and inserted the word "Ladies'" and added "of the Union" to the name of the association.
[11] In the weeks leading up to the bill's introduction in the Virginia legislature, Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie held many gatherings in her home to build male support for the MVLA.
[10][8] In the absence of Cunningham, who was unwell and bedridden, Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie stepped in to rally their allies to resume consideration of the bill and ultimately pass the association's founding charter.
[6] On March 19, 1856, the Virginia state assembly passed a bill establishing the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union with Ann Pamela Cunningham named as the presiding leader.
[2] As regent of the newly established Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, Ann Pamela Cunningham turned to building the nationwide organization.
[2] The vice regents appointed by Cunningham generally came from wealthy backgrounds and were socially prominent, often from families with ancestral ties to the Founding Fathers of the United States.
[6] Vice regents such as Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie of Virginia and Octavia Walton Le Vert of Alabama took a keen interest in historical preservation, influenced by their own experiences in Europe.
[6] Similarly, Madame Le Vert had been impressed with the preservation of the home of the poet Ludovico Ariosto in Ferrara, Italy, which had been purchased by the government and maintained as a "shrine" for those who wished to pay their respects.
[7] Other vice regents who contributed significantly to the cause included Louisa Ingersoll Gore Greenough of Massachusetts, who enlisted Anna Cora Mowatt to visit and do readings.
[6][2] He also entered into a one-year contract with The New York Ledger to write a weekly column on American history in exchange for an advance of $10,000 to be paid to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.
[6] The Northern and Southern wings of the MVLA thus both appeared to celebrate the legacy of George Washington, while taking opposing stances on the issue of slavery and states' rights.
[7] Vice Regent Abba Isabella Chamberlain Little of Maine reported that some Northerners refused to contribute based on principle, even if it meant yielding Washington's legacy to the South.
[2] In August 1858, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was widely applauded in abolitionist newspapers for refusing Mary Morris Hamilton's invitation to serve as the lady manager for upstate New York.
[6] Cunningham later wrote that she had persuaded Washington to change his mind by commiserating with his frustration that the state of Virginia had been unwilling to assume ownership of Mount Vernon,[7] apparently moving him to tears.
[6] Meanwhile, John Augustine Washington wrote to William Foushee Ritchie that he still thought the MVLA's plan was "preposterous"; he predicted the women would mismanage the estate and that Mount Vernon would eventually revert to Virginia anyway.
[8][15] John Augustine Washington continued to court national controversy when on December 25, 1858, he ran his third annual advertisement in the Alexandria Gazette offering the services of his seven slaves for hire.
[7] Editor Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune published a scathing article condemning his actions while encouraging the MVLA to finally take Mount Vernon away from his clutches.
[7] In the end, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union met its fundraising target and paid the full amount in less than two years, despite the economic depression.
