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An Evening with Martha Washington on February 5 at Oklahoma History Center

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An Evening with Martha Washington on February 5 at Oklahoma History Center Vol. 41, No. 2 Published monthly by the Oklahoma Historical Society, serving since 1893 February 2010 An Evening with Martha Washington on February 5 at Oklahoma History Center Come to the Oklahoma History Center Tyron, Christiana Campbell, Mrs. Getty, and enjoy an evening with our nation’s first Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Peyton Randolph—and First Lady on Friday, February 5, 2010. created the character of Miss Manderlay The program is presented through a spe- for the Pleasant Doll Company. cial partnership with George Washington’s Wiseman also began the first charac- Mount Vernon Estate and Garden and the ter-led tour, “According to the Ladies,” fo- History Center. The doors will be opened at cusing on the lives of colonial women. The 6 p.m., and the program will begin at 7 tourbrokenewgroundinitsuniquestyle p.m. Seating is offered on a first-come ba- and information. Working to teach young sis, and reservations are not required. This interpreters about the lives of their eigh- programisfreeandopentothepublic. teenth-century counterparts, she taught In 1797 President and Lady Washington “Young Gentlemen of the College” and returned home to their beloved Mount “Young Ladies of Accomplishment,” and Vernon. After years of sacrifice, they looked has also directed the development of char- forward to a happy retirement. They en- acter interpretive programs at the Court- joyed a scant two years of peace and con- house of 1770, the Governor’s Palace, the tentment, surrounded by family and the Powell Family Evening and Christmas pro- many visitors who found their way to their grams, and many other sites in the historic home and enjoyed the Washingtons’ fa- area. mous hospitality. George Washington died Eighteenth-century language, deport- in 1799. ment, and manners have become topics of Mary Wiseman brings thirty years of in- her museum lectures and consultations, terpretive experience to the role of Amer- and she is currently writing a book on the in one of the historic Colonial Williamsburg ica’s first First Lady. Recently retired as power of first-person character interpre- area houses for most of her career. She has “Artistic Director for Character Interpreta- tation. sung in the choir of Bruton Parish Church tion and Manager of Women’s History” at Traveling extensively, with performances for thirty years—the same church in which the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, throughout this country and in England, Martha Washington’s great-grandfather Wiseman presently concentrates her tal- Wiseman has appeared at the White House came to be the first rector. In spring 1759 ents in bringing the life and times of Mar- Visitors Center, Constitution Hall, Wash- Martha Washington journeyed from Wil- tha Washington to Americans of all ages. ington’s Headquarters in Cambridge, Mas- liamsburg to her home at Mount Vernon. As the founding force in the development sachusetts, and Valley Forge and has In spring 2004, in the same week, Wise- of living history programming at Colonial brought her portrayal of Martha Washing- man retraced her famed historic counter- Williamsburg, Wiseman has supervised re- ton “home” to Mount Vernon. She has part’s journey. search, casting, and development for many made numerous appearances in television For more information on the Martha presentations. She also created the “Forum and film, including consulting and per- Washington program contact Jason Harris for Women in History” to emphasize forming in the CBS miniseries George at the Oklahoma History Center by e-mail women’s contributions to eighteenth-cen- Washington. at <[email protected]> or by phone at tury Williamsburg. She appeared as many A mother of a son and daughter and a 405/522-0785. well-known Williamsburg women—Lady proud grandmother, Wiseman has resided Fort Gibson program to commemorate Black History Month Mark the Calendar!! Fort Gibson Historic Site will present its annual Community Program in celebration of Black History Month on Saturday, February 20, in the site’s historic stone barracks. This Durant to host Annual year’s topic will be “Police Duty at Fort Gibson.” Members of all-black units, the Buffalo Sol- diers served in the U.S. Army from the 1860s into the mid-twentieth century. In 1867 Fort Meeting in April 2010 Gibson became the first assignment of the Buffalo Soldiers in Indian Territory. Their duties Correction! Your editor named the at Fort Gibson had nothing to do with waging war against the local tribes, however, but wrong town in the headline of the Jan- consisted in trying to bring peace and order to the area in the years after the Civil War. uary article about the Annual Meeting Planned activities include a live presentation and the showing of a history film. After the in 2010. It will be held in Durant. More movie ends, refreshments will be served. The program begins at 1 p.m. and will last approx- information is forthcoming in the imately one hour. Admission is free, and the general public is welcome. March and April issues of Mistletoe Fort Gibson Historic Site is located on State Highway 80 in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, and Leaves. is operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Regular admission to the historic site is $3 for adults, $2.50 for seniors (65 and over), and $1 for students 6 to 18. Children 5 and un- der are admitted free. For more information call 918/478-4088 or send an e-mail to <[email protected]>. in my files, and the OHS included the pro- ject in a line-item request for legislative New Members, December funding. Unfortunately, it went into my *Indicates renewed membership at a higher level basket of good but hibernating ideas. Associate In the 1990s the encyclopedia idea re- *Teresa Black, Oklahoma City Director’s surfaced occasionally, but the staffing and *Kay Gelnar, Oklahoma City the funding solutions were elusive. In the Director’s Circle Column meantime, we learned how to win competi- *Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Ashmore, Oklahoma City tive grants from the National Endowment Henry W. Browne, Jr., Oklahoma City for the Humanities, and we started build- Clyde H. Schoolfield, Jr., Oklahoma City ing an aggressive, ambitious staff. Mrs. Troy Smith, Sr., Oklahoma City Winters Family Foundation, Oklahoma City Then came the field general, Dr. Dianna Everett. Friend By Bob L. Blackburn For several years, Dianna had served as Best Western–Lawton, Lawton Executive Director a consultant to the OHS working on grant *Morris Blumenthal, Oklahoma City Gary D. Childers, Ada proposals and special projects. Her combi- Doug Fox, Tulsa nation of scholarly standards and writing *Sandy Garrett, Oklahoma City In life, people, organizations, and pro- ability made her an invaluable member of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Hoag, Quinton jects need a wide range of qualities to Dr. and Mrs. J. V. D. Hough, Oklahoma City the emerging OHS team. succeed. Two of the most underrated are Konrad Keesee, Oklahoma City In 1998 OHS prepared and submitted persistence and patience. Mr. and Mrs. John Kenney, Oklahoma City an application to the NEH for the encyclo- James Monroe, Arlington, VA The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History Patricia Sutterfield, Scottdale, GA pedia. Thanks in large part to these plan- and Culture, soon to be released, is a good Robert Varnum, Nichols Hills ning efforts, we received a grant in July Mr. and Mrs. Zach Weldon, Norman example. The qualities necessary for suc- 2001. cess of this groundbreaking scholarly work After completing the planning phase in Family are obvious. 2001, Dianna assembled a multitalented Mr. and Mrs. Dale Absher, Edmond It is comprehensive, with 2,455 alpha- editorial team consisting of Linda Wilson, *Robin L. Adams, Edmond betically arranged entries that strike a bal- James Adelman, Tulsa Larry O’Dell, and Jon May, and together, ance in the broad sweep of Oklahoma Mr. and Mrs. David Alig, Okarche they assembled a board of scholar-consul- Mr. and Mrs. James Beckstrom, Stillwater history. tants, recruited more than seven hundred Michael Biddinger, Oklahoma City It is accessible, with reader-friendly text Mr. and Mrs. David Boggs, Oklahoma City authors, and pursued the “nitty gritty” de- provided in both a two-volume printed set Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bourke, Oklahoma City tails of history from original source mate- *Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert W. Carlton, Denver, CO for the bookshelf and a digital version rial to polished prose. Tom and Patty Costner, Tulsa available online. Mr. and Mrs. John W. Cunningham, Stillwater As Dianna says, the results of that hard And it is engaging, with subjects that Dr. and Mrs. W. Edward Dalton, Oklahoma City work will “investigate, explain, and inter- Mr. and Mrs. Mark Darrah, Tulsa range from town histories and personal bi- pret what it has meant, and what it means Frances E. Duke, Oklahoma City ographies to topical essays and accounts of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett Duke, Okemah today, to be an Oklahoman.” the events that have defined our shared *Mike Finley, Watts Yes, a project like the encyclopedia history. Ralph Glazner and Dayna Raynard, Oklahoma City needs a wide range of qualities to succeed. *Joy I. Grant, Mangum Less obvious are the qualities of persis- Among them are persistence and patience. Mr. and Mrs. Maynard Greenberg, Oklahoma City tence and patience. The concept for the en- Tim Griffin, Oklahoma City Brenda K. Grummer, Yukon cyclopedia was born about 1982. Mr. and Mrs. John Harris, Edmond One morning, over coffee with Dr. Odie Marian Hulsey, Oklahoma City Faulk, we started brainstorming the idea Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Jameson, Yukon for a comprehensive guide to Oklahoma Mr. and Mrs. Leon Jones, Grove Mr. and Mrs. Roy Knowles, Warr Acres history. We produced an outline that is still Patricia Likowski and Robert Hatcher, Oklahoma City Mr.
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