National Park Service George Washington Birthplace National Monument Administrative History 1930-2000 Seth C. Bruggeman College of William & Mary 2006 Preface ..........................................................................................................................................................................6 1. Early Memorialization and the Creation of a National Monument ...................................................................8 A Brief History of Popes Creek Plantation...............................................................................................................9 Memorialization of Washington’s Birthplace, 1815 – 1930 ...................................................................................12 The Colonial Revival and the Rise of Historical Preservation ...............................................................................15 The Wakefield National Memorial Association: A New Vision for Washington’s Birthplace ................................17 The National Park Service Arrives at Wakefield ....................................................................................................20 Building the Memorial Landscape, 1930-1932.......................................................................................................23 A Turbulent Prelude to Property Transfer..............................................................................................................30 The Monument is Established .................................................................................................................................32 2. Archeology and the Problem of Building X, 1881-1950.....................................................................................34 Archeology and Controversy under the War Department, 1879-1898 ...................................................................34 The WNMA’s Memorial Vision, 1925-1930............................................................................................................37 Building X Uncovered, 1930-1932..........................................................................................................................42 Archeological Planning and Controversy, 1932-1940 ...........................................................................................45 The Rodnick Report ................................................................................................................................................51 Signs and Meaning at Washington’s Birthplace.....................................................................................................57 3. Making a Monument into a Park, 1931-1940.....................................................................................................62 The Log House Tea Room.......................................................................................................................................64 Building the Monument’s Physical Infrastructure..................................................................................................69 The Rockefeller Horse Barn....................................................................................................................................72 Early Planning Difficulties and the Administration-Museum Building Debates ....................................................74 Failed Hope for a Museum Building.......................................................................................................................81 Adjacent Landowners and Land Policy, 1931-1940 ...............................................................................................84 4. Visitor Experience and Interpretation, 1932-1940.............................................................................................96 Touring the Monument During the 1930s...............................................................................................................97 Early Interpretation at Washington’s Birthplace .................................................................................................101 Louise du Pont Crowninshield and a New Interpretive Direction........................................................................105 Refurnishing the Memorial House ........................................................................................................................107 The WNMA’s New Interpretive Role.....................................................................................................................109 Annanias Johnson and an Early Living Farm ......................................................................................................110 Visitor Reactions and Racial Discord...................................................................................................................113 Visitor Fees...........................................................................................................................................................116 5. The Impact and Aftermath of World War II, 1940-1955................................................................................119 1 Visitors and Visitation during the War Years .......................................................................................................120 The War and Understaffing ..................................................................................................................................122 Community Relations............................................................................................................................................124 Post-War Recovery ...............................................................................................................................................127 New Hopes for the Log House Tea Room.............................................................................................................131 New Directions for the WNMA .............................................................................................................................133 Post-War Impact on Land Policy..........................................................................................................................137 6. Mission 66—A Prelude to Change, 1955-1966 .................................................................................................141 Visitor Experience, 1955-1966 .............................................................................................................................143 Reinstitution of Visitor Fees..................................................................................................................................145 Understaffing ........................................................................................................................................................146 Mission 66 Planning and Administrative Reorganization ....................................................................................148 Interpretation........................................................................................................................................................152 New Leadership for the WNMA ............................................................................................................................157 Land Policy...........................................................................................................................................................162 7. Living History and Modernization, 1966-1980.................................................................................................165 The 1968 Master Plan...........................................................................................................................................166 New Research for New Interpretive Directions ....................................................................................................169 The Colgate Morgan Horse Farm ........................................................................................................................171 Dwight Storke and Costumed Interpretation ........................................................................................................173 Re-inhabiting the Memorial House and Colonial Kitchen....................................................................................176 Planning a New Visitor Center.............................................................................................................................178 Archeology and Protection of Historic Resources................................................................................................181 Completing the Interpretive Landscape................................................................................................................184 Bicentennial Changes for the WNMA ...................................................................................................................186 Land Policy and Neighbor Relations....................................................................................................................188 8. Unfunded Expansion and the Problem of Changing Leadership, 1980-1995................................................194 Thomas Stone National Historic Site....................................................................................................................195 1987 Adjacent Lands Study...................................................................................................................................199