Today we meet with a real George Washington expert. Jeremy Ray is the Director of Interpretation at Mount Vernon, which is the former President's 18th-century home. It has been fully restored and includes the estate mansion, four separate gardens, both the old and new tomb where George Washington is buried, historic outbuildings including a blacksmith shop and ice house, a farm with interpreters who demonstrate Washinton's farming practices, a distillery, a wharf on the Potomac River,  a museum, and an education center!

We discuss how Washington came to live at the mansion and the work he did there before, during, and after the American Revolution.  We also highlight a short sword that, according to family, Washington wore during the Braddock campaign in the French and Indian War and a pair of eyeglasses that played a part in confronting a secret petition of mutiny!


Episode Links:

• The official website of George Washington's Mount Vernon: https://www.mountvernon.org/

• Digital encyclopedia of the Newburgh Conspiracy, a plan by the Continental Army officers to challenge the authority of the Confederation Congress: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/newburgh-conspiracy/

• Slavery at Mount Vernon: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/

• Be Washington, an interactive experience stepping into the shoes of America's first president: https://www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-visit/be-washington/interactive-theater/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers