WASHINGTON, D.C. /eNewsChannels/ — The Gingrich Foundation has recognized the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association as its February 2012 Charity of the Month. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association cares for one of our country’s most important historic sites – the home and estate of our first president, George Washington.
Founded in 1853 by Ann Pamela Cunningham, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association is the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. Under Ms. Cunningham’s leadership, the Association sought to raise $200,000 in a national appeal to save Washington’s home. Five years later, the Association purchased Mount Vernon from Washington’s great-grandnephew and began to restore it. In 1860, the Association finally opened the estate to the public, and it has remained open as a monument to President Washington ever since.
Today, approximately one million people visit Mount Vernon each year. The mansion, now restored with many of its original furnishings, is open for tours. Guests are free to roam the gardens and grounds, where a variety of original buildings still stand. At the pioneer farm site, as well as at the working blacksmith shop, distillery, and gristmill, visitors to Mount Vernon can get a better sense of Washington’s life as a farmer by seeing important components of his estate operating much as they were when Washington died in 1799. On a hillside overlooking the Potomac, President Washington is buried with his wife Martha and several other family members.
“We appreciate very much that the Gingrich Foundation has set an example for others to follow,” said James C. Rees, president of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. “Because we don’t receive any government support, we depend upon the generosity of a wide range of patriotic Americans.”
“The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association has preserved one of America’s historical treasures for more than 150 years,” said Callista Gingrich, president of the Gingrich Foundation. “The Association’s work has helped generations of Americans better understand the Father of Our Country.”
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association cares for President Washington’s home and estate without the use of public funds.
The Gingrich Foundation is a domestic non-profit corporation founded by Callista and Newt Gingrich to support charitable purposes.
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