Financial Records of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

Access and use

Location of collection:
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
3600 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
Mount Vernon, VA 22121
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Reference services
Phone: (703) 780-3600
Restrictions:

Please contact library staff to request access to this collection. Some series or folders may be restricted due to private or sensitive information contained therein.

Terms of access:

Please contact library staff to inquire about use of the content in this collection.

Preferred citation:

[Name and date of item], Financial Records of the MVLA, Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington [hereafter Washington Library], Mount Vernon, Virginia

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Summary

Extent:
approx. 33 Linear Feet 20 paige cartons; 4 Hollinger document boxes, 2 manuscript 11x14 boxes, binders and oversize material flat on shelves
Creator:
Hollingsworth, John McHenry, 1823-1889, Dodge, Harrison Howell, 1852-1937, Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, and Wall, Charles Cecil, 1903-1995
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Name and date of item], Financial Records of the MVLA, Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington [hereafter Washington Library], Mount Vernon, Virginia

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection holds the historic financial records of the MVLA including accounting ledgers, tax documents, insurance papers, receipts, invoices, payroll lists, annual and quarterly budgets, financial statements and reports, policies, contracts, correspondence, and other miscellaneous items. Records in this collection contain information on the Association's financial accounting, revenue, expenditures, employees and employee benefits, investments, taxes, and other financial concerns. There is a very limited amount pertaining to fundraising efforts and/or private donations, which can be found in the files of Mount Vernon's development department (currently unprocessed). Bulk date 1870s-2000s.

Biographical / historical:

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union has owned and operated George Washington's home at Mount Vernon since purchasing the estate from John Augustine Washington III in 1860. The Association is composed of one Regent and 20-30 Vice Regents who serve as the executive board of this historic home. Each Vice Regent represents a different state and is responsible for fundraising and establishing interest in Mount Vernon within their state. They also make all major decisions concerning preservation, collections, visitor experience, maintenance, and finances at Mount Vernon. The MVLA does not receive any government funding and relies solely on ticket sales and donations to continue operating the site as a tourist destination.

The Regent and Vice Regents assemble twice a year in April and October for Council, their bi-annual meetings, where they hear motions and reports concerning projects or issues at the estate. The Vice Regents also divide into committees focused on different functions and operations that rotate members every few years. Today the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association is remembered as the first national organization dedicated to historic preservation in the United States, and as innovators in the field of preservation. The Association remains loyal to its original goals, the restoration and care of Mount Vernon, and educating people all over the world about George Washington's life and legacy. Mount Vernon is open to visitors 365 days a year. The estate now consists of not only the Mansion and tomb of Washington, but restored gardens, outbuildings, Pioneer Farm, Gristmill, Distillery, museum and orientation center, the National Library for the Study of George Washington, gift shops, food pavilion, and the Mount Vernon Inn restaurant.

Arrangement:

The collection is broken down into series based on the type of record. One series, Series 3. General, holds correspondence and subject files relevant to financial matters. Series are mostly organized alphabetically by folder title, then chronologically, but arrangement notes have been added to each for further information. Bound volumes, ledgers, and accounting books are described at the end of the collection in their own series.

List of series: Series 1. Accounting Series 2. Budgets Series 3. General Series 4. Insurance Series 5. Investments Series 6. Reports Series 7. Taxes Series 8. Bound Volumes and Oversize

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard