In 1853, the beloved home of George Washington, was falling into ruin and the owner, John Augustine Washington, Jr., could not afford to maintain it. A South Carolina socialite, Louise Dalton Bird Cunningham, while traveling up the Potomac by steamer was horrified by the neglect of that magnificent estate, and wrote to her daughter, Ann Pamela Cunningham, “If the men of America have seen fit to allow the home of its most respected hero to go to ruin, why can’t the women of America band together to save it?” Miss Cunningham organized the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, and called on American women everywhere to support the project. By 1858 the Association had accumulated enough money to buy Mount Vernon, took possession of it in 1860, and has since maintained Mount Vernon as an American shrine. This book is addressed to the “Children of America” and is intended to point out the moral, Christian, and political lessons to be learned from George Washington’s exemplary life. 70 pages
