Monticello Association News

Coolidge Diary Published
Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 20:55

The Ellen Wayles Coolidge book edited by two staff members at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation is now available for purchase.  Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter in Queen Victoria's England:  The Travel Diary of Ellen Wayles Coolidge, 1838-1839 has now been published and can be purchased online by clicking here.     

 

Editor Ann Lucas Birle, spoke at the 2011 Monticello Association annual meeting and shared some of her research on the travel diary that Ellen Wayles Coolidge kept while visiting England from 1838-1839.    As you may also know Association member Gerald Morgan was instrumental in getting the book published.   The book, edited by Thomas Jefferson Foundation staff members Ann Lucas Birle and Lisa Francavilla, is dedicated to Gerald.  

 

The Foundation gifted to the Association a signed copy of the booked signed by the authors and is offering a special discount of 10% just for Monticello Association members.   An email has been sent to the membership with instructions for receiving the discount.   If you are a current member and did not receive this email please use the Contact Us form to request your discount code.   

 

 


 

Graveyard Tree Maintenance
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - 17:59

The master plan for the graveyard expansion that was presented to the membership last year included several phases that would be implemented over many years depending on the need for additional space and budget considerations.  The initial phase of the plan, for which funding was approved last year, included the maintenance of existing trees, planting of new trees, and a detailed survey of the existing graveyard. 

The executive committee has received quotes for services from two local Charlottesville companies to provide the tree maintenance as well as the tree plantings.   The tree maintenance activities will commence this spring while the tree plantings are scheduled for the Fall of 2011. 


Monticello Association Archives
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - 23:00

During the past year the executive committee has been working on finding a permanent home for the accumulated papers and artifacts of the Association that in the past have been in the possession of the Historian of the Association.    The overriding objectives for this effort were to find a home for the archives that would be safe, secure, accessible, and provide the appropriate conditions for proper archival storage.     The Executive Committee has been in discussions with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation over the last few years to determine if storing the Association’s papers at the Jefferson Library would be a potential option.  

The discussions culminated this year in a temporary agreement now being finalized with the Jefferson Library that would allow for the storage of the Monticello Association papers at the Jefferson Library with access limited to the Association Executive Committee members and the Association Historian.  

It is the Executive Committee’s view that before any external access is to be considered that first the contents of the archives needs to be thoroughly reviewed, categorized, and documented by the Association to determine that exact nature of the contents and, to the extent possible, understand the expressed wishes and desires of the members who contributed the artifacts throughout our history.

To this end Jack Taylor, Immediate Past President, has graciously volunteered to spend a month “on the mountain” this fall to review and document the accumulated archives of the Association and report out his findings in time for the 2012 meeting.   Many thanks to Jack for his tireless efforts to not only find a home for our papers but also commiting time to completely document, for the first, the accumulated Associaton papers.  We all look forward with great anticipation to what he uncovers.