Episode 2: A Presidential Blunder

Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History

In this week's letter George Washington forgets that he left all of his wife's correspondence in a desk that he sold to his close friend, Elizabeth Willing Powel. She immediately drags him for it, but is a good enough buddy to offer to hide his mistake from Martha. Many thanks to this week's guest expert Samantha Snyder, reference librarian at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon! Keep an eye out for her chapter in a forthcoming book about George Washington's female friends and family, set for publication in January 2021! The full text of Elizabeth Willing Powel to George Washington, 11-13 March 1797 can be found on Founders Online here: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-01-02-0020 For more on Elizabeth Wiling Powel: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/elizabeth-willing-powel/ For more on Tobias Lear: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/tobias-lear Or, check out my personal favorite book on Tobias Lear with a cool rhyming title: Brighton, Ray. The Checkered Career of Tobias Lear. Portsmouth, NH: Portsmouth Marine Society, 1985.