Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington | |
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General information | |
Location | Fairfax County, Virginia, USA |
Coordinates | 38°42′47″N 77°5′17″W / 38.71306°N 77.08806°W |
Named for | Fred W. Smith |
Construction started | 2010 |
Inaugurated | Dedicated on September 27, 2013 |
Cost | $106.4 million |
Management | Douglas Bradburn |
Technical details | |
Size | 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2) |
Website | |
www |
The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon is the presidential library of George Washington, the first president of the United States. [1] Located at Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Virginia, the library was built by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and is privately funded. [1] It is named for the chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation which donated $38 million to the project. [1] The library officially opened September 27, 2013. [1]
The new library is 45,000 square feet (4,200 m2) in a three-story building located on a 15-acre (6.1 ha) plot of land across the street from Mount Vernon's main entrance. [2] The general library contains thousands of books, newspapers, pamphlets, microforms, electronic resources, maps, photographs, and periodicals belonging to Washington. [3] These materials cover a variety of topics including George Washington, Martha Washington, Mount Vernon, the American Revolution, Colonial America, slavery, the Early Republic, and historical preservation. [3] The library's special collections include rare books, documents, letters, farm books, and maps that pertain to Washington, his presidency, and family life. [3] This collection also contains 103 books that once were part of Washington's collection in his home at Mount Vernon. [2] The books are only a small portion of Washington's 900-title and 1,200-volume collection. [2] The rest of this large collection was given to family members or sold in 1848 to bookseller Henry Stevens. [2]
The new library also contains high-tech meeting rooms that will allow for lectures, conferences, and other meetings. [2] The new Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington also has a large oval vault. This vault contains a six-foot (1.8 m) pewter bas relief representation of Washington's bookplate that depicts the Washington family crest. [2] The library is available to researchers and interested scholars of all ages by appointment only; library materials must be used within the building and cannot be checked out. [3]