Library Events & Programs

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Julian Davis Mortenson's research project, The Founders’ President. 

Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Mortenson is researching presidential power at the American founding.

Join us for lunch and a compelling discussion with Robert F. Weinhagen, author of Old Town Style: Inside Alexandria's Most Beautiful Historic Homes. 

In this book, Weinhagen celebrates one of America's most beautiful historic towns and the passionate stewards preserving its legacy.

This event is part of the Washington Library's Lunch at the Library series. Lunch will be provided.

Hear from historian Emily Sneff, author of When the Declaration of Independence Was News.

This book traces the moments after the Declaration of Independence was created and follows how news of it spread to people throughout the thirteen United States and the Atlantic world.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

Join Mount Vernon experts Dr. Holly Gruntner (Landscape Historian), Rebecca Baird (Archivist), and Amanda Isaac (Chief Curator of Fine and Decorative Arts) as they share how a tree cultivated by George Washington in the 1780s sparked both the idea for a fundraising project to help save the property in the 1860s and the creation of a unique object in Mount Vernon’s collections.

This event is part of the Washington Library's Lunch at the Library series. Lunch will be provided.

Hear from historian Richard Brookhiser, author of The Hero Returns: Lafayette and the Legacy of Revolution.

This book explores the return of a revered revolutionary and the meaning of independence in a divided nation―in the 1820s and today.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Emilie Mitran's research project, Engaging with the French Revolution in the United States: A Reflection on Politics, Diplomacy, and Regional Cultures (1780s–1989). 

Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Mitran is researching how Americans perceived the French Revolution in the late 1780s, as they observed the growing popular discontent in France and its impact on the Early Republic. 

Hear from historian George Goodwin, author of Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution: From the Boston Patriots to George Washington.

This book is a revelatory account of how words and actions combined to destroy Britain’s colonial rule and secure Washington’s American victory.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon is excited to partner with the Virginia Law Foundation to host the 2026 Founding Debates Program. This year's theme is Virginia and the Constitution, from the Founding to today. 

This event will be followed by a reception.

Join Colleen Shogan, Sean Wilentz, and Beverly Gage for a discussion on presidential leadership. This conversation will be moderated by Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, Executive Director of the Washington Library. This trio of experts will explore presidential leadership from the founding to today.

A reception with complimentary beer, wine, and hors-d'œuvres will follow the lecture.