Ken Burns

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

On October 29, 2025, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns visited Mount Vernon for a special preview of his newest documentary The American Revolution, presented in partnership with PBS and WETA.

Upon arrival to Mount Vernon, Burns was greeted by Mount Vernon President & CEO Douglas Bradburn. Before signing the guest book himself, Burns expressed great interest in the signatures of Mount Vernon’s previous special guests.

At Washington’s Tomb, Bradburn described the site’s history and significance before inviting Burns and the film’s co-director Sarah Botstein to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the final resting place of George and Martha Washington.

Burns signs the Mount Vernon guestbook in front of Washington's portrait. (MVLA)

Burns takes a moment at the tomb of George Washington to lay a wreath. (MVLA)

Accompanied by Bradburn and Anne “Dede” Neal Petri, Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, Burns then visited the Slave Memorial & African American Burial Ground, where both free and enslaved people were buried in the 18th and 19th centuries. Burns was invited to lay a wreath at the Slave Memorial, designed by students at the architecture school at Howard University in 1983.

Burns stops at the Slave Memorial & African American Burial Ground to honor the enslaved peoples who worked at Mount Vernon. (MVLA)

Burns carries a wreath to the Slave Memorial & African American Burial Ground Monument. (MVLA)

Before the day’s public programs began, Burns visited Mount Vernon’s south lane, where he filmed a short interview with Mount Vernon’s media team about Washington’s role as the “indispensable man” of the Revolution and Mount Vernon’s enduring significance in the American story.

If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t have any chance of knowing where you are, or, more importantly, where you’re going,” Burns reflected. “And by understanding our origin story, the Revolution, at whose heart is the sacrifice of George Washington, we don’t have a story. And so to learn it is to heal ourselves and to figure out where we want to go forward from this moment.

Burns is interviewed on South Lane. (MVLA)

Afterwards, Bradburn led Burns and Botstein on a tour of the exhibition Mount Vernon: The Story of an American Icon, where they viewed original Washington family objects and treasures from Mount Vernon’s collection.

Bradburn then led a panel discussion featuring Burns, Botstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson, and retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. The discussion centered on the American Revolution, Washington’s pivotal role in the war, and the larger meaning of the founding struggle.

Regent Petri opened the program by thanking Burns for “answering George Washington’s call,” noting that his new documentary helps “restore America’s memory” and invites viewers to appreciate the sacrifice of those who secured the nation’s liberty and freedoms.

Regent Anne Neal Petri delivers a speech. (MVLA)

Burns emphasized Washington’s singular importance to the success of the Revolution and the survival of the American experiment. “We don’t have a country without [Washington],” he said. “Period. Full stop.” Later in the conversation, he reflected on the values that Washington and the founding generation left to posterity: “The most important thing that we can deliver to our posterity intact is these values, these characters, these virtues, this humility that is at the core of our successful founding.”

Ken Burns Panel Discussion

In conjunction with the premiere of "The American Revolution, "the landmark documentary series exploring America’s founding struggle and its eight-year war for independence, Mount Vernon hosted a panel discussion featuring select clips from the film.

After the panel, Burns introduced the evening’s preview screening on the bowling green, where the lawn was filled with guests gathered on blankets and chairs. A crowd of more than 3,000 guests attended the program, the final preview screening before its national premiere on PBS.