New Research at Ash Lawn-Highland

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  • Documents (5)

Documents
  • "All The Usual Improvements": Understanding The Plantation Landscape At Ash Lawn-Highland (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kyle W. Edwards.

    Much of the existing scholarship on Ash Lawn-Highland has focused upon President Monroe’s domestic and political life, but little is known about the day-to-day functioning of the plantation including agricultural production, land management strategies, and the lives of enslaved laborers. In some ways these aspects have been seen as peripheral to Monroe’s political ascendance; however, in 19th-century Virginia, the productive organization of the plantation was socially significant, communicating...

  • Architecural documentation of Ash Lawn Highland: examining the evidence (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Willie Graham.

    Jay Winston Johns restored a small house at Ash Lawn-Highland in the 1930s and created a shrine to James Monroe, the assumed builder and occupant. Now a museum house owned and run by the College of William and Mary, it seemed prudent to determine if the house was actually that which Monroe slept in. If not, the consequence would be profound for the College. The building’s dimensions loosely match a wing of the Monroe dwelling described in documents. Despite the association, many features of the...

  • Dendrochronology at Ash Lawn-Highland (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Worthington.

    Over the last few decades, dendrochronology, or the science of tree-ring dating, has become a widely used tool for dating historic houses. In 2014, a comprehensive dendrochronological study was launched at Ash Lawn-Highland in order to establish a dated framework for the various phases of construction at the main house. This paper discusses the results of that study and its effect on the interpretation of the house and its surrounding landscape. 

  • Old Questions, New Direction: Research at Ash Lawn-Highland (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sara E. Bon-Harper.

    As part of Ash Lawn-Highland’s strategic direction, the historic site has undertaken a new phase of research to address lingering mysteries about the standing house and its story as a portion of James Monroe’s 1799 main residence. Addressing the questions involves a multi-disciplinary team and opens the door to the creation of revised public narratives. This paper discusses the points at which uncertainty entered the site’s established narratives, the range of research efforts in the current...

  • Recent Archaeological Discoveries at James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Benjamin P Ford. Nick J Bon-Harper.

    Longstanding questions about the main house at Ash Lawn-Highland prompted a Phase I archaeological study of the plantation’s domestic core and adjacent hilltop in 2014. This work revealed an area of interest just east of and adjacent to the 1870s wing. Phase II testing of this area in 2015 identified a substantial masonry foundation with partial basement. Associated material culture suggests that the structure dates to the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The projected architectural...