A Staunton-based author and archivist recently published a book about the presidents who were born in Virginia, and the historic sites that tell their stories. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Author Heather Cole's book is called Virginia's Presidents, A History & Guide. It combines brief biographies of the eight presidents who were born in the Commonwealth with guides to their birthplaces, museums, and monuments – from Mount Vernon to Monticello. She was inspired to write it while homeschooling her two sons, and taking them to visit the presidential homes one summer.
HEATHER COLE: James Madison's house, Montpelier: they do a fabulous family-friendly tour that's all focused on how we know what we know about the past. …We have this letter that James Madison wrote … this piece of clothing that belonged to Dolley Madison.
Her youngest was especially engaged.
COLE: He found a piece of metal near the parking lot, and was really excited that, "oh, that might be a historic piece!" … And he wanted to go tell the museum docents about what he had found.
The book also includes information about each of the men's views on slavery. All of them grew up in homes with enslaved people, and seven of them grew up to become enslavers themselves. Here's Cole, reading an excerpt.
COLE: We need to understand that our founding fathers – and those who came after – were brilliant, talented, and flawed people, who created and upheld a brand new form of government that has served us well for nearly 250 years, and was built on the belief that "all men who are created equal" only included white, land-owning men, and that "We, the people of the United States," explicitly excluded people of color, Native Americans, and women.
Cole will give a talk this President's Day, Monday, at 7 p.m. at the R. R. Smith Center for History & Art in Staunton and via Zoom.
