Mount Vernon Post 1

This semester, I am working at Mount Vernon as a historical interpreter. While my primary function is giving guided tours throughout the mansion, I am also working with the manager of interpretation to analyze and help improve how slavery is interpreted at Mount Vernon. When I began, I was pleasantly surprised by the interpretation of slavery.

All historical interpreters receive an Interpretation Handbook, which contains all of the basic information interpreters need. Included in the handbook are suggested scripts for each room dependent upon the tour mode. Mount Vernon has two main interpretative modes, Mansion Tour and Post. During Mansion Tour mode, one guide takes a group of 25 people through each room of the mansion and the tours last about 45 minutes. Post mode is used when a high volume of visitors is expected. During Post mode the visitors move throughout the mansion and a historical interpreter is posted in each room and gives an interpretation of a single room. Post mode is then broken down into closed-door mode, open-door mode, highlights mode, viewing mode, and occasionally Colonial Days. These modes are once again dependent upon the number of visitors with closed-door being a minute and a half interpretation per room and viewing a thirty second interpretation. Colonial Days is designed for younger school groups who book their times in advance. The Interpretation Handbook gives a suggested script for each room during each of the modes mentioned. In each room, historical interpreters are required to hit certain objectives or facts outlined in the handbook. Slavery is an objective for every single room in the mansion door. More specifically, the jobs of the enslaved people as well as their names, if known, are mentioned. For example, Frank Lee, the enslaved butler, is required to be mentioned in the Central Passage, where guests in Washington’s time entered the mansion. Before being cleared as a historical interpreter, new interpreters have to give the tour to the manager of historic interpretation. He will not clear guides if they leave out the slavery objectives in each room.

After interpreters have been cleared for a time, they encouraged to move on to specialty tours. One of the specialty tours is the Enslaved People of Mount Vernon tour. This tour is offered two times a day during the peak season, and one time a day in the offseason. Tickets for specialty tours are not included in general admission. The Enslaved People’s tour is a 60-minute tour that highlights slavery at Mount Vernon. Once again, historical interpreters are given a basic script of objectives they have to hit but can add to the material as much as they wish.

There are also first-person character interpreters including two portraying two of Washington’s enslaved people, Christopher Sheels and Caroline Branham. The character interpreters are in a different department, so I do not know their script, but they are not required to stay in character if visitors are clearly asking a present-day question.



While I was pleasantly surprised with the current interpretation of slavery at Mount Vernon, I have stilled noticed areas where it could be improved. Fortunately, the manager of historic interpretation is also aware that slavery’s interpretation can always be improved. In fact, he was one of the principle figures behind changing the previous interpretation to what it is today. Each month, he hosts what’s called an Enslaved Huddle, where historic interpreters as well as character interpreters discuss interactions they’ve had with guests and what works and doesn’t work within the current interpretation program. As I am working at Mount Vernon, I am going to continue to analyze the current interpretation of slavery, compare it to the previous interpretation, and then offer my suggestions to make the interpretation better. While all of my suggestions may not be logistically feasible, my supervisor is always open to new ideas to interpreting an essential aspect of Mount Vernon’s history.