Upcoming Events at Gadsby's Tavern

In Alexandria, VA, vintage goes pretty far back. The Fall 2010 Schedule just arrived from Gadsby's Tavern . Lectures, tours, dinners, and balls promise a busy fall season. Here we will start with the lectures and talks, and follow up next with the balls and dinners.

John Yagerline Lecture Series: Federal Washington.
October 6, 13, 20. Doors open at 7:00 pm, lecture begins at 7:30 pm. $12 per person, $30 for series.
Three lectures by three authors presenting very different views on the early history of Washington D.C.

October 6, 2010. Fergus Bordewich. Washington: The Making of the American Capital
Bordewich (Bound for Canaan) depicts how some improbable and unwelcoming terrain on the Potomac came to be chosen in 1790 as the site for the nation's capital. Bordewich likewise narrates the graft, inefficiencies and myriad injustices that went into the design of the new capital and the construction of the first state buildings. As the author emphasizes, slavery affected everything about the genesis of Washington: the politics of selecting a site that was nominally Southern to placate Jeffersonian Democrats; the construction of such buildings as the White House and the Capitol—projects that exploited slave labor (from Amazon.com book description).




October 13, 2010. Kenneth Bowling. Author of many books on early American politics and DC history, including Establishing Congress: The Removal to Washington D.C., and the Election of 1800.
Establishing Congress focuses on the end of the 1790s, when, in rapid succession, George Washington died, the federal government moved to Washington, D.C., and the election of 1800 put Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican party in charge of the federal government.Establishing Congress dispels the myths and misinformation that surround the federal government's move to Washington and demonstrates that the election of 1800 changed American party politics forever, established the success of the American experiment in government, and completed the founding of the Republic (book description from Amazon.com).


October 20, 2010. Scott Berg. Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.
In 1791, shortly after the United States won its independence, George Washington personally asked Pierre Charles L’Enfant—a young French artisan turned American revolutionary soldier who gained many friends among the Founding Fathers—to design the new nation's capital. L’Enfant approached this task with unparalleled vigor and passion; however, his imperious and unyielding nature also made him many powerful enemies. After eleven months, Washington reluctantly dismissed L’Enfant from the project. Subsequently, the plan for the city was published under another name, and L’Enfant died long before it was rightfully attributed to him (book description from Amazon.com).