The 200th anniversary of George Washington’s death was commemorated at Ole Miss during a Brown Bag lecture February 16, 2000. Lynn Crosby Gammill spoke to the regular Wednesday lunch crowd gathered in the Tupelo Room of Barnard Observatory. Gammill, of Hattiesburg, serves as Vice Regent for Mississippi on the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest historic preservation organization in the country. George Washington and his Virginia home, Mount Vernon, were the focus of her talk and slide presentation.

The 1999-2000 calendar year is particularly special at Mount Vernon since it has hosted several events, both public and private, to mark the important milestone. C-Span covered a reenactment of Washington's funeral on December 18, 1999. Guests of Mount Vernon sported black arm bands and a hundred period-clothed mourners portrayed actual friends of Washington, grieving the loss of the president.

Gammill and Bill Ferris, former director of the Center and current chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, were guests at the world premier of a musical tribute to Washington, titled A Crown, A Mansion, A Throne. Luigi Zaninelli, composer in residence at the University of Southern Mississippi, brought his piece to Constitution Hall to be performed by the United States Air Force Band. The band will be touring the country to spread this melodic remembrance of Washington.

If a trip to Alexandria, Virginia, isn’t in your near future, some of the President’s effects may be visiting a town near you. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association teamed up with the Virginia Historical Society and Washington and Lee University to send a travelling exhibit of portraits and memorabilia of George Washington across the nation. George Washington: The Man Behind the Myths debuted at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville from November 1999-February 2000, was in Tacoma, Washington, until June 18, and will be at the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh from July to early October. For more information, check the Virginia Historical Society's website (www.vahistorical.org).

There is also a complementary tour of objects from Washington’s home traveling across America. Treasures from Mount Vernon features unique artifacts like the president’s set of false teeth, the key to the Bastille presented to Washington by Lafayette, and a 12:1 scale model of the mansion.

These are just some of the many events that will encourage Americans to remember “The Father of Our Country” on the bicentennial anniversary of his death. Call the Washington Bicentennial Hotline at 877-GWB-1999 for tour locales and local events.

Megan Davis