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The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington
  • Date: Monday, July 01, 2019
  • Time: 4:00 pm
  • Location: William G. McGowan Theater, Washington, DC

Mary Ball, orphaned at an early age, grew up in an atmosphere of work, frugality, and piety. After marrying Augustine Washington and having five children, she was widowed and struggled to raise her children. In The Widow Washington, professor Martha Saxton has written the first biography of Mary Ball Washington, the mother of our nations’ father, that is based on archival sources and corrects previous biographies that paint her as a self-centered, crude obstacle to her son. A book signing follows the program.

July 4th at the National Archives is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation with the generous support of John Hancock, Dykema and Hearst Foundations.

Rightfully Hers is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Unilever, Pivotal Ventures, Carl M. Freeman Foundation in honor of Virginia Allen Freeman, AARP, AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, Facebook, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fund at the Boston Foundation, Google, HISTORY ®, and Jacqueline B. Mars. Additional support for National Outreach and Programs provided by Denise Gwyn Ferguson, BMO Financial Group, Hearst Foundations, Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, FedEx, Bernstein Family Foundation, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation/Ambassador Fay-Hartog Levin (Ret.).

All public programs at the National Archives are free. Reservations are recommended; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The doors to the building will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the program. Use the Special Events entrance on the corner of Constitution Avenue and 7th Street, NW. Click here for more information on getting to the National Archives and parking.

Live captioning will be available online and in the William G. McGowan Theater. If you require an alternative or additional accommodation for an event (such as a downloadable transcript or a sign language interpreter), please send an email to public.program@nara.gov or call 202.357.5000 in advance.

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