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Montpelier Transformed: A Monument to James Madison and Its Enslaved Community
By the late 20th century, Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison, had been altered until it would no longer have been recognizable to the couple. In 2000 the newly-created Montpelier Foundation took over management of the historic home with the seemingly insurmountable task of restoring it to be a visual record of the Madisons' era. Within ten years, the Foundation overcame numerous hurdles, turning Montpelier into a monument to the Father of the Constitution. Over the next decade the site also became a monument to Montpelier's enslaved. The buildings in their community next to the Madisons' home were reconstructed, and award-winning exhibits dramatically illustrate the tragedy of slavery and essential role of enslaved people in Madison's life. Foundation co-founder William H. Lewis details the nonprofit's ambitious preservation projects and remarkable achievements.
288 pages, Paperback
Published April 11, 2022
7 people want to read
About the author
William H. Lewis
28 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Other authors publishing under this name are:
William H. Lewis, Minister
William H. Lewis, Poet
William H. (Horace) Lewis
William H. (Hubert) Lewis
Other authors publishing under this name are:
William H. Lewis, Minister
William H. Lewis, Poet
William H. (Horace) Lewis
William H. (Hubert) Lewis
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 10, 2022
This is not a book likely to have a huge audience - but for those with a deep interest in historic preservation or in the life cycles of nonprofit organizations, it is riveting! I enjoyed it from cover to cover and will refer to it often over the next several years in my nonprofit consulting practice. Mr. Lewis has achieved something monumental here, both as founding board president of the Montpelier Foundation and as the chronicler of its first 20 years.
Among the best bits:
*Both explicit and implicit descriptions of the role volunteer board members played in founding a nonprofit to restore Montpelier as a monument to James Madison and the constitution, and the kinds of talents and skills they brought to their work.
*Detailed outline of an early strategic planning process and the resulting document, together with discussion about what was and was not implemented over the next ten years. (This was especially interesting to me. The board members had dreams that went beyond what they wrote into the actual plan... and then they achieved those dreams, which were more motivating to them than the plan itself.)
*Insight into the hard work of holding a diverse board of directors together and moving in the same direction, how a skilled chair can bring people together and integrate many unique perspectives into a brilliant whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
*A peek inside the negotiations the brand new organization held with the well-established National Trust for Historic Preservation. Again, this is testament to the power of skilled boardsmanship and a solid vision. We also see how that vision and skill convinced all 34 members of the DuPont family to change their previous legal agreements and pave the way for the restoration of the house to presidential times.
*Description of how the voices and views of a growing community of descendants of people once enslaved at Montpelier were incorporated into the planning, programs, and decision-making of board and staff. The story is of increasing influence over two decades as more historical research and archaeology combined to create a much more complete picture of the life of Montpelier in Madison's time, and as the descendants community itself grew and organized.
Written in 2021, the historical narrative ends in late 2018, the Foundation's 20th year in existence and the year many historic sites, including Montpelier, signed on to a coalition-created document called "Engaging Descendant Communities in the Interpretation of Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites: A Rubric of Best Practices Established by the National Summit on Teaching Slavery." In my opinion it is impossible to understand either the rubric or subsequent events with the Montpelier Foundation board of directors without the context provided by Mr. Lewis in this book. I am so glad I read it and grateful to him for writing it. I encourage anyone with an interest in launching an effective and flexible nonprofit organization to read it.
Among the best bits:
*Both explicit and implicit descriptions of the role volunteer board members played in founding a nonprofit to restore Montpelier as a monument to James Madison and the constitution, and the kinds of talents and skills they brought to their work.
*Detailed outline of an early strategic planning process and the resulting document, together with discussion about what was and was not implemented over the next ten years. (This was especially interesting to me. The board members had dreams that went beyond what they wrote into the actual plan... and then they achieved those dreams, which were more motivating to them than the plan itself.)
*Insight into the hard work of holding a diverse board of directors together and moving in the same direction, how a skilled chair can bring people together and integrate many unique perspectives into a brilliant whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
*A peek inside the negotiations the brand new organization held with the well-established National Trust for Historic Preservation. Again, this is testament to the power of skilled boardsmanship and a solid vision. We also see how that vision and skill convinced all 34 members of the DuPont family to change their previous legal agreements and pave the way for the restoration of the house to presidential times.
*Description of how the voices and views of a growing community of descendants of people once enslaved at Montpelier were incorporated into the planning, programs, and decision-making of board and staff. The story is of increasing influence over two decades as more historical research and archaeology combined to create a much more complete picture of the life of Montpelier in Madison's time, and as the descendants community itself grew and organized.
Written in 2021, the historical narrative ends in late 2018, the Foundation's 20th year in existence and the year many historic sites, including Montpelier, signed on to a coalition-created document called "Engaging Descendant Communities in the Interpretation of Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites: A Rubric of Best Practices Established by the National Summit on Teaching Slavery." In my opinion it is impossible to understand either the rubric or subsequent events with the Montpelier Foundation board of directors without the context provided by Mr. Lewis in this book. I am so glad I read it and grateful to him for writing it. I encourage anyone with an interest in launching an effective and flexible nonprofit organization to read it.
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