Inventing George Washington: America's Founder in Myth and Memory

On February 24, 2011, Ed Lengel delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "Inventing George Washington: America's Founder in Myth and Memory." In Inventing George Washington, Edward G. Lengel shows how the former president and war hero continued to serve his nation on two distinct levels after his death. The public Washington evolved into an eternal symbol as the "Father of His Country," while the private man remained at the periphery of the national vision for successive generations. As some exalted Washington, others sought to bring him down to the earth, thus creating a series of competing mythologies that depicted Washington as every imaginable sort of human being. Dr. Lengel is editor-in-chief of the Washington Papers Project and a professor of history at the University of Virginia. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.