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Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Menokin | |
 The plantation in 2014 | |
  Location within Virginia  Location within the United States | |
| Location | NW of jct. of Rtes. 690 and 621, near Warsaw, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°00′30″N 76°48′13″W / 38.00842°N 76.80368°W |
| Area | 590 acres (240 ha) |
| Built | 1769 |
| Architect | John Ariss |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 69000276 |
| VLR No. | 079-0011 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 1, 1969[2] |
| Designated NHL | November 11, 1971[3] |
| Designated VLR | November 5, 1968[1] |
Menokin, also known as Francis Lightfoot Lee House, was the plantation of Francis Lightfoot Lee near Warsaw, Virginia, built for him by his wife's father, Col. John Tayloe II, of nearby Mount Airy, the wealthiest planter in the country. Lee, a Founding Father, was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Menokin was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.[3]
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation, including photos from the 1940s, shows the house standing and reported that it was in poor condition, awaiting a restorer. The National Park Service webpage shows the house in ruins, but reports that woodwork had been removed and placed in storage in the 1960s. Although the house has partly collapsed, the Menokin Foundation has developed a plan to restore the house using glass segments to fill missing portions of the building instead of trying to restore the house to its original condition.[4]
Before the Menokin plantation was ever developed, this area along Cat Point Creek (also called Rappahannock Creek) was home to the Rappahannock Indian Tribe. In 1608, Capt. John Smith explored the creeks that feed into the Rappahannock River and recorded his meetings with the Rappahannocks, which gives us a written glimpse into the area and its people at that time. The general plantation site was referred to as "Menokin" by the Rappahannocks. The meaning of the word is unknown today. Francis Lightfoot Lee kept the name for his home.
Menokin was built c. 1769 on the occasion of the marriage of Francis Lightfoot Lee and Rebecca Tayloe. Rebecca was the daughter of John Tayloe II, who built neighboring Mount Airy. John Tayloe II gave the couple the large plantation on Cat Point Creek, approximately five miles upstream from the Rappahannock River, and financed the construction of the two-story stone Menokin and its dependencies. Soon after, Francis Lightfoot Lee joined the cause of American independence, serving in the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1779 and signing the Declaration of Independence (together with his brother Richard Henry Lee) and the Articles of Confederation. Both Francis Lightfoot and Rebecca Tayloe Lee died in the winter of 1797. Menokin was then owned by Rebecca's nephew John Tayloe III, who lived at Mt. Airy and later built the Octagon House in Washington, D.C. Between 1809 and 1819, John Tayloe Lomax, another of John Tayloe II's grandsons, lived at Menokin with his family. Lomax would later become the first Professor of Law at the University of Virginia and a circuit judge for counties of Virginia's Middle and Northern Necks, based at Fredericksburg. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Menokin passed hands several times and went into serious decline around 1935 when it lay, for the most part, vacant and crumbling before coming into possession of The Menokin Foundation in 1995.
The full story of Francis Lightfoot Lee, and the mark that he made on both the Commonwealth of Virginia and the developing United States of America has not been told. Bits and pieces come from many sources: his letters, letters about him, comments by friends and relatives, and the fact that he was a signer of both the Westmoreland Resolves (February 27, 1766) and the Declaration of Independence (1776). He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, first from Loudoun, and then from Richmond County. He was in Philadelphia in 1776 as a Virginia delegate to the second Continental Congress, returning to Virginia in 1779. He served briefly in the Viate after that, but for the most part he was content to be at home at Menokin with his books and his farm and his beloved wife, Becky Tayloe. Research concerning the life and work of Francis Lightfoot Lee is an ongoing project of the Menokin Foundation.
Although Menokin is now in ruin, a remarkable collection of Colonial architectural elements remains. Approximately 80 percent of Menokin's original materials have survived, including: original stones, brick and mortar; queen posts and dragon beams; intact framing assemblages; and the interior woodwork. In 1940, while the house and one outbuilding were still standing, the Historic American Buildings Survey produced detailed photography and comprehensive measured drawings of the property. In 1964, the original pen and ink presentation drawings for Menokin were discovered among some Tayloe family papers in the attic of Mount Airy. Four years later, as the house was in serious trouble of collapsing, the interior woodwork was removed by the owner and put into storage. The surprisingly intact woodwork is back at Menokin and can be viewed at the Foundation's King Conservation and Visitors Center. Menokin's dining room paneling was on loan to the Virginia Historical Society where it was on display in their "Story of Virginia" exhibit; the dining room paneling is now back at Menokin. In 1971, Menokin was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 2014, the Menokin Foundation embarked on an $8.5 million (~$11.1 million in 2024) capital campaign to replace the missing walls and roof of the ruin with structural glass. The project is slated to be completed by 2024.[5]
In 2018, the Menokin Foundation built the Remembrance Structure, the second example of what they call "Dynamic Preservation," which is defined by a fluid and abstract interpretation of the past that connects the archaic to the modern. The wood-framed structure was built in a preservation workshop using historic methods. It uses modern translucent siding allowing the structure to glow as a memorial to the enslaved and their descendants.[6]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Menokin, also known as Francis Lightfoot Lee House, was the plantation of Francis Lightfoot Lee near Warsaw, Virginia, built for him by his wife's father, Col. John Tayloe II, of nearby Mount Airy, the wealthiest planter in the country. Lee, a Founding Father, was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Menokin was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation, including photos from the 1940s, shows the house standing and reported that it was in poor condition, awaiting a restorer. The National Park Service webpage shows the house in ruins, but reports that woodwork had been removed and placed in storage in the 1960s. Although the house has partly collapsed, the Menokin Foundation has developed a plan to restore the house using glass segments to fill missing portions of the building instead of trying to restore the house to its original condition.
Fredericksburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. The population was 27,982 at the 2020 census. It is 42 miles (67 km) south of Washington, D.C., and 53 miles (85 km) north of Richmond. Fredericksburg is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes. Located near where the Rappahannock River crosses the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia during the colonial era. It was halfway between the capitals of the opposing forces during the American Civil War, and was the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg and Second Battle of Fredericksburg. These battles are preserved, in part, as the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. More than 10,000 African Americans in the region left slavery for freedom in 1862 alone, getting behind Union lines. Tourism is a major part of the economy. Approximately 1.5 million people visit the Fredericksburg area annually, including the battlefield park, the downtown visitor center, events, museums, art shops, galleries, and many historical sites. Fredericksburg is home to Central Park. The Spotsylvania Towne Centre is located in Spotsylvania County, adjacent to the city. Major employers include the University of Mary Washington (named for the mother of George Washington, who lived here), Mary Washington Healthcare, and GEICO. Many Fredericksburg area residents commute to work by car, bus, and rail to Washington and Richmond, as well as Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington counties.
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought during the American Civil War for the Confederacy, which had its capital in the city. Between 1900 and 1925, Monument Avenue greatly expanded with architecturally significant houses, churches, and apartment buildings. Four of the bronze statues representing J. E. B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Matthew Fontaine Maury were removed from their memorial pedestals amidst civil unrest in July 2020. The Robert E. Lee Monument, dedicated in 1890, was removed on September 8, 2021. All these monuments, including their pedestals, have now been removed completely from the Avenue. The last remaining statue on Monument Avenue is the Arthur Ashe Monument, memorializing the African-American tennis champion, dedicated in 1996. In the wake of the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the Davis monument was torn down by protestors, while the Lee monument, owned by the Commonwealth, was ordered to be removed by Governor Ralph Northam. In July 2020, Richmond mayor Levar Stoney directed removal of the remaining Confederate monuments on city-owned land including J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Matthew Fontaine Maury, the cannons marking the Richmond Defenses, and other monuments around the Richmond area. Public opinion regarding the removal or retention of the statues was close to evenly split in several polls, with varying support for retaining the statues with historical context or moving them elsewhere. Monument Avenue is the site of several annual events, particularly in the spring, including an annual Monument Avenue 10K race and "Easter on Parade", when many Richmonders stroll the avenue wearing Easter bonnets and other finery. Prior to 2020, at various times (such as Robert E. Lee's birthday and Confederate History Month), the Sons of Confederate Veterans gathered along Monument Avenue in period military costumes. "Monument Avenue Historic District" includes the part of Monument Avenue beginning at the traffic circle in the east at the intersection of West Franklin Street and North Lombardy Street, extending westward for some fourteen blocks to Roseneath Avenue, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark District. The American Planning Association selected Monument Avenue as one of the "10 Great Streets in America for 2007" based upon the corridor's historical residential design and craftsmanship, diversity of land uses, the integration of multiple forms of transportation, and the commitment of the community to preserve its legacy.
Richmond County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 8,923. Its county seat is Warsaw. The rural county should not be confused with the large city and state capital Richmond, Virginia. It was formed in 1692 when the first Rappahannock County was divided to form Richmond County and Essex County.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
