Checking out Virginia while we're here

Virginia has so much history, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some. In Staunton, we found the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, which was actually in a building next to the home in which he was born. Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born December 28, 1856 in the manse owned by the Presbyterian Church of Staunton. Woodrow’s father Joseph was the pastor at the church, accordingly lived in the church owned home. The manse was full of furniture and furnishings actually owned by the Wilson’s. It was really interesting to see the crib that baby Woodrow slept in.

In the Library we learned about how the future president grew to become the leader of the nation. His parents saw to it he had the education – in fact, he is still the only US president to have entered the office with a PHD. Before entering the political arena, he was a professor at Princeton University, and later became its president. He led the US in very troublesome times. Despite having run his election on the platform of keeping the US out of World War I, in his second term, US ships were being attacked at sea by the Germans, so Wilson pretty much had no choice but to join in. Apparently, his leadership team was slick, and the outcome hoped for was achieved.

Wilson did a number of other things of significance. While the Woman thought it was cool that during his presidency Wilson established the Federal Reserve Bank, the foundation of our economy today. But she was far more impressed that he led the momentum to the 19^th amendment that finally allowed women their inalienable right to the vote. As long as we were only a few blocks away, we visited the actual church where Joseph Wilson preached in the 1800’s.

In Wytheville Virginia we found the birthplace of Edith Boling Wilson. As a young man, Wilson married Ellen Axson, also the daughter of a minister. Sadly, she died of Bright’s disease while in the White House. While still in office, Wilson met Edith Boling Galt, fell in love, and they were married, making Wilson one of only 3 presidents to wed while in office. Her father was a circuit court judge in Wytheville, and while not initially in favor of Wilson’s advances to his daughter, he eventually conceded.

In Lexington Virginia, we found the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. It wasn’t hard at all to find the gravesite of Stonewall Jackson – it was the only marker in the entire cemetery that was over 20 feet tall. Although we knew that only most of Jack son was here – we had already visited the gravesite of his arm – we were still somber (despite my bad humor) at being at the gravesite of the general. We also found the home where he lived before the Civil War which resulted in him living far from where he would rather have lived.

Lexington is also the site of the Virginia Military Institute. One of its many famous alum is General George C. Marshall. Other notable alumni include Stonewall Jackson and George Washington. While we all may recognize the name, we may not know all we should. In addition to a myriad leadership positions in the US government, including Secretary of State, he may be best known as seriously leading the successful end to World War II. But his real contribution may not have been in winning the war, but in winning the peace. He proposed the Marshall Plan, basically a US investment of $13 billion in Europe to rebuild their economy – he felt the best way to protect the US was to make sure Europe was stable. Perhaps that is why Marshall was the only military professional to ever received the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1953.

Talk to you soon.