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Sally Fairfax

In looking at the restoration of the Front Parlor, we can learn a lot about the Washington family, life in Colonial America, and the art of historic preservation.

It's easy to see why curator Adam Erby gets excited entering the Front Parlor at Mount Vernon, which was recently reopened to the public after being closed more than a year for renovation.

The vivacious Sally Fairfax stole the young man’s heart long before he met Martha

ON MARCH 30, 1877, the New York Herald, one of the largest newspapers in America, printed a passionate love letter that had been written on September 12, 1758. Surely not hot news, you might ask? The Herald ’s editors knew what they were doing.

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