E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

By Annie Groer
Thursday, July 20, 2000; Page H03

Countless historic markers attest to the fact that George Washington slept around. But only once did the father of our country lay his head outside North America, during a 1751 trip to the British colony of Barbados, when he was 19.

Letting no resting place of this great American go unheralded, an aggressive drive is underway to make a museum of Bush Hill House, where he stayed. The Barbadian government paid $2 million to buy the property from the local power company. After a dig last year, archaeologists and architects from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the University of Florida began studying the home's history, from plumbing to paint colors.

Though Washington spent just seven weeks there, his visit was significant: He had sailed from Virginia with his older half-brother, Lawrence, who was battling tuberculosis. While on the island, Lawrence's TB worsened; his death after their return home enabled the second-born George to inherit the family fortune and social position. George himself contracted smallpox in Barbados, and in surviving became immunized to the scourge that decades later decimated his Continental Army. And he spent a number of hours with Scotsmen who had fought against union with Britain, absorbing revolutionary lessons.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation here has agreed to be the conduit to the Barbados National Trust so Americans can make tax-deductible donations to the project, estimated to cost an additional $4 million.

Florida Sens. Bob Graham (D) and Connie Mack (R) have approached colleagues about including $1 million for the project in next year's appropriations bill. And Valerie Crotty, widow of E. William Crotty, a U.S. envoy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, is trying to coax big bucks for the museum from U.S. companies doing business on the island.

Graham, who hosted a recent Capitol Hill breakfast where he, Crotty and others made their pitch to several corporations, said the most interesting aspect of Washington's visit was his meeting with the Scotsmen.

"They fought with England and had been sent to Barbados as prisoners of war," said Graham. "It was the first time Washington was exposed to people who attempted to overthrow royalty, and it had a great impact on his sense of freedom, independence and the sanctity of the monarchy."

The rest, as they say, is history.

Previous Article          Back to the top         Next Article