Opening in June 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the orientation gallery for the Stratford Hall Historic Preserve reinterprets its story to put the Lee family of Virginia back on the map as leaders in the independence movement. The Lees’ conversations and correspondence with family, Westmoreland neighbors, and influential revolutionaries across the colonies and around the world were pivotal in shaping the American revolutionary moment.
This story, primarily told through key documents and correspondence, is first grounded in the ancient history of the Northern Neck of Virginia and then transports visitors to the 1700s, when the land became known as “Stratford.” Custom-illustrated maps demonstrate how long it took people, documents, and ideas to travel from place to place. It also demonstrates the economic realities by orienting the visitors to the structures built and the arduous labor done by others across the Lees’ landholdings. As portraits introduce the family, the story does not lose sight of the ideological opportunities made possible by the time-freeing labor of enslaved and indentured servants.
Each Lee, women and men alike, in their own way, bolstered the foundation of the nation. As the visitors peer behind the portraits, read accounts, or witness the papers that cascade across the room overhead from Arthur Lee’s desk, they learn that some Lees shared their perspectives by writing, some led with outrage against the Stamp Act into action in the Northern Neck of Virginia, some served in the militias, some signed the Declaration of Independence, some housed revolutionaries, and some served in the government of the new Republic.
A central table allows the visitor to walk right into four very different scenes around a table–a Lee woman’s tea, a Westmoreland tavern, a Lee brother’s gathering, and an enslaved meal-prep work table–each setting underscores that the independence movement was “a collective action” intertwined by the conversations, correspondence, and work that happened near and around the tables at Stratford Hall.
The exhibit ushers visitors back into the 21st century through an exploration of how curators, historians, and now the public know the rich history of Stratford Hall: a combination of archaeological findings, oral traditions from local tribes, contemporary accounts, family heirlooms, and tributes from descendants. As the visitors exit, the Lee family’s motto engagement wall leaves them pondering how the Lees–and they themselves–live up to the motto “Be not unmindful of the future.”
- Location: Stratford, VA
- Timeline: 2023–2026
- Size: 1,250 sq ft.
- Exhibit fabrication: Gropen
- Media production: VideoArt Productions