By George, We've Got It!
This President’s Day, celebrate our Founding Father with a trip to Alabama’s own Washington museum.
BY SARAH CAMPBELL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSEPH DE SCIOSE

From Birmingham, it’s more than 700 miles to Mount Vernon, home of the nation’s largest collection of George Washington artifacts. But it’s just a 40-minute drive to the country’s second-largest collection of Founding Father material: the Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington, located in Columbiana. If you haven’t heard of Shelby County’s George Washington museum before, you’re not alone. Even though the venue has received international visitors, Alabamians are usually shocked to discover this local, yet national, museum in their backyard.
     A central Alabama museum honoring the prominent Virginian may seem several states out of place, but the bulk of the museum’s holdings actually come from Charlotte Smith Weaver, a sixth great-granddaughter of Martha Washington who lived in Chelsea. (George and Martha never had children together, but Martha did have two with her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis.) When Weaver decided to pare down the number of family heirlooms in her possession, she contacted Mount Vernon first. Though interested, at that point in the fiscal year, the estate could only afford to buy two of George’s personal letters; and so, in 1980, Weaver sold a third of her inherited collection to Columbiana banker and history buff Karl Harrison.
     Karl founded the museum two years later in the conference room of Columbiana’s library. But by 1989 he was out of space, storing furniture belonging to George’s half-brother Augustine—items he’d purchased that year at a Kentucky estate sale—upstairs at the First National Bank of Riverchase. It was 11 years before the museum moved into a new building big enough to finally display all its artifacts at once—more than 1,000 pieces of Washington memorabilia that span more than a century and a half, from the 1710 will of Colonel Daniel Parke (the grandfather of Martha Washington’s first husband) to a tintype of a military-clad Robert E. Lee, made eight days after the surrender at Appomattox. Besides a few letter facsimiles, all objects are originals.
     With holdings in Washington artwork, ceramics, furniture and personal items, the museum’s collections contain something for everyone. Interested in objects that offer insight into the Founding Father’s daily life? A button worn by our First President, several of his survey instruments, and a letter supposedly containing a lock of his hair are all on display. Curious about Mount Vernon? Marvel at the color sketch of its grounds, drawn in 1787 by Samuel Vaughn, or examine a snippet of George’s coffin lining, removed when his remains were reburied in a new tomb on the estate in 1831.
     Other perennial favorites are Martha Washington’s squat red prayer book and her letter box. Though Martha burned the correspondence between them after George’s death, you can find letters from John Adams, James Madison, John C. Calhoun and James Monroe displayed in other museum cases. In the next room, a table has been set with Minton porcelain, part of a 207-piece set from the estate of Augustine Washington. Nearby is a tea set from the Lewis family (as in explorer Meriwether Lewis) and more heirlooms from the Lee family; both can trace their lineage to Washington.
     These days the museum is looked after by Bonnie Atchison, a retired high school teacher who was friends with the Harrisons for 40 years. “Every year Mr. Karl—I always called him that—came to my Honors English class to talk about Shakespeare,” she remembers, “and his wife Mildred and I were in the Daughters of the American Revolution together.” Bonnie began serving as curator of the collection in 2004 after her second retirement (this time from the South Shelby County Chamber of Commerce). It was a perfect fit; she had even had the grandchildren of Charlotte Smith Weaver in her class. “I taught English, speech and drama, so I’ve always loved to read. And George Washington has been my hero my whole life,” she says.

The Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington is open weekdays from 10-3, with guided tours offered Wednesday-Friday. Admission is free.