It doesn’t look like much: A drab, brown, long coat, that sits behind glass in a well-appointed room at the Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. While it appears to be an ordinary coat, its history is as old as America.
Rarely on display because it’s so fragile, Mount Vernon is hosting of President George Washington’s historic inaugural coat, along with an opportunity to interact with historians to discuss the garment and the first president’s tenure in office.
The suit is on display starting Jan. 17 through Feb. 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily inside the Donald W. Reynolds Museum & Education Center on the Mount Vernon campus.
“It is a formal business suit that would have been worn by people in the merchant classes and above,” said Adam Erby, chief curator at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. “Washington wanted to show off that he was buying American-made cloth and that he was wearing this to the inauguration.”
Washington delivered his first inauguration speech on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City. He wore the custom coat, made by the Hartford Woolen Manufactory in Connecticut.
The first president, with the help of his close friend Henry Knox, went through a complicated process to get the perfect fabric and had it transported to Mount Vernon where it was cut and sewn into a suit. It is believed that Washington’s indentured tailor, Cavan Boa, is the one who fashioned the fabric into a frock coat, waistcoat and breeches.
“It’s the first time it’s been put on display at Mount Vernon,” Erby said. “There has been a tremendous amount of research that’s been done. There were a couple of contenders for what the actual coat was, but we know because of the lower thread count on this one and the formal cut of it, that this was Washington’s inaugural coat.”
“The reason it’s a statement of national identity is that it was manufactured here in America,” Erby added.
Before the American Revolution, colonists had to ship raw material back to England to be manufactured into goods: “So what Washington was showing off was that America can make its own goods just as well as anybody else. Washington supported people who were manufacturing in America,” Erby said.
On Saturday, Mount Vernon will display important documents from Washington’s presidency. These documents include a copy of his first inaugural address and an official pardon issued by Washington, one of only 16 he granted as president. Tickets are necessary for these events.
WTOP’s Terik King contributed to this report.
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