Moving Past Insurrection: Finding Hope Through History
August 24, 1814. It is a day we learn about as children in U.S. History classes, and it is a day that we can all bring to life in our imagination. The British army marched on Washington, D.C. and set fire to the President’s home and the U.S. Capitol. The President and his family were forced to flee, and in flight, First Lady Dolley Madison saved the White House’s portrait of George Washington, dramatically demanding that the frame be broken to facilitate transport.
January 6, 2021. My colleagues and I at the Neill-Cochran House Museum and historians across the country watched in horror and disbelief as a mob descended towards the Capitol building, forced entry, and desecrated that hall of liberty. A rioter carried a confederate flag through the building and was photographed with the portrait of Massachusetts abolitionist and senator Charles Sumner looking down upon a scene none of us thought we ever would witness. Men in camouflage broke windows to gain access, and a bare-chested guy with antlers, a fur cap, and a ku klux klan tattoo on his abdomen made it into the Senate chamber.
At the time, and honestly over following few days, my thoughts mostly have been on the present. How could this happen, here in the United States? What comes next? What will be the repercussions? How many will be arrested? And how do we put the broken pieces of the body politic back together, in a world that seems so divided?
But historical perspective begins to creep back in. That story about Dolley Madison – do you know where she ended up? She found shelter at a place called Belle Vue, the home of Charles Carroll, in Georgetown. That home, today, is Dumbarton House, the national headquarters of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The NSCDA-TX owns and operates the Neill-Cochran House Museum.
Dolley Madison is the woman I’m thinking about today. When facing the British army and possibly death, she paused long enough to rescue the portrait of our first President, a symbol for all we stand for, and took him with her to safety. The United States’ founding principles remain strong today. We have been tested, and we have prevailed, time and time again. This has been a dark week for us all, but we will come back, just as we did after those terrible events of 1814. History may be ugly, but it is from history that we also derive hope. Let us all hope for brighter days ahead, for the guilty to be prosecuted, and for the day when the repaired Capitol once again shines as a beacon on a hill.