Washington and Lee University
An endowment to secure the financial stability of Lee Chapel & Museum on the campus of Washington and Lee University is essential. This historic building is both the heart and soul of the University and stands to remind us of our core values and historic origins. It is these values, which are manifest in our honor system and the speaking tradition, that make us unique among our peers. It is also these same values of honor and integrity that our visitors can appreciate long after they leave Lee Chapel. Without a strong endowment we risk the preservation of one of our most precious gems—a sacred place where we fulfill our mission of external education and hold occasions of gravity and dignity.
Lee Chapel & Museum promotes the values and virtues of character, leadership and social responsibility by interpreting the history of Washington and Lee University; the contributions of our institution’s namesakes to our country; and their respective visions of education as the basis for nation-building and nation-healing. We support the University’s mission as a resource for teaching a broad audience through the preservation, study, interpretation and exhibition of its historic building and interdisciplinary collections.
THE CASE
We have a unique story to tell. No other institution in the country can claim through natural inheritance the story of both George Washington’s vision of education in a new nation, and Robert E. Lee’s view of education as a tool for reconciliation and harmony and his important role as a progressive educator both before and during post-Civil War reconstruction.
Washington’s financial support of schools like the University’s predecessor, Liberty Hall Academy, demonstrated his strong belief and personal support of education, as well as his qualities of leadership and personal sacrifice. Renamed in his honor, Washington College embodied the ideals of democracy and paralleled the growth of the nation.
Barely surviving the Civil War, the school elected the defeated General Robert E. Lee, who was related to Washington by marriage and heritage, as president in an attempt to regenerate itself. Lee accomplished that—and more.
Robert E. Lee was an innovative educator, a fact that is often lost in the shadow of his stellar military career. As Superintendent of the United States Military Academy and then as President of Washington College, his goal was to give his students an education that would empower them economically and as future leaders in a nation struggling to heal. His vision to incorporate schools of journalism, business, law, agriculture and medicine into the curriculum was decades ahead of its time, coming to full fruition nationally in the 20th century.
Aware of his public status and responsibility after the war, Lee became a role model for reconciliation and a united republic. His devotion to honor, duty and personal integrity was modeled in part on George Washington. Lee’s character and legacy live on at Washington and Lee University in our honor system, speaking tradition and academic leadership.
The year 2007 marked the 200th anniversary of Lee’s birth, set within the commemoration of the founding of Jamestown and the 400th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Virginia. We contributed to the celebration of the Commonwealth’s rich history—and set out to make history ourselves.
Lee Chapel & Museum seeks to follow in Lee’s footsteps by being educationally innovative and fiscally responsible. It is now imperative that an endowment be created to support this work into the future.
Financial stability will ensure that our unique story is related to and preserved for generations to come. It will secure enhanced stewardship of the historic building; the preservation and expansion of the museum’s collections; the development of lively interpretation; and the creation of exciting new educational programs and exhibitions.
A financially secure Chapel will enrich the legacy of our great namesakes and the institution that Lee steered into the modern age of education.
University faculty and students will benefit, as the endowment supports new learning resources and opportunities. New exhibitions, enhanced school programs, and an educationally interpretive website will enlighten our broad and expanding national audience to the little known story of the last years of Lee’s important work, as well as his relationship to George Washington.
Lee Chapel lies at the heart of the Washington and Lee University campus and has served as its primary gathering place for important academic and spiritual events since it opened in 1868 as the first physical project of Lee’s presidency. The college Chapel became a national shrine upon Lee’s burial in 1870; a public museum was created here in 1928; and the Chapel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Today, 60,000 visitors from all over the world come annually to Lee Chapel to honor Lee and his legacy.
To learn about how you can support Lee Chapel & Museum, please contact Ronni Gardner, Director of Development for Special Projects, at (540) 458-8931or rgardner@wlu.edu