We will leave Surratt House at 9 a.m. and head downtown
to
437
7th Street, Clara Barton’s
office and home briefly, while she helped families search
for missing members at the end of the Civil War.
This site is not in a finished condition – it is
rough; in fact, there was talk of perhaps tearing down
this old building until a
remarkable discovery
was made. One of the men working in the building saw a slip
of paper sticking out of a crevice in the edge of the
ceiling. Upon a closer look, it was seen to be part of
Clara Barton’s correspondence. Ecentually about a
dozen boxes of letters and some clothing of Clara’s
were found and salvaged. Starting in June, work will begin
in the creation of a Clara Barton Museum here, using these
artifacts and more. We will see this future museum in its
before state. We will see some artifacts and a video about
Clara.
After our visit hee we will head to lunch, which will be at
Normandie
Farm Restaurant in Potomac, Maryland. This
restaurant has a colorful history starting with its
opening in May of 1931 by Marjory Hendricks. It
immediately attracted some top notch customers. First
Lady Elanor Roosevelt was a frequent patron.
After lunch we will head to Glen Echo. No, we won’t
be riding the carousel; we will be visiting the
home
Clara Barton had built when she left her 7
th
Street abode and began administrating the Red Cross.
We will now return to the Surratt House, happy, well fed,
and full of interesting facts of history.
All tours are on an air-conditioned bus with a bathroom.
They leave from and return to the Surratt House Museum
parking lot.
Fill out the
Registration
Form
,
make your check made payable to the
Surratt
Society
and mail to:
Surratt House Museum
Attn: Joan Chaconas
9118 Brandywine Road
Clinton, MD 20735
Sign up right away; this trip will fill fast! If you
have questions, call the Surratt House (Joan Chaconas),
301-868-1121, between 9-5.
