Be Generous at Staunton, Virginia’s Woodrow Wilson Museum’s “Protesting the President” exhibit
Staunton, Virginia, is the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president. Visitors can tour the Greek Revival manse where he was born as well as his Presidential Library and Museum. This winter the site has additional enticements.
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library has just announced a chance to pay what you will for admission on Sundays in January and February.
With the standard $8-$15 admission fee waived, it’s the perfect time to visit the library’s latest exhibit Protesting the President, and learn that issues from his era weren’t so different from today’s. Wilson was picketed daily in front of the White House by woman suffragists demanding he support an amendment to the Constitution giving them the right to vote. Despite having two daughters who considered themselves suffragettes, he was pretty lukewarm on the issue.
The museum also traces Wilson’s journey from a learning disabled 10-year-old who couldn’t read to president of Princeton University and then the nation. His 1919 Pierce-Arrow limousine is one of the museum’s highlights.
Several daily tours showcase the home provided by the Presbyterian church for the family of Reverend Joseph Ruggles Wilson, the future president’s father. Interpreters take you back to 1856 when Wilson was born and discuss his family, upbringing, and the lifestyle of the period.
Other downtown Staunton attractions not to be missed include: plays at American Shakespeare Center; Sunspot glass blowing studio; the bank museum showcasing money printed in Staunton; the spy cameras and daguerreotypes at the Camera Heritage Museum; and Tiffany-windowed lined Trinity Church, which served as the capital of Virginia for 16 days in 1781. The town’s Traipse app makes a walking tour into a game with interesting tidbits to amuse you and riddles to decipher.
