Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union is the nonprofit organization that has preserved and cared for George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate since the 19th century. Sources available here describe it as the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States and credit its founding to Ann Pamela Cunningham in 1853.

The association emerged from a campaign to rescue Mount Vernon at a time when the property was in decline. Ann Pamela Cunningham led the effort, rallying support from women across the country to raise funds and secure the estate, helping establish an important early model for organized preservation work.

Today, the association is best known for its continuing role as steward of Mount Vernon and for the example it set in civic leadership, preservation, and public memory. A suitable portrait located from the available page images is of founder Ann Pamela Cunningham, whose image is closely tied to the organization’s origin story.