Over the weekend, I wrote for The Federalist about Washington, the Episcopal Church, and the purpose of history and memory.
Over the weekend, I wrote for The Federalist about Washington, the Episcopal Church, and the purpose of history and memory.
While Christ Church attempts to disassociate itself from its prior parishioners, George Washington and Robert E. Lee, I trust that it will be consistent and send a check to the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association in Stratford, Virginia, in order to disassociate itself from the donation made by Mary Custis Lee, one of Gen. Lee’s daughters, to help launch the Church’s endowment at the time of her death in 1918. If one compounds her $10,000 donation at 5% per annum for 99 years, that contribution would today be worth a little over $1.25 million. I trust that, as they continue to act in high principle, the members of Christ Church’s vestry will ensure that a check in that amount is sent promptly.
I suspect they won’t! You raise a good point: how far do we go to disassociate ourselves from something we no longer believe in. Plaques are easy, money is harder.