First Oval Office Project at Fort McHenry to Commemorate Lafayette's 1824 U.S. Tour
October 5-7, 2024- October 5-7, 2024
- Baltimore, Maryland
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Oct. 5-6 Event Info
Oct. 7 Event Info
First Oval Office Project Hours:
Oct. 5 - 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Oct. 6 - 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Oct. 7 - 9-10:30 a.m.
Join the Museum at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md., on Oct. 5-7 for events commemorating the bicentennial anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette's 1824 tour of America. At Fort McHenry, we will set up our First Oval Office Project, a recreated Revolutionary War encampment, including handsewn, full-scale replicas of General George Washington's dining marquee and baggage tent that were part of his mobile headquarters while on campaign. Navigate the encampment, explore the tents, and meet Museum staff and costumed living history interpreters portraying the people who would have been there. Washington's original sleeping and office tent from the Revolutionary War is on permanent display at the Museum of the American Revolution in historic Philadelphia.
On his tour of the United States in 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette saw Washington’s tents during an emotional reunion with fellow Revolutionary War veterans. Americans celebrated Lafayette, the last surviving major general of the Continental Army and one of Washington’s most trusted officers, with parades and dinners as he visited cities and towns. At Fort McHenry, George Washington Parke Custis and the Society of the Cincinnati arranged to set up Washington’s marquees for the “Nation’s Guest.” Inside the marquees, to Lafayette’s surprise, Revolutionary War veterans gathered to embrace their French comrade and share memories under the “venerable canopy.” That evening, in Baltimore, presidential candidate John Quincy Adams offered a toast: “The Tears of Glory, Gratitude and Joy, in the Tent of Washington!”
Funding for First Oval Office Project programs was generously provided by David Bruce Smith
Historic Washington Tent Display at Fort McHenry
October 5-6, 2024 | Tent Hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Guests are invited for a free visit to Fort McHenry's public grounds to explore the Museum's replica of Washington's dining tent, which which greeted Lafayette upon his arrival to Baltimore on Oct. 7, 1824. Interact with staff in 1820s attire, learn about the tent’s history during the American Revolutionary War, and hear how the step-grandson of Washington and the Society of Cincinnati set up the original tent at Fort McHenry to welcome an emotional Lafayette to Baltimore 200 years earlier.
Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour Visits Baltimore
October 7, 2024 | Tent Hours: 9-10:30 a.m. | Re-enactment: 2-4:30 p.m.
The American Friends of Lafayette welcome guests to Fort McHenry to attend a free historical re-enactment of the Marquis de Lafayette’s October 1824 arrival by boat. The event marks the moment when Lafayette first visited Fort McHenry, a national monument site well-known for preserving America’s freedom in the War of 1812. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the Museum's replica of George Washington’s dining tent just as Lafayette saw the original in 1824, interact with costumed living history interpreters, enjoy a program of commemorative celebration accompanied by music played for Lafayette’s arrival, and witness the authentic Star-Spangled Banner flying over the fort.