A child’s interest in history can start almost anywhere. For one local student, it started by volunteering at the Weems-Botts Museum with her father. Jeff Seguin says the experience sparked his daughter’s interest in history. She now hopes to major in the subject after graduating from high school in 2027. That personal connection is one reason Seguin nominated Historic Dumfries Virginia, Inc. for the Prince William Living Giving Back Award.
For more than five decades, the nonprofit has worked to preserve and share the history of Dumfries, Virginia’s oldest chartered town. Sometimes preserving history means saving a building. Sometimes it means protecting an old book, helping someone research their family, or giving a child an opportunity to discover that history can be fascinating.
Historic Dumfries Virginia has done all of those things.
Saving the Weems-Botts House
Historic Dumfries Virginia was formed in 1974 by volunteers who came together to restore the historic Weems-Botts House and open it to the public as a museum. The house has plenty of stories of its own.
Its history includes Parson Mason Locke Weems, George Washington’s first biographer and the man responsible for popularizing the famous cherry tree story. It was later associated with attorney Benjamin Botts, who was part of Aaron Burr’s defense team during his 1807 treason trial.
Historic Dumfries helped restore the property in the mid-1970s, turning a piece of the town’s past into a place where future generations could experience it. Today, the Town of Dumfries owns the Weems-Botts Museum, while Historic Dumfries Virginia operates the museum and provides educational programming, tours, and events.
History Children Can Touch
Historic preservation can sound like something intended primarily for historians. HDVI has spent years making it something children can experience, too. Its free monthly Children’s Days use hands-on and inquiry-based activities to introduce young visitors to local history. Prince William County Public Schools groups can also participate in no-cost field trips and activities.
The nonprofit offers educational programs for adults, lectures, outreach programs, and special events throughout the year. Its October Ghost Walks have become a popular seasonal tradition, while Charter Day commemorates the town’s charter with living history, children’s activities and community programming.
There is serious scholarship behind the fun, too.
Protecting the Stories Behind the History
The Lee Lansing Research Library maintains rare books about local history, family genealogies, and other materials for people researching Dumfries and the families who lived there. That work matters because preserving history involves more than keeping an old building standing.
Documents, photographs, collections, family records and the knowledge surrounding them can disappear, too. A research library gives historians, genealogists, students and curious residents a place to dig deeper into the people and events that shaped their community.
For Seguin and his daughter, volunteering offered another way into that history. “My daughter and I have volunteered at the museum,” he wrote in the nomination. “It started her interest in the subject of history.” What began as time spent volunteering may now help influence what she studies in college.
More Than 50 Years of Stewardship
Historic Dumfries Virginia, has experienced significant challenges in recent years, including changes involving its relationship with the Town of Dumfries and the management of town-owned historic properties.
Through those changes, the nonprofit has continued pursuing the mission that brought its original volunteers together in 1974: to preserve and promote the historic heritage of Dumfries. Today, Historic Dumfries Virginia continues to offer museum tours, educational programs, community events, and access to its research resources.
That persistence is part of why Seguin believes the organization deserves the Giving Back Award. More than 50 years ago, a group of volunteers decided that an old house and the history surrounding it were worth saving. Decades later, a father volunteered there with his daughter. She discovered that history was something she loved. That may be one of the best arguments for preservation there is.
Which Nonprofit Deserves the Giving Back Award?
Historic Dumfries Virginia is one of the organizations nominated as Prince William Living and Give Back Prince William recognize nonprofits making a difference throughout Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park.
What organization has made a difference to you, your family or your community?
Maybe you’ve volunteered there. Maybe you have watched its work for years. Maybe there’s a small nonprofit doing something extraordinary that more people should know about.
Tell us its story.
A nomination gives us an opportunity to recognize the organization and introduce its work to more people throughout our community.
About Give Back Prince William
Give Back Prince William supports organizations and initiatives working to strengthen our community and improve quality of life throughout Greater Prince William.
Keep Discovering the People Giving Back
Prince William Living shares stories about the people, nonprofits, and organizations shaping Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park.
and meet more of the people working to make our community stronger.