Hidden Treasures: A Short History of the Mary Custis Lee Trunks by Lee Shepard

On April 22, 2010, Lee Shepard delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “Hidden Treasures: A Short History of the Mary Custis Lee Trunks.” 

In 2002, two wooden trunks were found at Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company in Alexandria, Virginia. The trunks contained letters, legal papers, journals, travel souvenirs, financial records, and smaller artifacts that were collected by Mary Custis Lee, the eldest daughter of General Robert E. Lee. The collection of manuscripts and artifacts, now at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, have been added to what is currently the largest holding of Lee family papers in any single repository. In this lecture, Lee Shepard discussed and showed images of items found in the trunks—including an 1810 letter from George Washington Parke Custis, the builder of Arlington House; an 1863 order from Robert E. Lee, in his own hand, announcing the death of General Stonewall Jackson; and an 1872 letter from former Arlington House slave Selina Gray to Mary Randolph Custis Lee. He also revealed new information that we have learned not only about Robert E. Lee but also about his very interesting daughter Mary.

Lee Shepard was the former Vice President for Collections at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood)

The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.