Montpelier/JMU Partnership, Ongoing

    In 1999, JMU entered into an official partnership with Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison and a National Trust property, to provide effective educational training and outreach through collaborative programs at both JMU and Montpelier for undergraduate and graduate students. The Montpelier/JMU partnership has created multiple opportunities for student research projects and internships, and has given several JMU students a better understanding of the issues faced by many museums and historic sites.

Student Research at Montpelier

   In 2000, four JMU student interns undertook historical, architectural, and archaeological research on the Gilmore Cabin, a mid-19th-century log and frame dwelling standing on the Montpelier grounds. The cabin was once occupied by George Gilmore, an emancipated African American who had been a slave on the Montpelier estate. The Montpelier Foundation subsequently restored the cabin and opened it to the public. In 2002, two more JMU interns built on the previous year's research by collecting oral histories from several of George Gilmore's descendants and developing a series of interpretive plans for the cabin according to guidelines provided by Montpelier staff.