DACOR Bacon House History: Academic Library




Most Recent Articles



Louisa and Elizabeth: Emancipation Day, April 16, Continued

Apr 14 2025
Louisa and Elizabeth were the daughter and granddaughter of Betsy, an enslaved young woman who was given to Mary D. G. Ringgold, Tench Ringgold’s eldest daughter, when she was six years old. Louisa was born in the Ringgold household in 1822, and she and Betsy were present in the house when Chief Justice John Marshall and four other justices boarded. They were there when the Monroes came to stay for visits. Louisa gave birth to her own daughter Elizabeth in 1844, probably in Alexandria County where Ringgold had retired and where Mary looked after him. After years of servitude, they were finally emancipated in 1862. This is what we know about him and their owner.


Before Juneteenth: Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia April 16

Apr 7 2025
Before Juneteenth became a national holiday, the emancipation of enslaved populations in various states in the United States was celebrated on different days. In the District, that date was April 16, and it remains a local holiday. In states that remained in the Union in 1861, emancipation was often granted on a gradual basis, such as in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. In the former Confederate states, emancipation depended on the arrival of Union troops to spread the word of freedom. Thus “Emancipation Day” is celebrated in Virginia on April 3, in Florida in early May, in Texas on June 19. In Maryland, a slave state that remained in the Union, emancipation was enacted on November 1, 1864. In this posting, we look at how that day in 1862 affected the inhabitants of 1801 F Street.


William Carroll and the Science of Phrenology

Mar 31 2025
In September 1834, William Carroll had been Clerk of the Supreme Court for seven years and husband of Sally Sprigg Carroll for six. Now the father of three children, he decided to have his head examined by a phrenologist. The science was all the rage in the young United States and had been for at least a decade. In Britain between 1823 and 1836, some 24 societies were set up across the country, with 1,000 members. Such an examination of the bumps and contours of the skull were deemed clues to one’s character and personality traits. But did the numbers assigned to his phrenological chart bear any resemblance to his real character?

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Our Authors


Terence Walz is the resident historian at DACOR Bacon House. He is a historian of modern Egyptian history with a doctorate from Boston University. He is the author and editor of two published books and has recently contributed articles to the Journal of Supreme Court History and the website of the White House Historical Association. Dr. Walz’s work in international organizations led him to the DACOR Bacon House where he has been a member for six years. He has taken on the task of researching and documenting the history of the DACOR home, its history, and its inhabitants, particularly the first one hundred years. This archive is a growing collection of his work.



Elizabeth Warner, a lawyer by training and DACOR member, is researching the life of Virginia Murray Bacon, the last private owner of the DACOR Bacon House from 1925 to 1980. She is an adjunct professor at New England College, where she designs and teaches courses in law and political science. A long-term resident of the Washington, D.C. area, she also lived and worked throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia for 14 years, often in extremely challenging environments. In addition to articles about Mrs. Bacon, she has published material on human rights, international law and other subjects. Ms. Warner has law degrees from the University of Michigan and Georgetown University.