Belle Grove Plantation Receives 2024 Commonwealth History Fund Grant

Belle Grove Plantation is delighted to announce that it is one of fourteen organizations chosen to receive a grant from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s (VMHC) Commonwealth History Fund. Belle Grove has been generously awarded $14,000.

The VMHC, based in Richmond, in partnership with Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources (DHR), awards grants to history organizations and projects throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia through its Commonwealth History Fund. There are several key selection criteria to be considered for the grants, including the significance of the project or resource, its impact on its community and the Commonwealth, the focus on historically underrepresented topics and communities, and the need for funding and urgency of the project.

One of the largest initiatives of its kind, the Commonwealth History Fund is expected to award up to $2,000,000 over its first five years. In 2023, the VMHC awarded $401,206 to fellow history organizations. Funds can be used for a variety of purposes including preservation, publications, artifact acquisition, research, conservation of artifacts and educational programming. Eligible recipients include Virginia non-profits, educational institutions, and state recognized Virginia Indian tribes. The Fund was made possible through the generosity of Dominion Energy and others.

“The Commonwealth History Fund continues to exceed our expectations in supporting a wide range of historic preservation projects and initiatives across the state,” said VMHC President and CEO Jamie Bosket. “We remain committed to reaching more Virginians with this wonderful opportunity to invest in Virginia history.”

Belle Grove will use this funding to research and tell, for the first time ever, the story of Eleanor “Nelly” Conway Madison Hite, sister of James Madison and wife of Major Isaac Hite Jr. The couple established Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown in the 1780s. “This project will comb through historical documents to glean Nelly’s agency as a woman on the cusp of the Colonial-Federal era, as well as being a mother, wife, sister, and daughter,” explains Belle Grove’s Executive Director Kristen Laise.

In addition, this project will focus on Nelly’s role as an enslaver. When she married Isaac Hite Jr. in 1783, her father deeded 15 enslaved people from Montpelier and other estates. These individuals transferred Madison family wealth to the young couple. The enslaved women also bore the responsibility for establishing the Hites’ household as well as the nursery to cosset the Hite heirs. Preliminary research indicates several of the women not only provided continuity in Nelly’s daily life as she adjusted to living away from her family, they also had roles as wet nurses and nursery workers for the Hite children. The research will be published in an online exhibit as part of a series of digital resources found at virtual.bellegrove.org.

This project will also commission historical clothing experts to recreate and bring to life the formal, flowing silk gown that Nelly wore in her 1799 Charles Peale Polk portrait. The portrait depicts the importance she placed on being a mother as she is overseeing the lessons of her son and heir, James Madison Hite. This replica gown will stand on a mannequin beneath the portrait. This striking and tangible object will encourage visitors to connect to Nelly’s story and the paradox of her roles as a mother and as an enslaver.

Charles Peale Polk, Portrait of Mrs. Isaac Hite (Eleanor Conway Madison) and James Madison Hite, 1799. Collection of Belle Grove Plantation, Middletown, Virginia.

More information on The Commonwealth History Fund can be found at VirginiaHistory.org/HistoryFund.

Belle Grove Plantation is a non-profit historic house museum that is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site and a partner in Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. It is located off Route 11 at 336 Belle Grove Road south of Middletown, Virginia. Further information may be found at www.bellegrove.org, www.virtual.bellegrove.org, or at www.facebook.com/BelleGrove. Belle Grove will begin its 2024 season on Saturday, March 16, 2024 and it will be open daily for guided tours.