As I am sure many of you will remember, about 5 years ago some descendants of David Crawford of Amherst Co., Va. discovered that the old plantation home, called Tusculum, was about to be torn down so that property owners who were not of the family, could build a new house on the site. Thanks to this list, and the efforts of Mark who built a wonderful web site for the project, an appeal was sent out to try to save the house. Mamy of you responded, with petitions, letters and just word of mouth. This was a long, long journey. I am happy to report to you that the house was saved, with the assistance of Katheen Kilpatrick, who is associated with the Virginia Historical Commission. She was able to save the house, and it has been disassembled and moved to the campus of Sweet Briar College where it will be reconstructed. The site of Sweet Briar College was given by Indiana Flecther, a Crawford descendant. I received the following invitation, and have been asked to extend it to all of you from the college: "Dear Crawford Friends, I am happy to let you know that Tusculum, the historic home of the Crawford family of Amherst County, will be celebrated as the centerpiece of Sweet Briar College's Homecoming weekend on September 22, 2007. As some of you may know, the house was dismantled last summer and moved to storage on our campus. Plans are afoot for the establishment of the Tusculum Institute, dedicated to preservation issues, which will be housed there once the house in reconstructed. For full details on next month'd program, which will include distinguished speakers such as Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of Virginia's Department of Historic Resources, and Travis McDonald, director of restoration at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, please follow this link to download our Homecoming brochure, which features Tusculum on the cover. http://www.sbc.edu/alumnae/homecoming.html The homecoming brochure is on the righthand side, and the full program is on page 11. I am also happy to send hard copies to anyone who cannot download it I hope that you are as excited as we are about this marvelous endeavor, and that you will pass along the information to any family members who may not receive this email. In addition, I would like to invite you to be our guests at a luncheon with members of the APVA, which held Tusculum in trust during the transfer period, prior to the afternoon events. Thank you again for your interest, and I hope to welcome you to Sweet Briar on September 22 ! All best, Christian Carr Director, Sweet Briar Museum Assistant Professor of Arts Management PO Box 144, Sweet Briar, VA. 24595 Phone: 434.381.6246 Fax: 434.381.6132 [email protected] " Isn't it wonderful to know that a group can do something if they apply themselves and do not give up!! In the beganning this looked like almost an impossible mission, and look at it now!!! Thanks so much, Mary Thompsom