Douglas Bradburn, the founding director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of Washington and Lee University’s Friends of the Library on Saturday, May 3, 2014. His talk, “A Presidential Library Like No Other: George Washington’s National Library at Mount Vernon,” took place at 1:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium at Leyburn Library. The program was open to the public.

Bradburn, who joined Mount Vernon in September 2013, oversees efforts to safeguard original Washington books and manuscripts and to foster new scholarly research about George Washington and the founding era. He also oversees the development of leadership training and educational outreach.

A well-known scholar of early American history, Bradburn is the author of two books and numerous articles and book chapters, specializing in the history of America’s founding era and the early history of the Chesapeake. Before coming to Mount Vernon, he served as a professor of history and director of graduate studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2010.

A native of Virginia, Bradburn holds a B.A. in history and economics from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago.

Immediately preceding Bradburn’s talk, from 1 to 1:30 p.m., the Friends of the Library held their annual meeting and award presentation. After his talk, at 2:30, Leyburn Library’s Special Collections opened its doors for a showcase of George Washington material.