Renewing the Focus on Andrew Jackson

New name, new direction, new board members announced

HERMITAGE, Tenn.--()--After 125 years, the Ladies’ Hermitage Association is getting a new name, a national board of trustees and a new focus on America’s seventh president, Andrew Jackson.

The Association will now be called the Andrew Jackson Foundation and will add to the board nationally known figures like National Public Radio journalist Mara Liasson and two Pulitzer Prize winners, historian Jon Meacham and Charles Overby, former CEO of the Freedom Forum and the Newseum, and CedarStone Bank President Bob McDonald.

The changes to its name and board composition are part of a multiyear plan that will refocus attention and debate on Jackson and his presidency, on his relevance to the 21st century, and on the historic site he called home, The Hermitage.

“Like Mount Vernon and Monticello, The Hermitage is a national treasure,” said Debby Patterson Koch, board regent. “Andrew Jackson’s presidency came at a pivotal time for a young America. We are developing new ways to explore his life and presidency at The Hermitage and in the historical discussion.”

“Andrew Jackson is one of our most important and least understood presidents,” said Jon Meacham. “He inspired Abraham Lincoln, and Harry Truman considered him one of the four most important presidents in the history of our nation. I am looking forward to being part of the Foundation and the effort to conduct a new national discussion on Jackson.”

The Hermitage CEO, Howard Kittell, says the expansion to a national board of trustees is one of the first steps toward a new focus on Jackson and the facility.

About The Hermitage

The Hermitage, Home of President Andrew Jackson, is one of the largest and most visited presidential homes in the United States. In 1856, the state of Tennessee purchased the property from the Jackson family, entrusting it to the Ladies’ Hermitage Association in 1889 to operate as one of America’s first historic site museums. Today, The Hermitage is a 1,120-acre National Historic Landmark with more than 30 historic buildings, including restored slave cabins. In recent years, new interpretive initiatives and educational programs such as archaeology and the history of slavery have enhanced the experience of more than 180,000 annual visitors. For more information, visit www.thehermitage.com.

Contacts

The Hermitage
Jason Nelson, 615-889-2941, ext. 223
jnelson@thehermitage.com
or
Javier Solano, 615-259-4000
jsolano@mpf.com

Release Summary

Renewing the Focus on Andrew Jackson

Contacts

The Hermitage
Jason Nelson, 615-889-2941, ext. 223
jnelson@thehermitage.com
or
Javier Solano, 615-259-4000
jsolano@mpf.com