About

Presented by Barbara VornDick and the Stafford County Historical Society. Eliza Monroe, the granddaughter of James Monroe, whose devotion to family and country has been obscured and forgotten over time, has now been illuminated through historical research which enabled her true story to be told. Eliza’s story offers a powerful lens into the role of women in shaping the new nation and its international presence. Discover Eliza’s journey, both her vivid life and her death as a penniless pauper, a situation that befell many women in the 1800s who found themselves at the mercy of men who controlled their access to property and prosperity. In addition to detailing Eliza’s story, Barbara will offer a glimpse into the realm of historical research and discuss how the discovery of documents from archives on both sides of the Atlantic, some hidden for two centuries, shed light on the facts about Eliza’s life and enabled her life to be viewed in a way it never had been before.

Barbara’s research on Eliza Monroe began during her time as an Interpreter of History at James Monroe’s Highland, the Monroe family plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia. Her groundbreaking research has turned up newly discovered documents that changed the standard historical narrative of this American daughter, and led to a campaign to repatriate Eliza’s remains from Paris to Virginia. As the coordinator of the Bringing Eliza Home Project, Barbara is honored to represent the living descendants of Eliza Monroe and has been actively planning and facilitating the repatriation process since August 2023.

Barbara VornDick holds a Master’s Degree in Education and has worked in private and public schools in Virginia for three decades, as well as five years as an adjunct professor at Germanna Community College. She is the author of Eliza’s True Story: The First Biography of President Monroe’s Eldest Daughter.