March 24, 2026
7:00PM - 8:00PM EDT

Virtual Program: A Visit to Montpelier - The Home of Dolley and James Madison

FLARE YouTube Channel

Explore Montpelier, the home of Dolley and James Madison, through the eyes of the people who visited them in the 19th century. Many of the Madisons' visitors wrote insightful descriptions of the time they spent at Montpelier, and these accounts have been invaluable for re-furnishing the house in the 21st century. In this presentation, Montpelier's Senior Research Historian Hilarie M. Hicks will pull from visitors' letters and diaries to paint a vivid picture of the Madisons at home. 

Watch the program on our YouTube Channel HERE.

About our Presenter:
Hilarie M. Hicks is currently the Senior Research Historian at James Madison’s Montpelier, where she has been on staff since 2010. She contributed research for furnishing the Old Library and Nelly’s Best Room, served on the research and writing team for the award-winning exhibition The Mere Distinction of Colour, and is currently the project director for an upcoming exhibition on James Madison and Freedom of Conscience. Hilarie writes biographies of the enslaved for The Naming Project on Montpelier’s Digital Doorway website, and has contributed to the site’s blog on a wide variety of Madisonian topics.

Hilarie serves as a judge in the We the People student civics competition and is a past board member of the Orange County (VA) Historical Society. Before coming to Montpelier, Hilarie served as Curator of Interpretation at Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens (New Bern, NC) and Executive Director of the Rosewell Foundation (Gloucester, VA). She is an alumna of the College of William and Mary (B.A.), the Cooperstown Graduate Program in History Museum Studies (M.A.), and the Seminar for Historical Administration (now the History Leadership Institute).