Mom of Note: Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks

Unfortunately it's been a bizarre week for us here (hence the dearth of blog entries), but I did want to highlight our new exhibit, which is singularly appropriate for Mothers' Day.  It features Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks, mother of Meriwether Lewis.  Lucy was a healer/midwife/doctor person who taught her medicinal skills to her famous son.  This, of course, was slightly handy on his cross-country expedition.  Drawings of various medicinal plants that Lucy may have used, among other things, are on view in our new exhibition.  And if you can't get here in person, never fear: Eric Johnson has created a very lovely online companion to the exhibition here.

And here's a fun fact to leave you with: Lucy's second husband was the brother of Thomas Jefferson's sister's husband.