Coffee and Conversation: Woodlawn Quakers during the Civil War with Martha Claire Catlin

Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria, Virginia, is the setting for Coffee and Conversation: Woodlawn Quakers during the Civil War, a 2.5-hour speaker program on June 20 that stitches local memory to national history. Hosted on the grounds of the Woodlawn estate, the session brings historian Martha Claire Catlin to the lectern to examine how the northern Quakers who formed an antislavery colony at Woodlawn in 1846 responded to Confederate raids, conscription, and the daily moral hazard of living among slaveholders. Catlin's work traces the contested choices these Friends made as their meetinghouse was commandeered for Union picket duty, property was appropriated for military use, and alliances with free and enslaved Black neighbors shaped survival and resistance.

This program moves beyond a single lecture: expect a close reading of local documents, a curator-led 'sneak peek' at the Friends Gather Here exhibit, and coffee to prompt conversation. The site's key features include the Woodlawn house and its surrounding farmland plots, a historic meetinghouse site with deep community significance, and curated vault collections that reveal objects linked to free Black families who formed a neighboring enclave. Those elements make the visit more than a museum stop; it is a chance to stand where questions of conscience, community, and survival were decided.

Why book this when you're in Alexandria? The session pairs scholarly depth with approachable interpretation: Catlin's decades of public history and preservation work illuminate local choices that fed national policy and military practice. The program also offers access to rarely seen artifacts and interprets the entwined histories of Quakers and Black neighbors; stories too often left out of Civil War tours. Practical details: the program runs 1:00-3:30 pm and costs $50.

The format includes a keynote discussion, a Q&A, coffee and light refreshments, and optional house tours or collection spotlights led by staff. The site is family-friendly for older children and adults, but the content addresses complex and sometimes violent episodes of the war. Booking through the provided referral link secures one of the limited seats and, if you plan a spring visit, consider the three-part Spring Package Pass to attend related talks at a discount.

Whether you are a history-minded traveler, a public historian, or a visitor seeking a deeper, place-based story, this session at Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House turns a field and a house into a classroom where local acts of courage meet the sweep of the Civil War. Martha Claire Catlin is a lifelong Quaker and historian for Alexandria Friends Meeting at Woodlawn, with decades in preservation and policy; she served on staff to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, taught federal preservation law, and authored As They Were Led and The Quaker Scout, adding archival depth to presentation.