Please note this is a hybrid event - you have the option to attend in person or virtually. Registrations are required for all attendees. For in-person attendees, the event will run from 12 - 2 pm and will include lunch. The live stream will begin around 12:55 pm (virtual attendees will be sent a link for the event via email).
Join DACOR for a discussion with author Andrew Lawler about his latest book A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution. Focusing on Lord Dunmore, ancestor of the last private owner of the DACOR Bacon House, Virginia Murray Bacon, and whose portrait is displayed on the second floor of the House, and his Black allies, Lawler will share the largely untold story of rebellion in Virginia that will forever change our understanding of the American Revolution. This program is particularly apt now, days after the 250th anniversary of the publication of Dunmore's Proclamation (November 7, 1775) and in the 200th year of the historic DACOR Bacon House.
As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dunmore, who counted George Washington as his close friend. But the Scottish earl lacked troops, so when patriots imperiled the capital of Williamsburg, he threatened to free and arm enslaved Africans—two of every five Virginians—to fight for the Crown.
Virginia’s tobacco elite was reluctant to go to war with Britain but outraged at this threat to their human property. Dunmore fled the capital to build a stronghold in the colony’s largest city, the port of Norfolk. As enslaved people flocked to his camp, skirmishes broke out. “Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in Virginia,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. “It has raised our countrymen into a perfect frenzy.” With a patriot army marching on Norfolk, the royal governor freed those enslaved and sent them into battle against their former owners. In retribution, and with Jefferson’s encouragement, furious rebels burned Norfolk to the ground on January 1, 1776, blaming the crime on Dunmore.
The port’s destruction and Dunmore’s emancipation prompted Virginia’s patriot leaders to urge the Continental Congress to split from Britain, breaking the deadlock among the colonies and leading to adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Days later, Dunmore and his Black allies withdrew from Virginia, but the legacy of their fight would lead, ultimately, to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
Chronicling these stunning and widely overlooked events in full for the first time, A Perfect Frenzy offers a striking new perspective on the American Revolution that reorients our understanding of its causes, highlights the radically different motivations between patriots in the North and South, and reveals the seeds of the nation’s racial divide.
Andrew Lawler is a journalist and author who has written about history, science, religion, and politics from dozens of countries. He is author of four books: A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution; the prize-winning Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City; the national bestseller The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke; and the acclaimed Why Did The Chicken Cross The World: The Epic Saga Of The Bird That Powers Civilization.
Andrew’s byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many other publications. He is a contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology, as well as a National Geographic Explorer and a Pulitzer Center grantee. His work has won a number of journalism awards, and appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing. more info...
Members are welcome to make reservations for Members' Lunches and invite their accompanied guests. Please note that DACOR now requires reservations for members lunch. Please be sure to reserve a spot for each member/guest.
Members' Lunch includes an entree, a dessert, and a cup of coffee/tea per patron (please note that starting in 2024 a glass of wine is no longer included; wine and other drinks may be purchased at the bar). A cash bar opens at 12 noon and lunch is served at 12:30 pm.
Pre-payment is preferred. Reservations should be made no later than 2:00 pm the business day before the Members' Lunch. Cancelations made after 10 am the business day before your reservation will result in a charge.
Members' Lunches are held at communal tables. If you would like a private table or room, please contact events@dacorbacon.org instead of registering here. more info...
Join us for a chamber recital dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Virginia Murray Bacon, last private owner of the 200 year old DACOR Bacon House, featuring Ken Ding, cello, and Wan Chi Su, piano.
Cellist Ken Ding will open the recital with a classic, JS Bach's Suite No. 4 for Unaccompanied Cello. Two pieces from the French repertory follow with pianist Wan Chi Su, Gabriel Fauré's Après un Rêve, and Claude Debussy's Sonata in D minor for Piano and Cello. The recital theme refers to the trips to Asia that Mrs. Bacon made, in particluar her three journeys to China in which she brought back momentos still found throughout the DACOR Bacon House. When cellist Ken Ding first visited the House, he felt a special atmosphere enhanced by the Asian objects acquired by Mrs. Bacon -- vintage paintings, furniture and objects that she had acquired on her three trips to China. "Since Mrs. Bacon traveled to China decades ago, it might be good to perform some Chinese music, perhaps a folk song, that she may recall good memories in the past while she was in China."
Born in Guangzhou Ken Ding trained in Germany, graduating from Die Hochschule für Musik und Theatre in Rostock. He came to the US in 2008 and founded Potomac Performing Arts Studio, where he is devoted to performing and teaching. His professional career was shaped in 1998 as a young cellist in the China Youth Symphony Orchestra when Maestro Seiji Ozawa (1935-2024) toured China as guest conductor with Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007) as soloist. "A truly unforgettable evening in my life, as it was also the first and last time Slava visited China. "
Praised for her sensitivity and imagination, pianist Wan Chi Su was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She earned a bachelor’s degree in piano while minoring in French horn, later emigrating to the US to earn a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She has toured the East Coast, playing in major venues in New York, the Salle Cortot in Paris, and Taiwan National Concert Hall. Dr. Su also travels for the Piatigorsky Foundation.
If you have an interest in Africa or want to learn more, join DACOR members at the monthly Africa Discussion Group. Discussions are organized around theme, country, region or on a selected speaker’s interests.
The DACOR cash bar opens at 12 noon and the group moves to a reserved table at Members' Lunch at 12:30 pm. Attendees have the option of participating in the Members' Lunch for $35, or joining the discussion group without eating (no charge). Registrations are required for all participants.
Members' Lunch for $35 includes a biscuit/bread, two courses, and a cup of coffee/tea. Wine and other beverages may be purchased at the bar or at the table. more info...
Members are welcome to make reservations for Members' Lunches and invite their accompanied guests. Please note that DACOR now requires reservations for members lunch. Please be sure to reserve a spot for each member/guest.
Members' Lunch includes an entree, a dessert, and a cup of coffee/tea per patron (please note that starting in 2024 a glass of wine is no longer included; wine and other drinks may be purchased at the bar). A cash bar opens at 12 noon and lunch is served at 12:30 pm.
Pre-payment is preferred. Reservations should be made no later than 2:00 pm the business day before the Members' Lunch. Cancelations made after 10 am the business day before your reservation will result in a charge.
Members' Lunches are held at communal tables. If you would like a private table or room, please contact events@dacorbacon.org instead of registering here. more info...
On the third Thursday of the month, we hold a Welcome to DACOR lunch for new members. All members are encouraged to come and meet the newest members of our community over a communal lunch.
Members are welcome to make reservations for Members' Lunches and invite their accompanied guests. Please note that DACOR now requires reservations for members lunch. Please be sure to reserve a spot for each member/guest.
Members' Lunch includes an entree, a dessert, and a cup of coffee/tea per patron (starting in 2024, a glass of wine is not included; wine and other drinks may be purchased). A cash bar opens at 12 noon and lunch is served at 12:30 pm.
Pre-payment is preferred. Reservations should be made no later than 2:00 pm the business day before the Members' Lunch. Cancellations made after 10 am the business day before your reservation will result in a charge.
Members' Lunches are held at communal tables. If you would like a private table or room, please contact events@dacorbacon.org instead of registering here. more info...
Join us for our annual Holiday Buffet Brunch. Bring visiting friends and family for a delicious spread and great conversation. This is also a great opportunity for introducing prospective members to our House and Community.
The event features communal seating. Please let us know if you will be a party of 6 or more.
We will also be holding a canned food drive. Please bring unopened, nonperishable food items. All items will be donated to the Capital Area Food Bank and will help feed those in need during the holiday season. Visit https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/how-to-help/donate-food/ to see CAFB's most wanted items.
Our member favorite Cocktail evenings continue on first Thursday's in the cooler month's. Please confirm dates through the calendar.
Featuring a cash bar and a laid-back ambiance, DACOR's happy hours are held on the first Thursday of the month. Join us for refreshing drinks and great camaraderie in our beautiful historic home.
Cocktails in the House does not require reservations. Non-DACOR members of the foreign affairs community are invited to join our members. Members are also encouraged to bring prospective members to enjoy a lovely evening at the DACOR Bacon House!
Join us for a musicale that will explore music in America in the Carroll House Household at 18th and F Street featuring MarcOlivia with Olivia Hajioff, violin, and Marc Ramirez, viola. Enjoy music from Alida Carroll's 1866 music notebook over two centuries of song with such ditties as "Willie's on the Dark Blue Sea" and " I Know Not Why I Love Thee" from the House's era, including MarcOlivia's original arrangement for violin and viola of the "Esterhazy Ripple." The Ripple was originally composed for Alida's older sister Sally, who married into Esterhazy nobility to become Countess Esterhazy, a Washington Gilded Age society grande dame.
Other festive pieces include Sleepy John Estes’s ‘Oh Them Rats Is Mean In My Kitchen’ set by John Hartke for Two Violins. Marcolivia will also perform their own arrangement for violin and viola of Arias from Mozart's "Magic Flute," a popular opera at the time, as well as their rendition of traditional Carols for Christmas. Last but not least, there will be ragtime -- Robert Elkjer’s arrangement of "The Johnson Rag" set for two violins. To further popularize the "Esterhazy Ripple," Olivia Hajioff has composed "The Ripple Effect," a poem commemorating the afternoon.
Bacon House will be decorated and festive mulled wine will be served at intermission. Children under 18 accompanied by an adult are admitted free. Come and join us for our Holiday of Strings!!
Our member favorite Cocktail evenings continue on first Thursday's in the cooler month's. Please confirm dates through the calendar.
Featuring a cash bar and a laid-back ambiance, DACOR's happy hours are held on the first Thursday of the month. Join us for refreshing drinks and great camaraderie in our beautiful historic home.
Cocktails in the House does not require reservations. Non-DACOR members of the foreign affairs community are invited to join our members. Members are also encouraged to bring prospective members to enjoy a lovely evening at the DACOR Bacon House!
Annual Fall Black Tie Dinner for Volunteers and Donors
This event has been postponed from its original date in October. More information will be shared later.
The President of DACOR
Invites Your Patronage to the
2025 Fall Black Tie Dinner Celebrating Volunteers & Foundation Donors
$90 / person (includes open bar with passed hors d'oeuvres, multi-course gourmet meal with wine pairings, dessert, and coffee/tea.)
Those who wish to patronize the Spring and Fall Black Tie Dinners that recognize and celebrate our most dedicated DACORians and Friends of the Historic DACOR Bacon House, must meet one or more of the following eligibility criteria:
Current Regular Volunteer in any capacity
2025 "Major Donor" of $1000+ (or pledge to do so before the end of the year)
Member of the DACOR Bacon House Foundation Legacy Society
If you are not yet eligible as a 2025 $1K+ Major Donor (or would like to increase your support of the House Preservation Fund in 2025), you can accomplish that by making a gift or pledge via check or via the DACOR Bacon House Foundation secure online giving link here: https://www.dacorbacon.org/support_us_ways_to_donate.php
You are welcome to bring DACOR-eligible prospective members as your guests to encourage them to consider joining us.
Extended Hours / Self-Paid Parking may be available at the Colonial Garage around the corner on 18th Street (until 10pm) in addition to metered street parking in the neighborhood if enough people express interest.
