THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025 49 The series will continue with a luncheon program on March 19 devoted to the social history of other historic Washington houses, including the Ringgold residence. An April 10 dinner program will focus on the house as the Carroll family experienced it during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln came to the house for the 1861 wedding of a Carroll daughter, Sally. Two Carroll sons served in the Federal Army during the war. The family’s oldest son, Samuel Sprigg Carroll, rose to the rank of brigadier general. A luncheon program on May 14 will explore the role of Mrs. Bacon as a hostess at gatherings of the city’s power brokers. Even after her husband’s death in 1938, Mrs. Bacon was renowned as one of the “Three B’s”—a trio of Washington salonnieres, including hostesses Marie Beale of Decatur House and Mildred Barnes Bliss of Dumbarton Oaks. During the mid-20th century, the three women presided over the city’s social scene, hosting events that brought together political and cultural leaders. On June 10, DACOR will host an evening event, a 200th birthday party in the house’s half-acre garden. And in December, the yearlong celebration of the house will conclude with a Christmas musicale embracing the Victorian and modern music-making eras at the house. Virginia Bacon was an important patron of the arts in Washington, D.C., and played a prominent role in enlisting government support for the creation of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Information about the 2025 DACOR Bacon House bicentennial programs can be found on the DACOR calendar of events, https://tinyurl.com/4fax8dy6. n the advancement of U.S. foreign policy goals, and the spread of democratic values. During its 200 years, the mansion has served as a meeting place for government officials, politicians, legislators, judges, and leading cultural and society elites. It has been a setting for discussions and policymaking on the country’s legal system, U.S. foreign policy, and, since the Rogers Act of 1924, the modernization of America’s diplomatic corps. The bicentennial series was preceded by a public forum in June 2024, which celebrated the anniversary of the Rogers Act and the creation of the modern U.S. Foreign Service. In August, the house hosted the French ambassador at a gala celebrating the 200th anniversary of the 1824-1825 return visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States and the important role played in that visit by U.S. Marshal Ringgold. The series continued during the fall with a November dinner charting two centuries of change in the “President’s Neighborhood,” including a discussion of how private residences were replaced by hotels and government office buildings. Over the years, the house has regularly hosted foreign affairs luminaries. Secretary of State George Shultz, a DACOR member, was the principal speaker at the dedication ceremony for the organization’s move to the DACOR Bacon House on May 23, 1986 (above). His Excellency Laurent Bili, French ambassador to the U.S., keynoted an August 2024 celebration marking the anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-1825 return visit to America. Bili recounted the history of U.S.-French relations since the two nations’ alliance during the American Revolution. COURTESY OF DACOR COURTESY OF DACOR
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