The Father of His Country Returns to Boston, October 24, 1789

Two hundred twenty-five years ago, during his first year in office, President George Washington embarked on a month-long tour of New England. Young John Quincy Adams observed the great excitement of people everywhere:

At the present moment they indulge themselves in sentiments of joy, arising/resulting . . . from the gratification of their affection in beholding personally among them, the friend, the benefactor, the father of his Country.

In Boston the president was met by a great procession that paraded beneath a triumphal arch designed by Charles Bulfinch. The MHS holds six portraits of Washington, including a life study by Christian Gullager painted during the New England tour.