DACOR Bacon House History: Academic Library




Most Recent Articles



Virginia Murray Bacon and the Art of the Washington Salon

Jun 16 2025
DACOR Archivist Elizabeth Warner’s article on the life of Virginia Murray Bacon appears in the Spring 2025 edition of Washington History magazine and has been posted to the Academic Library page on our website. The last private owner of DACOR Bacon House, Virginia reigned at 1801 F Street from 1923 to 1980, burnishing its reputation as one of the toniest addresses in the city where she gathered together diplomats, policymakers and artists at her legendary salons and dinner parties. She traveled the world and promoted causes ranging from historic preservation to the establishment of the United Nations. Hers is a story of a life lived large during the time when Washington, DC, went from being regarded as a “country bumpkin” swampland to its status as the seat of a superpower.


The Carrolls and Summer Resorts in the 19th Century

Jun 9 2025
William Calderhead in his history of DACOR Bacon House states that the Carrolls used to “escape each summer to Maryland’s Eastern Shore.” His source is a private conversation he had with an officer of the Supreme Court. The tale he was told was that a justice of the Court once spotted the Carroll’s carriage in front of “a fashionable beachfront social club.” When told it belonged to William Carroll, he reportedly said, “Perhaps I should change jobs with him; he obviously earns more money than I do.” As far as my research can determine, the Carrolls never had a home on the eastern shore, but they often summered outside Washington during the months of June to September and may well have spent time at one of the resorts along Maryland’s Chesapeake coast, but they more likely ventured to other fashionable resorts in the mountains of Maryland and beyond.


Educating Sons and daughters

Jun 2 2025
The early 19th century in Washington, D.C. was a time of social transformation, where education began to take root as an essential pillar for families of various backgrounds. Schools emerged sporadically across neighborhoods, with private tutors and academies filling the gaps where formal institutions were scarce. This posting discusses the education of sons and daughters by the owners of 1801 F Street during its first one hundred years.

For a searchable database of all posts, click here.



Please help us preserve The DACOR Bacon House
as a place where American history will continue to be written.
Thank you for your generosity.



Our Authors


Terence Walz is the resident historian at DACOR Bacon House. He is a historian of modern Egyptian history with a doctorate from Boston University. He is the author and editor of two published books and has recently contributed articles to the Journal of Supreme Court History and the website of the White House Historical Association. Dr. Walz’s work in international organizations led him to the DACOR Bacon House where he has been a member for six years. He has taken on the task of researching and documenting the history of the DACOR home, its history, and its inhabitants, particularly the first one hundred years. This archive is a growing collection of his work.



Elizabeth Warner, a lawyer by training and DACOR member, is researching the life of Virginia Murray Bacon, the last private owner of the DACOR Bacon House from 1925 to 1980. She is an adjunct professor at New England College, where she designs and teaches courses in law and political science. A long-term resident of the Washington, D.C. area, she also lived and worked throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia for 14 years, often in extremely challenging environments. In addition to articles about Mrs. Bacon, she has published material on human rights, international law and other subjects. Ms. Warner has law degrees from the University of Michigan and Georgetown University.