i read mrs. lee did not come back in person to pay the taxes because her and mr. robert e. lee thought that she would have been arrested at that time. and my other question is, is the house haunted? thank you very much for taking my call. >> thank you very much. is the house haunted? >> is the house haunted? >> it's rather dark in here. >> ambience and whatnot. i can tell you, i personally have not had an experience here. but we do have staff who have relayed stories of things like footsteps upstairs when they turn out to be the only one in the house. there are stories, not for me to say whether or not it's haunted. there's a number of folks who have had interesting experiences. >> you have an 1803 house with cre creaky floors. >> all by itself. she asked -- >> yeah. we discussed that earlier. that absolutely is true. when they -- that law was passed in 1862, the taxes were due. they had to be paid by the owner of the house who at that time was mary lee. she was not able to pay the taxes for fear of being captured. she tried to send a cousin here to pay the taxes. but they

i read mrs. lee did not come back in person to pay the taxes because her and mr. robert e. lee thought that she would have been arrested at that time. and my other question is, is the house haunted? thank you very much for taking my call. >> thank you very much. is the house haunted? >> is the house haunted? >> it's rather dark in here. >> ambience and whatnot. i can tell you, i personally have not had an experience here. but we do have staff who have relayed stories of things like footsteps upstairs when they turn out to be the only one in the house. there are stories, not for me to say whether or not it's haunted. there's a number of folks who have had interesting experiences. >> you have an 1803 house with cre creaky floors. >> all by itself. she asked -- >> yeah. we discussed that earlier. that absolutely is true. when they -- that law was passed in 1862, the taxes were due. they had to be paid by the owner of the house who at that time was mary lee. she was not able to pay the taxes for fear of being captured. she tried to send a cousin here to pay the taxes. but they

and at the beginning of the civil war as robert e. lee left here, mrs. lee was worried that union soldiers would take over and steal many items from the house, she removed most of the what she considered to be the most precious washington family heirlooms, including the bed that george washington died in and a number of other pieces, and later her family donated those things, many of those things at least, to mt. vernon, to washington and lee university, and there are also items in the smithsonian, so that you can visit those places and also get a better understanding of what was here historically. the back hall was george washington parke custis's hunting hall, his trophy hall. as a true gentleman of the day, his two favorite pastimes were horse racing and hunting. but he was also a great artist. when i say a great artist, perhaps not a fine artist, but a passionate artist. he devoted his life to creative pursuits. he wrote and produced musical plays and american themes and was a pioneer in the idea of creating an american form of theater. but he was a

mr. penrod: i'm a park service ranger here at the robert e. lee memorial. i have been here many years. i sometimes do i have spent more than robert house ban e. lee did. it was his home for about 30 years. arlington house is perhaps the most unique place in the entire national park service. perhaps in regards to historic houses, one of the most in the entire country. what we have here is a place that truly represents the entire history of this country. from its earliest founding with the original colonists who came to virginia and america in the early 1600's, through the revolutionary period, leaders of the american revolution, signers of the declaration of independence are represented by the family who built and owned this house. and it was a working plantation. representing in many ways one of the uglier aspects of american history and that is slavery. it played a crucial role in the american civil war. home of general robert e. lee, prior to the war, when he was a u.s. army officer for 32 years. he developed and became the great soldier that would lead h

mr. penrod: i'm a park service ranger here it the robert e. lee memorial. i have been here many years. i sometimes joke is more time in this house then robert e. lee did. it was his home for about 30 years. perhaps theuse is most unique place in the entire national park service. perhaps in regards to historic houses, one of the most in the entire country. what we have here is a place that truly represents the entire history of this country. from its earliest founding with the original colonists who came to virginia and america in the early 1600s, through the revolutionary period, leaders of the american revolution, signers of the declaration of independence are represented by the family to build. this house -- built this house. and it was a working plantation. representing in many ways one of the uglier aspects of american history and that is slavery. he played a crucial role in the american civil war. , general robert e. lee prior to the war when he was a u.s. army officer for 32 years. he developed and became the great soldier that would lead extremelyome

lee memorial. we hope you tune in. john mccartle was mentioning mr. jarvis is directorship of the park service and he has an op-ed entitled "these lands are your lands, new york." and he concludes, it is pretty hard not to feel a wash of pride for our country when you stand at the rim of the grand canyon national park and the alpine glow of the grand teton national park on the steps of the lincoln memorial or the blood stained field of gettysburg national military park. these are our american cathedrals. they belong to you. come and enjoy them and refresh your memory of what it means to be an american. that from jonathan jarvis, director of the national park service. 202-748-8000, if you live in the eastern half of the country and those in the mountain an pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 and for those listening on c-span radio, join in on the conversation. stephanie is joining us from mammoth cave, kentucky. good morning. caller: hi. host: good morning, stephanie. caller: i live at mammoth cave and that's my actual zip code. i understand out here at s

lee memorial. we hope you tune in. hn mccartle was mentioning mr. jarvis's contribution to the park service and he has an op-ed entitled "these lands are your lands, new york." and he concludes, it is pretty hard not to feel a wash of pride for our country when you stand at the rim of the grand canyon national park and the alpine glow of the grand teton national park on the steps of the lincoln memorial or the ood stained field of gettysburg national military park. these are our american cathedrals. enjoy them and refresh your memory of what it means to be an mesh from jonathan jarvis, director of the national park service. 202-748-8000, if you live in the eastern half of the country and those in the mountain an pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 and for those listening on c-span radio, join in on the conversation. stephanie is joining us from mammoth cave, kentucky. good morning. caller: hi. host: good morning, stephanie. caller: i live at mammoth cave and that's my actual zip code. i under out here at sequoia and you apparently have to pay to even j

lee memorial. we hope you tune in. hn mccartle was mentioning mr. jarvis's contribution to the park service and he has an op-ed entitled "these lands are your lands, new york." and he concludes, it is pretty hard not to feel a wash of pride for our country when you stand at the rim of the grand canyon national park and the alpine glow of the grand teton national park on the steps of the lincoln memorial or the ood stained field of gettysburg national military park. these are our american cathedrals. enjoy them and refresh your memory of what it means to be an mesh from jonathan jarvis, director of the national park service. 202-748-8000, if you live in the eastern half of the country and those in the mountain an pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 and for those listening on c-span radio, join in on the conversation. stephanie is joining us from mammoth cave, kentucky. good morning. caller: hi. host: good morning, stephanie. caller: i live at mammoth cave and that's my actual zip code. i under out here at sequoia and you apparently have to pay to even j