Conserving Edith's Original Automobile Operator's Permit

Edith Bolling Wilson's 1904 Automobile Operator's Permit was named one of Virginia's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts

In 1904, Edith Bolling Galt (Wilson) became the first documented woman licensed to operate an electric car in Washington, D.C. Like many other early women drivers with independent methods of transportation, Edith questioned contemporary gender roles and societal expectations. Edith’s recollections of driving her Columbia Elberon Victoria Mark XXXI in Washington D.C. are relayed in her 1939 autobiography, "My Memoir." She would later marry President Woodrow Wilson in December 1915, serving as First Lady until 1921. 

The museum acquired the object on eBay in the summer of 2017 from a private individual who held onto the prized document for decades. Thanks to the generosity of anonymous donor, the museum was able to purchase the artifact directly from the seller. 

In January 2018, it was named one of Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts due to its poor and deteriorating condition. The museum’s document is one of ten unique artifacts from across the state, and spanning Virginia’s extensive history from the 1700s to the 20th century, that was chosen following a thorough review process by an independent selection committee of collections professionals from partner organizations, such as the Library of Virginia, Preservation Virginia, Virginia Conservation Association, and Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Through the Virginia Association of Museum's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts Program, the museum was awarded funding for the full conservation of the document. Carolyn Frisa, head conservator at Works on Paper performed this work in her Vermont studio. Carolyn has a special connection to the document as she grew up in Rose Cottage (Lynchburg, Virginia), the plantation home of the Bolling Family before they moved to Wytheville in the 1860s. Carolyn's father still owns the home today and the family takes pride in the home's history. 

Learn more about the process of the document's conservation in this video.