Know your neighbors: George Washington Parke Custis

If you’re an American history buff, you might be interested in watching a televised interview this weekend with local historian/journalist/author Charles Clark about George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. Custis and his sister Nelly were raised by Martha and George Washington at Mount Vernon.

Clark, who was a research fellow at Mount Vernon from 2020-2021, said he visited repositories in several cities before penning the book “George Washington Parke Custis: A Rarefied Life in America’s First Family.” The book, published in 2021, serves as the first full-length biography of Custis — an author, orator, painter and plantation and slave owner who built Arlington House as his residence and as a memorial to his step-grandfather, George Washington.

Credit: Charles Clark

As part of its American History TV series, C-SPAN2 is airing an interview conducted with Clark at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond, Virginia last summer. Tune in on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4:05 p.m. or check the C-SPAN website to see when the program becomes available online.