A gala dinner at historic Prospect House, the home of Pembroke Foundation Fellow Abdullah Saleh in Georgetown, and a private tour of the Library of Congress highlighted the April 2015 visit of Pembroke’s Master, Dame Lynne Brindley, to Washington, DC.

Cocktails in Prospect House garden

Some 58 Pembrokians and their guests gathered at Prospect House on Friday April 10, a warm spring evening at the height of cherry-blossom season. They enjoyed pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres and beverages served in Prospect House’s capacious garden adjacent to the Georgetown University campus.

Dinner at Prospect House

Built in 1788 and designed by the original architect of the US Capitol, Prospect House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most important historic residences in Washington.

Marc Mezvinsky, Dick Lugar and Dame Lynne

Erin Schnettler and Chris Zappi

Vic and Bonnie Sutton

Lynne welcomed her American Pembroke “family” in Prospect House’s elegant dining room (where, on earlier occasions, President John Adams and the Marquis de Lafayette dined) on her first official visit to Washington as Master.  After providing an update on College activities and achievements, Lynne introduced a special treat: Pembroke’s Senior Research Fellow in History, Dr. Nicholas Cole, who provided a fascinating overview of his groundbreaking work on the digital re-construction of the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention before the meal was served.

After dinner, Sen. Dick Lugar ’54, Chairman of the Pembroke College Foundation, recounted the eye-opening experience Pembroke was to him. “I was a young man from Dennison University, a small college in the Middle West that had never had a Rhodes Scholar selected.  I’d never been outside of the United States.  But I wanted to attend an Oxford college – and one where there were no other Americans in residence. I was so lucky to have found friendly Pembroke – and am forever in its debt”

Dick Lugar recounts his time at Pembroke

Among other Pembrokians present were Pembroke College Foundation Trustees Neil Arnold ‘66, Tom Herman ’71, Walter Isaacson ‘74, Marc Mezvinsky ‘05, Bradley Peacock ‘92, Terry Slesinski-Wykowski ‘82, former Foundation trustee Mark Joelson ’61, former Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine ‘79, Arkansas Lt. Governor (and former congressman) Tim Griffin ‘90, Washington super-lawyer Andy Morris ’92, former Xerox CFO Barry Romeril ‘62, Chris Zappi ‘08, Vic Sutton ’68, and author and political strategist Stuart Stevens ‘73.

On Saturday morning, April 11, a small group of Pembrokians and their guests were treated to a very special private guided tour of the Library of Congress thanks to arrangements made by Lynne, who formerly headed the British Library.  Among the treasures on display were Thomas Jefferson’s personal library and an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

Pembrokians treated to talk in Library of Congress special collections room

While in Washington, Lynne and Strategic Development Director Andrew Seton also attended the annual meeting of the trustees of the Pembroke College Foundation.

Andrew Seton and Master admire rare illuminated manuscript in Library of Congress