Ash Lawn-Highland has partnered with UVA’s Institute for Public History over the years with projects ranging from the research of enslaved African-Americans at Highland to the history of James Monroe’s property. This year’s intern, Ashley Spinks, emphasized the creation of new narratives from existing museum collections. One of the historic objects Spinks studied this summer is Constitutions de la Nation Française, by French author Jean-Denis Lanjuinais. Ash Lawn-Highland’s copy of this book was owned by James Monroe, who studied theories of government and spent considerable time in France. Spinks’ summer’s project is profiled in UVAToday. (photo credit: Dan Addison, UVA)