Bringing Eliza Home

The Eliza Project

To fulfill these goals, help is needed. This project envisions a three-part program:

–Exhumation and repatriation of the remains of Eliza Monroe Hay. Beginning with the exhumation of the remains from Pere Lachaise in Paris, followed by the flight from Paris to Washington, DC, and concluding with the reinternment of her remains in the James Monroe family plot in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.

–A ceremony honoring Eliza Monroe Hay in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she spent her early years, and where her father began his law practice. This event would help to re-establish her reputation and standing, and would promote  public awareness of her contributions to her family and her country.

–A dedication of her gravestone and her final resting place, where she will be rightfully united with her mother, her sister, and her father, the last of the Republic’s Founding Fathers. A ceremony would be held in Richmond, further re-establishing her reputation and her standing, and further promoting knowledge of her life and contributions.

What is needed.

We estimate that the total cost of this project is about $10,000.

This figure is based on early research with guidelines for Americans buried in France from the French consul, legal and governmental documents, estimates for two receptions, flight expenses and lodging for the legal representatives of the Eliza Monroe Hay descendants and also for her remains, reinternment estimates and gravestone marker creation and installation, and other such costs.

Fundraising efforts.

We hope to solicit in-kind contributions and sponsorship opportunities for each step of the process. We hope also to create a sense of patriotic duty and historical excitement with those who learn of the project and want to play a role in the return of Eliza to her native land. Solicitations from individual donors, historical groups, and service from civic and governmental agencies is also being pursued.

Public awareness.

A PowerPoint presentation documenting and illustrating the most interesting story of Eliza Monroe Hay’s life and new research will serve as an educational tool as well as a support for cultivation of funds, in-kind donations, and wide public support for the project.

Historic, civic, and patriotic organizations are invited to request a program for their groups. Their insights and contributions are most welcome.

News releases, public relations programming, articles in periodicals, display panels, and printed materials are planned. Funding for such outreach is also needed.

And, of course, the two events in Fredericksburg and in Richmond will be the culmination of The Eliza Project’s noble and right-minded efforts.