Locals ask for a painting of a president in prayer in schools
During the public comment portion of the Stafford Public Schools Board of Education meeting, the public got a glimpse of a request the schools have been fielding for years. Shirley Martinsen said she wanted to “readdress an ongoing project that was started, actually three years ago, by Mister Dave England.” What’s that project? Getting a painting of George Washington praying into all of Stafford’s schools.
The image, which depicts Washington on bended knee next to his horse in a clearing in the woods, is one of many that claim to show a historical moment. More on that later.
Martinsen described it like this: “This picture of George Washington, who is known as the father of our nation, he is shown in this painting exercising his freedom of religion, as he is fighting for the very nation that we have the freedom of religion is our first freedom.”
Martinsen also noted that there are signs on classroom doors announcing them as safe zones for LGBTQ+ students, adding the portrait would signal “a safe place for those who believe that they have a right to pray and call upon God for help.”
She added, “This painting displays the truth of how our nation began, trusting in God.”
The BOE does not generally respond to public comments, and continued that tradition during this meeting.
In addition to the public comment, a document from the aforementioned Dave England was distributed. It detailed his journey over the past three years. From asking former Superintendent of Schools Steven Moccio if he could hang the portraits—and allegedly being told yes—to asking for help from the high school’s industrial arts department to frame the images obtained from Amazon. However, he says, Superintendent of Schools Scott Sugarman declined to hang the portraits.
The document said, “If there is a change of heart, and our School Superintendent Mr. Scott Sugarman allows the George Washington portraits to be placed back in our four public schools, I will be very happy to give them back to our Stafford Schools to be display [sic].”
England went on to write:
“At that time, I will make three additional statements.
1-Communisium [sic] is a religion with no God.
2-With the rejection of displaying the portraits of George Washington praying to our God in all of our four public schools, I’m very sorry to say, I believe this is an alienation to our God.
3-In my opinion, the students of Stafford, seeing the image of George Washington praying to God would be a positive image to portray.
4-I, Dave England invite all those who received the message to please feel free to respond to this message with any comment you wish to make. THANK YOU.”
What’s the deal with this painting?
The image is one of many inspired by what is often considered an apocryphal story. Based on Stafford Free Press' Amazon searches, the version England and Martinsen are promoting seems to be "A General Before His King Canvas Poster by Tim Davis."
A Yale University Press post about one of the very first iterations asks, “Did George Washington kneel in prayer at Valley Forge, as this image suggests? Before and after this 1866 engraving was printed in New York, some pious Americans offered an enthusiastic yes, proposing that it shows that America is a Christian nation entrusted with a divine mission.”
Others vehemently disagree.
So, here’s where Thomas A. Tweed came down on the question for the Yale University Press article: ”The short answer: probably not, as most historians suggest… Parson Weems, Washington’s early biographer, concocted that story—as well as the yarn about George and the cherry tree—to establish the moral character and personal piety of the first president and, thereby, advance a particular view of national belonging and church-state relations. There is some truth in the claim, and in the images. Washington did pray, though perhaps not the way Weems described, and he did attend church services, though not on Communion Sunday. Washington was not a conventional Christian, but he also wasn’t a church-hating atheist.”
The New York Times reported, “Weems, an evangelical pastor and bookseller, claimed that he heard the story from a local Quaker who had come upon the general in prayer, and was so inspired that he abandoned his pacifism and embraced the cause of the Revolution.”
A similar but slightly different version of this painting has risen to prominence recently. According to The Museum of the Bible, “The Prayer at Valley Forge” by Arnold Friberg is the most famous take on this much-debated moment. It also says the painting is on loan from “First Freedom Art Company, an impact-driven company dedicated to educating others about the importance of the freedoms of religion and speech—America’s first freedoms.” First Freedom Art Company is owned by CAZ Investments Company.
Reproductions of “The Prayer at Valley Forge” adorn the backs of the Freedom Trucks currently touring the country. At Fox News, they say, “The painting and the D.C.-based museum show how fidelity to God and belief in the omniscient power of an Almighty God are real powers that helped create the United States of America.”
According to NPR, “The image is a favorite of President Trump's administration; it has shown up in social media posts from the Defense Department, the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security, on a White House page and even for sale on a federal government website celebrating America's 250th anniversary.”
“The image has been enthusiastically adopted by conservative evangelicals as well, [says Nicholas Shrum, a doctoral student researching Latter-day Saint identity in America], many of whom see it as a rebuke to mainstream historians, who point out that George Washington was an Anglican and not a weekly churchgoer,” reports NPR.
Doug Bradburn, the president of Mount Vernon, Washington’s historic home and museum, told The New York Times, “the most significant thing was Washington’s strong belief in religious freedom, including for non-Christians.”
