Here’s a dilemma those born in a leap year might relate to: what do you do when your twenty first birthday is no longer on the calendar? George Washington faced just this conundrum in 1753, although the ladies and gentlemen of the Norfolk Club may not have been aware of this when they celebrated his birthday in grand style on February 22, 1897, at the Eldridge Gymnasium (now Town Hall). The newspaper account of the lavish affair makes us wish there was color photography at the time. The reporter, characterizing himself as a “great admirer of female accoutrements,” described gowns of blue Dresden silk trimmed with apple tree green velvet and chiffon, lilac silk lace with jet trimmings, blue cashmere with white silk trimmings, and white organdie over pink with pink ribbons. The star of the evening, however, was Miss Marcella Morgan as Martha Washington, pictured in the center, with a unique costume that included gloves which were over one hundred years old. Now, to get back to Washington’s dilemma. He had been born on February 11, 1731 of the Julian calendar. When England and its colonies switched to the Gregorian calendar with the Calendar Act of 1751, beginning each year on January 1 instead of March 25, and eliminating 11 days in the process, 1752 became a short year, running only from March 25 to December 31. What would have been Washington’s twenty-first birthday, February 11, 1752, instead became February 22, 1753. In order to celebrate his  twenty-first, Washington had to rewrite his date of birth to February 22, 1732. And that is the date we recognize as we celebrate his 275^th birthday this year.

Ann Havemeyer

INFORMATION AND PHOTOGRAPH PROVIDED BY THE NORFOLK HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM