Calendar of Events for 2025-2026
ANDREA COCHRANE TRACEY
“America’s Landmarks Abroad: Preserving Diplomatic Treasures”
MONDAY, January 19, 2026
The Lyceum, 201 South Washington Street, 7 P.M. light refreshments, 7:30 lecture
Tangier American Legion
As we begin the celebration of America’s 250th, join us to learn the remarkable stories behind some of our nation’s iconic diplomatic properties and the stunning museum-quality collections they house––from America’s first acquisition over 200 years ago, in Tangier, to our ambassadorial residence in Paris, an exquisite hôtel particulier built on the foundations of a mansion designed by the American baroness who gave New Orleans' Jackson Square its style. Discover how these active diplomatic landmarks are stewarded for the future and why they are important to preserve.
Andrea Cochrane Tracey, a native of Alexandria (Fairfax County), has over thirty years of diverse professional experience in nonprofit management, museums, fundraising, and historic preservation in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. She is currently the Executive Director of the Fund to Conserve U.S. Diplomatic Treasures Abroad (Fund to Conserve), the independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit partner to the State Department’s Office of Cultural Heritage, part of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. Their mission is to raise awareness of America’s diplomatic heritage abroad, and cultivate private sector support for the ongoing specialized preservation of U.S. owned heritage properties abroad.
Her experience includes serving as Director of the College Park Aviation Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate museum, in Maryland; Regional Museum Manager of ten historic sites in two states with Historic New England; and the Information Center Manager for Partners for Sacred Places in Philadelphia. She has served on conference planning committees for the Association of Preservation Technology International and the Vernacular Architecture Forum and as an adjunct instructor for the History Department at the University of New England.
She holds a Master of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in Historic Preservation and Museum Management and a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and Historic Preservation from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro.
PLEASE REGISTER GUESTS WITH karen.d.paul1948@gmail.com. Suggested contribution for guests attending a one-time lecture is $10. MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION AND CALENDAR AVAILABLE AT OUR SITE: ALEXANDRIAASSOCIATION.ORG
CAROL CADOU
“Celebrating America250: Preserving a Future for our Nation's Past”
MONDAY, February 16, 2026
The Lyceum, 201 South Washington Street, 7 P.M. light refreshments, 7:30 lecture
As America celebrates 250 years of independence from Great Britain, our historic house museums offer tangible connections to the nation’s past. Of varied size and age, each one provides a three-dimensional experience that cannot be replicated by technology. This illustrated lecture will focus on the Bush-Holley House in Cos Cob, CT as a classic case study in historic preservation efforts, rich stories unlocked by buildings and objects, and the enduring need to preserve historic places.
Carol Cadou is the Executive Director and CEO of the Greenwich Historical Society. She has also served as the Executive Director of the National Society of the Colonial Dames in America and the Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO of Winterthur Museum. Carol spent nineteen years at George Washington’s Mount Vernon—first as Curator and eventually as Senior Vice President for Historic Preservation and Collections.
Prior to Mount Vernon, Carol was the Curator for the Maryland State Art Collection and the Curator of Education at Historic Charleston Foundation.
She is a graduate of Wellesley College, the Sotheby’s American Arts Course, and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. In 2019, Carol received her MBA from Ohio University.
Her publications include The Installation of Historic Architecture at Winterthur Museum, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon, and Stewards of Memory: The Past, Present, and Future of Historic Preservation at Mount Vernon. Carol’s most recent publication project, Great American Treasures: Women Preserving History Since 1891, will be on shelves for America’s 250th celebration.
SUN, Sept 28: Patty Sheetz, Architectural Walking Tour, How to Read a Church
MON, Oct 20: Catesby Leigh, The Federal Architecture Wars
MON, Nov 17: Patrick Mullins, Riotous Prints and Seditious Pots: Political Radicalism in the Fine and Decorative Arts on the Eve of the American Revolution
MON, Jan 19: Andrea Tracey, America’s Diplomatic Treasures Abroad
MON, Feb 16: Carol Cadou, Celebrating America250: Preserving a Future for our Nation's Past
MON, Mar 16: Jeffrey Ricketts, The Antiques and Architecture of Brick Meeting House, Maryland, 1700-1870
MON, Apr 20: Emilie Johnson, The Experience of Boarding in Late Eighteenth America
MON, May 18: Bradley Brooks, Americana in a Far Country: Ima Hogg and the Bayou Bend Collection