George Washington Slept Here: CofC Hosts First Oval Office

In the musical Hamilton, the namesake character sings about being in “the room where it happened,” referring to a secret meeting of several Founding Fathers.

On June 12–14, 2026, the College of Charleston invited the community to venture into the tent where it happened, with a full-scale replica of General George Washington’s Revolutionary War tent, the office and sleeping quarters that he used as the command center of the Continental Army.

Billed as the First Oval Office Project, the tent was pitched on Rivers Green and staffed by historical interpreters from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, who discussed the day-to-day lives of American soldiers and gave visitors a unique connection to history throughout the weekend.

The tent, equipage and the interpreters in period-accurate uniforms offered a striking visual that brought the scale and reality of 18th-century field command to life in a way readers and viewers will remember.

“This is exactly the kind of experience a library hopes to create – where something isn’t just read about, but experienced,” says John White ’99, dean of College of Charleston Libraries.

“Immersive experiences allow all of us, not just scholars of early American history, to imagine the lived realities of our founding generation in ways more tangible than the written word,” says Sandra Slater, professor of history and director of the Program in the Carolina Lowcountry and the Atlantic World.

While I Breathe, I Hope

As part of the weekend event, the College Libraries curated a new exhibit, While I Breathe, I Hope, featuring items rarely, if ever, on public display. These archival materials tell the stories of everyday Charlestonians during the Revolutionary War and explores the legacy of America’s founding ideals from the perspectives of women, African Americans, Jewish communities and more. 

Drawn from the holdings of the College of Charleston Special Collections, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and the South Carolina Historical Society, the exhibit is open for viewing in Addlestone Library during regular hours.

“The tent represents leadership and decision-making at the highest level, while the materials in the exhibit reveal how those same events were experienced by people in Charleston from all walks of life and backgrounds,” White says. “Moments like this remind us that history is layered.”