Come Celebrate Walter Reed’s 171st Birthday at the Birthplace!

Public archaeology, reenactors, cake walk event, and more!

The Fairfield Foundation will host an Open House and activities at Dr. Walter Reed’s Birthplace, 4021 Hickory Fork Road in Gloucester County, on Saturday, September 10, from 10am-2pm. Dr. Reed was born in the small dwelling in Belroi on September 13, 1851, while his father was an itinerant preacher to Methodist congregations in the Gloucester and King and Queen County circuit. The youngest of five children, Reed became a U.S. Army pathologist and bacteriologist. He led experiments that proved yellow fever is transmitted by a mosquito bite.

In addition to tours of the house, visitors may participate in public archaeology to search for
evidence of the early Belroi community. Cheryl Dale, president of Mathews’ Bay Quilters will
demonstrate period quilting and visitors will be invited to try their hand at the craft. A quilt entirely
handmade by Bonnie Betz of Bay Quilters, to take the place of an older worn quilt in the Birthplace, will
be on display. The Walter Reed Garden Club will demonstrate flower arranging with natural materials
and will raffle arrangements at 11am, 12 noon, and 1pm. They will also be planting beds of herbs and
daffodils and welcome help! Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, opened on September 11, 1977 and
celebrating 45 years, will be providing information on infection prevention in honor of Walter Reed’s
contributions to public health. The Gloucester Museum of History will have a booth at the site and the
Middle Peninsula Amateur Radio Club will be broadcasting live. Historical reenactors Dave Pondolfino
and Katrina White-Brown will provide historical interpretation. Gloria Waller, representing the Middle
Peninsula African American Genealogical and Historical Society, will present information on family
history research. At the time of Walter Reed’s birth, many free and enslaved African Americans lived in
the area.
Fundraising events will be held during the day. A cakewalk will feature cakes donated by
members of the Gloucester Woman’s Club, Cardinal Cakes, businesses on Gloucester Main Street, and
members of the Fairfield Foundation staff. Dance around the numbers to Cuban music for $10 and play
until you win, or the day’s events conclude. A painting that won Honorable Mention in the 2022 Daffodil
Festival poster contest by Robin Marshall, Evening at Walter Reed’s Birthplace, will be raffled for $5 for
one ticket or $20 for 5 tickets. The raffle drawing will be held at 2 pm and can be seen live on the
Fairfield Foundation’s Facebook page. Prints of the painting will be available for $50 and $25. All
proceeds benefit the Gloucester Preservation Foundation’s continued preservation and maintenance of
the Birthplace. A local food truck, Shore Bites, will be on hand and will donate a portion of the day’s
receipts.
A lecture on Walter Reed’s career will be presented at 2 p.m. on the Birthplace lawn by Colonel
John R. Pierce, U.S. Army (Retired), M.D., President of the Walter Reed Society, Inc., who served as chief of pediatrics, director of medical education, and chief of the medical staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He is the co-author of Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America and Walter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets.