Mary V. Thompson earned her degree from Samford in 1977, pursuing a major in history. Today she serves as Research Historian at the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens in Virginia. This fall the University of Virginia Press will publish her book, In the Hands of a Good Providence: Religion in the Life of George Washington. The UVA Press website observes that "Thompson follows Washington and his family over several generations, situating her inquiry in the context of new work on the place of religion in colonial and postrevolutionary Virginia and the Chesapeake." Frank Grizzard, the Director of the Lee Family Digital Archive at Washington and Lee University, has said that Thompson's book "is likely the best book that will ever be written on Washington and religion."
The world is better because of Mary Thompson.