Washington Post story quote taken from MSNBC web pages, 12 February 2004

Read Foote/Foot's Letter to Disney and then try this link to blog/article on the
Big Reasons for Comcast start-up in Mississippi in 1963.
Comcast tried to buy Disney in 2004 and Post called it "Audacious".

August 2, 1994                                          


Mr. Van A. Romans
Director, Cultural Projects Liaison
Walt Disney Corporation
1410 Flower Street
Box 25020
Glendale, CA  91225-5020

Dear Mr. Romans:

The chairman of the Prince William County Historical
Commission, Dennis Ekberg, has kept me informed recently of
the Commission's attempts to convince Disney to give
greater priority for Disney's America to reconstruction
proposals for the Waverley Plantation House and Mill.

As a member of "Protect Historic America", Cousin Shelby Foote 
has opposed the history theme park, but most other
members of the Foote family with Virginia roots to whom I
have talked support the concept of Disney's America.  We
challenge the Disney Corporation to continue to do its
"homework" on the Waverley property and to get acquainted
with the heritage closely associated with Waverley.  We are
concerned that the Disney Corporation will overlook this
opportunity to give historical personnae and family history
dimensions to the "recreated" historical exhibits.

In a May, 1994, archaeological survey conducted for the
Disney Corporation, Engineering-Science, Inc., Fairfax,
Virginia, has documented the Foote relationship to the
Waverley tract, stating that the tract "originated with
purchases made by William Foote at the the Red House sale in
1797 and from the Nelson estate in 1805 .  .  .  . (p. 24)"
The Waverley Plantation House was built in 1836 for William's
son, Frederick.  In the social aftermath and economical
upheaval following the Civil War, the Disney-supported survey
reports that "Baltimore banker Enoch Pratt bought Waverley
plantation when it was sold to pay Frederick Foote's debts
.  .  .  . (p.  28)" 

In The Potomac News, March 27, 1994, reporter Mike Fuchs
wrote that during the Civil War Frederick Foote entertained
both Union and Confederate troops at Waverley and hid Mosby's
Raiders, "who were famous for their successful raids on Union
bases and camps during the Civil War."  Frederick's cousin,
Henry S. Foote, a former Mississippi Governor and Senator, is
famous for his opposition to the policies of Jefferson Davis,
first in Mississippi state politics and later in the
Confederate government.  Elizabeth Foote, another ancestoral
relative of Frederick, married Lund Washington of Hayfield
and Mount Vernon, and researcher-writers, such as Elswyth
Thane, have documented that she was a very close friend of
Martha Washington.  Some other family members were infamous;
one was hanged for horse stealing.

In this short letter, I will not attempt to be comprehensive
about the many reasons you should include the Waverley
Plantation House and Mill in Disney's America.  In fact,
Historical Commission Chairman Dennis Ekberg can do that much
better from his perspective; therefore, I refer you to his
July 13, 1994, letter to Disney, where Chairman Ekberg deals
with related aspects of this proposal and other ideas for
Disney's consideration.

But, I can offer my assistance in helping the Disney
Corporation understand much better the Foote family
connection to the tract and plead that you not overlook
this connection or underestimate the significance for
Disney's image-neers.

Librarian Don Wilson, head of the Virginianna Collection for
the Prince William Library System, has archival, structural
plans for Waverley Plantation House.  He also confirms that
he has a copy of Chotankers, the out-of-print partial history
of the Footes, which I published in 1982.

If you or any of the Disney staff have questions, I will be
pleased to try to answer them or help guide you to a more
resourceful respondent.

                              Sincerely,

                              A. Edward [Eddie] Foote


cc:  Dennis Ekberg, Historical Commission
     Shelby Foote
     Mike Fuchs, The Potomac News
     Mark Pacala and Mary Anne Reynolds, Disney's America
     Wynelle White, Washington
     Jody Powell, Washington


05 Addendum to Disney Letter, JODY POWELL speaks to interviewer 
about Shelby Foote. Powell was White House press secretary for
President Carter.  He handled Disney PR as Chairman and CEO of
Powell Tate, Washington, D.C. One of his presidential
speech-writing staff in the Carter White House was 
Chris Matthews, host of "Hardball" on MSNBC, 
where Avon Edward Foote interviewed Rick Kiernan in 2001.
(Dr. Foote, born 24 September 1937. When among friends goes by "Eddie".)
David Alsobrook talked with Powell at the 
White House on 2 December 1980 and the interview transcript
is in the Carter Library, Atlanta.

POWELL: 
One person that I did get a chance not just to meet 
but to talk to at some length is Shelby Foote, who wrote the 
three-volume history of the Civil War, which is probably the
best Civil War history that I have ever read. 

INTERVIEWER: 
Were you on that tour out to Gettysburg with the President 
[Jimmy Carter] with Shelby Foote? 

POWELL: 
Yes. In fact, I was the one that suggested the President get
Foote. We were just talking about it and, so, it was a little
selfish on my part;
 
I wanted to meet him. I figured he would come if the President 
invited him, and then, you know, if you're interested in the 
Civil War, [to] have--somebody like that to be your tour guide 
is about as good of a deal as you can get.