Join NOVA RPCV for a docent-led tour of Lorton Prison Museum and visit to Bunnyman Brewing on Sept. 26th
Join us for a Lorton Prison Museum tour on Saturday, September 26th at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA — a former DC prison (1910–2001) with a striking 91-year history, starting with Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive-era reforms, the 1917 suffragist imprisonment (a catalyst for the 19th Amendment), Duke Ellington-led jazz festivals, and decades of incarceration stories spanning the best and worst examples of managing a prison.
Our guide, Elizabeth McGovern Assink (Malawi ’94–’96 / UN Volunteer – Bosnia ’96–’98), left federal service in 2025 after 25 years that included Peace Corps and State Department service. In retirement, she has become a volunteer Lorton Prison Museum docent. On the tour, she’ll highlight the prison’s “volunteers” and draw surprising parallels to Peace Corps service and international aid work.
Today the prison is also a comprehensive arts center. The former dormitories are now studios where you can talk with the artists as they work.
Schedule:
- 12:00 PM — (on your own) you may visit the art studios.
- 3:00 PM — RPCV Campus walking tour ending at the Cell Block and Suffragist Galleries. Tour will begin at LOVE sign on historical campus quad. If it rains, will still give tour, just more inside.
- 4:30 PM — Social at Bunnymen’s Brewery, on-campus (not the other regional locations!). Plenty of food and seating. Be sure to learn the urban legend.
Cost: $10/person suggested donation for the museum. The funds support civic education and outreach. The Workhouse is a 501c3 and donations are tax deductible.
Location: 9518 Workhouse Way Lorton, VA 22079
Great way to learn about Virginia’s history, enjoy beautiful artwork and meet some fellow RPCVs over a fun meal/drink! Hope you will join us!