Temple Tuesday: Shirley at Mount Vernon

Here’s a 1938 shot of Shirley on the lawn of George Washington’s home Mount Vernon, located in Alexandria, Virginia. Holding the camera at left is her publicity agent, Wendell “Doc” Bishop. As Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas, relayed in her book Shirley Temple: A Pictorial History of the World's Greatest Child Star:

[He] acted as press protector, buddy, and often personal assistant. His job was not only to garner media exposure for his star, but to make sure she was content on the set and off—which often meant that he would find himself involved in a game of “Squares,” or acting as Deputy to Shirley’s Texas Ranger.

What was Shirley doing at Mount Vernon? She was enjoying a trek across America during her summer vacation. To round out the post, here are a few vintage shots of Mount Vernon from the 1950s:







This photo of Shirley on the set of “Just Around the Corner” shows her wearing the same dress/jumper combo:



Shirley’s trip was big news; in fact it even made the cover of LIFE magazine!



Here’s the original shot used on the cover, taken at a wheat field in Junction City, Kansas:



See more Mount Vernon photos at my main website.