Faces of Green Spring
By Ivy SInaiko
I chatted with Karen Heyda Jackson this afternoon in Green Spring’s Historic House, where she works as a historic interpreter. It was obvious to me that she loves the house and her job. Her enthusiasm and love of history are infectious.
A little background: Karen was raised in Montgomery County, Maryland. She attended college in Texas, then came back to this area. After periods of working for the Federal government and staying home to raise kids, she began volunteering at Historic Blenheim in Fairfax City. Blenheim is a circa 1859 house that is significant for the more than 120 Union soldier signatures, drawings, and poetry inscribed on its interior walls. Her volunteer activity there turned into a part-time job, a natural progression for the lover of history that Karen is. Four and a half years ago, Green Spring was lucky enough to lure her from Blenheim House to our Historic House.
Karen says her favorite part of her job is meeting visitors and sharing with them the interesting and surprisingly eclectic history of Green Spring’s unassuming Historic House. She enjoys seeing their reactions and learns from them when they tell her about their own histories and experiences. I asked her if she had met visitors who had once lived on the Green Spring property. She recounted meeting the Quast brothers, who lived in the Spring House. They told her that when they lived there, they could open a door in the floor of the living room and get water from the spring running under the house. (Don’t try this; the door has been covered over.) She also had a visit from Michael Straight, Jr., whose parents donated the Green Spring house and grounds to Fairfax County in 1970.
In her spare time, Karen is an artist of many facets. She draws, sketches, paints with watercolors, knits, and cross-stitches. When not occupied with these activities, she enjoys hiking and visiting local historic sites with her husband.
I asked Karen what she would like to say to the readers of this article. “Come back and visit us at the Historic House. We like to say it’s cool in summer and warm in winter.” I can attest that it is a calm and peaceful refuge with fascinating displays on Green Spring’s history. You can find Karen there Tuesday through Thursday and on some weekends, and she would be happy to talk to you. She is a great asset to Green Spring; we are very lucky to have her.
