PBS show about Dolley Madison filming in Hanover

Dolley Madison is often considered the first first lady.

The wife of fourth President James Madison proved intriguing enough for PBS to commission an installment about her for "American Experience," its flagship history series.

Filming for the show began Saturday in Baltimore, and yesterday morning, the cast and crew slogged through mud and tried to avoid an intermittent drizzle on a set hidden in Hanover County.

Sitting quietly under a tent in their period woolen shawls and thin cotton dresses were sisters Madison Harris, 11; Alana Harris, 6; and Seanna Harris, 3, all of Richmond.

The girls, on set to play orphans in a scene with Eve Best, the actress playing Dolley Madison, are descendants of the Madison family.

Their grandmother, Tappahannock resident Susan Fogg, is a fifth-generation descendant of James Madison's great-uncle and is also part of the show, playing a Quaker in background scenes.

"I thought it would be fun," said Fogg, who is the vice president of the Atlanta-based National Society of James Madison Descendants. "I wouldn't mind doing it again."

Madison Harris said she didn't really know much about Dolley Madison but added excitedly, "Now I really want to learn more about her."

Seven Madison descendants are part of the shoot, which continues today at the John Marshall House and will wrap Thursday night at Montpelier, Madison's Orange County home.

The PBS show will continue production next month at a studio in New York. The installment is scheduled to air in January.

Director Muffie Meyer said that since fundraising for the film, which she estimated cost $50,000 to $100,000 for the Virginia portions, began five years ago, there isn't a direct correlation between Madison's legacy and Michelle Obama's handling of the role.

But, she continued, Madison did create a first-lady role that is emulated today.

"What's still so clear is how clothes make an administration. The importance of how you decorate. Dolley was the first woman who invented that role, as opposed to Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, who were just the wives of the presidents," Meyer said.

Madison also initiated the idea of a first lady adopting a cause. Hers was to start an orphanage, the backdrop for the scene being filmed yesterday with Best (who currently co-stars in Showtime's new "Nurse Jackie") and the Harris sisters.

Filming continued throughout the afternoon on the impressive set of cobblestone streets and old-America facades that have remained intact since being constructed three years ago for an Emmy-winning cable miniseries.

"The [Virginia] Film Office was able to leverage the Colonial backlot that was built for 'John Adams' as an asset to recruit future production work," said Rita McClenny, film commissioner at the Virginia Film Office.

Though Meyer lamented not having the budget to film in D.C., where Madison's house is preserved, she was thrilled to discover that the Hanover set still exists.

"Everyone from the film commission up to the governor," she said, "could not have been more cooperative."

Melissa Ruggieri is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.