Rushlight Club Annual Membership Meeting

November 19th to 22nd 2026, Washington, DC

 

  The 2026 Annual Membership meeting will be held in the Washington, DC Area.  Optional Thursday evening activities are offered so plan your arrival accordingly.  Our hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn Washington DC/US Capitol.  The address is 1225 First Street NE, Washington DC 20002.  Details on room reservations and rates are shown on the enclosed registration form.  The cutoff date for the Rushlight Club Group Rate is October 20th, 2026.

Thursday Afternoon/Evening members begin to arrive.  Rushlight members are invited to a complimentary dinner at 6:30 pm as the guests of our host, Dan Mattausch, who will be installed at 7:30pm as the Master of Naval Lodge No. 4 (330 Pennsylvania Ave SE), the oldest continually operating Masonic Lodge in the Nation’s Capital (founded in 1805).  The installation is one of the rare Masonic events open to the public; coat & tie are encouraged but not required.   Afterwords, there will be a gaslight illumination and reception with open bar at the Cortelyou House (260 Maryland Ave. NE).

Friday at 11:00 am we will meet at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum (437 7th St NW), a 19th century building restored to the appearance of its original gas-powered illumination by Upton Studios/American Gaslight.  Gary Scott, retired Chief Historian of the U.S. Park Service, National Capitol Region will be our guide.  Gary was instrumental in identifying and saving the building from demolition.  Lunch will be on your own.  At 2:00 pm, we will have a private tour of the U.S. Capitol Building (1st St SE and East Capitol St) that will feature areas not open to the public and will include the Cornelius & Baker Armorial gasolier, one of only two fixtures original to the 1850s House and Senate extensions.

Friday Evening we will meet at 6:00 pm (auction/show & tell setup and socializing will start at 5:00 pm) for our banquet dinner at the Naval Lodge.  Our guest, Rachel Wetzel, Photograph Conservator for the Library of Congress, will speak about “The Robert Cornelius Project.”  After this we will have the membership meeting, Show & Tell, and the Silent Auction.

Saturday Morning/Afternoon at 11:00 am we will be viewing items from the Rushlight Club Archives and Dan Mattausch’s private collection at American Gaslight (70 Industrial Park Dr., Waldorf, MD 20602) with a demonstration of 19th & 20th century machine work.  We will gather for lunch at a nearby restaurant, Mission BBQ (3082 Festival Way, Waldorf MD).  The cost of lunch is not included in the registration fee.  At 2:00 pm we will return to American Gaslight for an informal discussion on “The Beginning of Modern Lighting: Fused Plate Argand Lamps from the 18th Century.”

Saturday Evening will be on your own. We will provide suggested restaurants and national landmarks that you may want to visit.

Sunday Morning/Afternoon we will split into two groups to gather at the residence of Dan & Nancy Mattausch, the Cortelyou House (260 Maryland Ave. NE) to view their collection.  Group 1 will be at 9:30 am and Group 2 at 11:30 am.  On Sunday afternoon we will meet at the residence of Terence & Therese Bertele, The Linthicum House (3019 P Street NW), for an open house, complimentary lunch, and a tour of their exquisite collection of high-style early to mid-19th century lighting.  This will conclude the scheduled portion of the meeting.