I think a lot of these places didn't have decent educational programs until relatively recently. You can visit places like Arlington and a lot of the battlefields and get a better understanding of the battles and politics than say 20 years ago.
I've become fascinated with the intersections of many members of the "first families". If you look at Arlington for example the line runs thru the Custis family, probably one of the richest landowner in the Commonwealth, to George Washington (actually his wife who was married to a Custis) to the Lee's.