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Slavery and French Cuisine in Jefferson's Working White House
President Thomas Jefferson was widely recognized as a Francophile, embracing all things French including art, culture, and custom. While serving as Minister to France from 1784 to 1789, Jefferson developed a particular taste for French cuisine. However, French chefs were very expensive to employ, and Jefferson’s costs regularly outpaced his income. While Jefferson may have been short on cash, he did ha
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From the White House to Freedom on the Underground Railroad
First published in 1872, William Still’s The Underground Rail Road drew on the author’s personal experience working with the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in order to present an engaging, authentic account of the journey from slavery to freedom. Using interviews and personal recollections, Still profiled hundreds of escaped slaves and the abolitionists who helped them along the way. The son of e
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Gracy Bradley's White House
On November 24, 1831, Andrew Jackson, Jr. married Sarah Yorke. President Andrew Jackson, a devoted father, wanted to give his son’s new bride a wedding present. In March of 1832, he purchased what he thought would be most helpful for a young woman setting up her own domestic household for the first time – an enslaved woman named Gracy Bradley.1
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The Enslaved Household of President Andrew Jackson
In January 1829, less than two months before he became president, Andrew Jackson ordered an inventory of his slaves. The inventory recorded the names, ages, and familial relationships of ninety-five enslaved individuals who lived and worked at The Hermitage, his Tennessee plantation.1 When President-elect Jackson left for the White House, he brought some of these enslaved people with him. The 1830 census
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The Complexities of Slavery in the Nation's Capital
For the first seventy-two years of its existence, the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., harbored one of America’s most difficult historical truths and greatest contradictions: slavery. The city’s placement along the Potomac River, in between the slave states of Maryland and Virginia, ensured that slavery was ingrained into every aspect of life, including the buildings, institutions, and social
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The Enslaved Household of President James Madison
In a single week in early 1801, James Madison experienced two major life events. On February 27, his father James Madison Sr. died. He bequeathed his estate Montpelier in Orange County, Virginia, and more than 100 enslaved people to his son. On March 5, President Thomas Jefferson named Madison secretary of state, and he prepared to move his family to Washington, D.C., for
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Scholarship
The Slave Quarters at Decatur House
Nestled in the heart of Washington, D.C., Lafayette Park attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. From school groups to tourists, protesters to foreign dignitaries, many are drawn to the most prominent building on the square—the White House. Yet few fully realize just how much the neighborhood has changed since 1800, when President John Adams first moved into th
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The Enslaved Household of President George Washington
On April 16, 1789, George Washington left his home at Mount Vernon to travel to New York City to be inaugurated as the first President of the United States. He was accompanied by Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, and Colonel David Humphreys, Washington’s longtime friend and secretary. Although the president-elect made no mention of their presence in his diary, he wa
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The Remarkable Story of Ona Judge
In April 1774, one of Martha Washington’s enslaved housemaids, Betty, gave birth at Mount Vernon to a daughter named Ona Judge.1 Ona’s father was Andrew Judge, a white indentured servant who was employed on the estate. Ona probably lived with Betty in a small cabin near the mansion house, completing simple chores, helping her mother with easy tasks in thei
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The Enslaved Household of President Thomas Jefferson
These powerful words open the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the document by which the Second Continental Congress announced its intention to separate the American colonies from Great Britain in 1776. The primary author of this famous document was none other than Thomas Jefferson. Although these words have been quoted and repeated countless times throughout history to underscore American values
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John Gadsby: Hotelier and Slave Owner in the President's Neighborhood
For nearly four decades until 1836, John Gadsby was the premier hotelier of Alexandria, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. He leased and operated the City Hotel and Tavern in Alexandria, as well as, the Indian Queen in Baltimore, and ended his career in Washington, D.C. with the Franklin House and the highly esteemed National Hotel. His hotels were considered state
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The Enslaved Households of President Martin Van Buren
While many tend to think that slavery was strictly a “southern” issue, this system of racial captivity and exploitation existed across the British colonies in a variety of forms during the eighteenth century. It thrived across North America, survived the American Revolution, and persisted through the creation of the Constitution. That said, individual states began adopting policies of gradual emancipation as e