Episode 5: Resisting

12/08/21 • 60 min

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Intertwined: The Enslaved Community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Episode 5: “Resisting”

In May 1796, Ona Judge self-emancipated by fleeing from President George Washington’s Philadelphia home. Her escape was just one example of the many ways that Mount Vernon’s enslaved community resisted their bondage. Some acts were subtle and easy to miss, others were much more dramatic, regardless the threat of punishment was ever present. In this episode, we follow Judge’s flight to freedom, and explore the stories of Hercules Posey and Harry Washington, to examine how enslaved people defied George and Martha Washington’s authority.

Featuring:

Jessie MacLeod, Associate Curator, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Dr. Marcus Nevius, Associate Professor of History and African Studies, University of Rhode Island
Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington
Dr. Cassandra Pybus, Professor of History Emerita, The University of Sydney
Ramin Ganeshram, Executive Director, Westport Museum for History and Culture

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 5: “Resisting”

Featuring:

Jessie MacLeod, Associate Curator, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Dr. Marcus Nevius, Associate Professor of History and African Studies, University of Rhode Island
Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington
Dr. Cassandra Pybus, Professor of History Emerita, The University of Sydney
Ramin Ganeshram, Executive Director, Westport Museum for History and Culture

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Previous Episode

Episode 4: Living

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Episode 4: “Living”

Kate, her husband Will, and their children lived and worked on Muddy Hole Farm. When her family suffered a tragedy, they drew strength from the kinship ties and friendships they shared with other members of Mount Vernon’s enslaved community. In this episode, we examine daily life, culture, and religious practices of the enslaved people at the plantation. We also explore how on-going archeological work at Mount Vernon helps us piece together the enslaved community’s lived experience and recover their voices when the written record falls silent.

Featuring:

Dr. Brenda Stevenson, Hillary Rodham Clinton Endowed Chair in Women’s History, St. John’s College, Oxford University
Dr. Eleanor Breen, City Archaeologist, City of Alexandria
Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz, Director of Collections and Visitor Engagement, Stratford Hall Plantation, and Director of Education and Historic Interpretation, Virginia’s Executive Mansion
Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington
Dr. Jason Boroughs, Research Archaeologist, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Dr. Marcus Nevius, Associate Professor of History and African Studies, University of Rhode Island
Jessie MacLeod, Associate Curator, George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Next Episode

Episode 6: Leaving

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Episode 6: “Leaving”

Nancy Carter Quander was just a child when George Washington died in December 1799, but his death changed her life forever. Washington’s decision to emancipate his enslaved people in his will had consequences for Mount Vernon’s enslaved community and their descendants that persist into our own time. In this episode, we look at the meaning of freedom for a community intertwined through marriage and kinship, its continued evolution after Martha Washington’s own death in 1802, and how members of the descendent community are recovering their family histories.

Featuring:

Jessie MacLeod, Associate Curator, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington
Dr. Cassandra Good, Assistant Professor of History, Marymount University
Dr. Bruce Ragsdale, former Director of the Federal Judicial History Office
Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, historian of George and Martha Washington and Early America
Judge Rohulamin Quander, President and Founder, Quander Historical and Educational Society
William Norwood Holland, Jr., J.D., retired, National Labor Relations Board
Ann Louise Chinn, Founder, The Middle Passages Ceremonies and Port Markers Project
Stephen Hammond, Syphax Family Historian and Scientist Emeritus, The United States Geological Survey
Dr. Scott Casper, President, The American Antiquarian Society

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com .