By Simon and Schuster
“A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, Never Caught is the powerful story of Ona Judge, who escaped the George and Martha Washington and evaded their efforts to bring her back to slavery.”
“When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation’s capital. In setting up his household he brought along nine slaves, including Ona Judge. As the president grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn’t abide: Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state. Rather than comply, Washington decided to circumvent the law. Every six months he sent the slaves back down south just as the clock was about to expire.
“Though Ona Judge lived a life of relative comfort, she was denied freedom. So, when the opportunity presented itself one clear and pleasant spring day in Philadelphia, Judge left everything she knew to escape to New England. Yet freedom would not come without its costs. At just 22 years old, Ona became the subject of an intense manhunt led by George Washington, who used his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.”
–
“Erica Armstrong Dunbar discusses her book Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster). Michele Norris, Director, The Bridge at the Aspen Institute, and Founding Director, The Race Card Project, moderates the conversation.”
*
Dunbar on C-SPAN.
*
Erica Armstrong Dunbar.
–
See also: That Time George Washington Ordered “Total Destruction And Devastation” Of The Haudenosaunee.
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on July 8, 2020