“The east room was not finished, and Pennsylvania Avenue was not paved, but was always in an awful condition from either mud or dust,” he wrote about moving in. One of the Madisons’ enslaved workers, the valet and dining room servant Paul Jennings, went on to write the first published memoir about life in the White House. When Key wrote Dolley Madison that, “Your Servant Joe has been anxious to purchase the freedom of his wife,” she advanced $200 to buy the freedom of Milley and her child – as long as they would stay on at the White House as servants, working off their debt. But his wife Milley belonged to Francis Scott Key (who later composed the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner). Joseph Bolden, who cared for horses and carriages at the Madison White House, saved up enough to buy his freedom. president, and he was the first president to bring enslaved people to the White House (which was built largely with the help of enslaved Black workers). One of the first arrivals from Monticello was fourteen-year-old Ursula Granger Hughes, a chef’s apprentice who gave birth to Asnet, the first baby ever born in the White House. Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 enslaved people during his lifetime, the most of any U.S. (Richmond swept chimneys and assisted in the kitchen.) While living in Philadelphia, President Washington sometimes moved around his enslaved workers to evade Pennsylvania’s emancipation laws.Īfter the wife of Washington’s enslaved cook Hercules died, he was allowed to call for his eleven-year-old son Richmond – but had to leave behind his daughters, eight-year-old Evey and five-year-old Delia. Like enslaved staff in many White Houses, these women and men were often separated for years at a time from children, parents, spouses and other family who worked at the president’s plantation homes. White House history is Black history: We must remember that White House history is Black history. They tended horses, greeted guests, cared for the Washingtons’ grandchildren, and escorted the president and his family when they went out. They helped the Washingtons dress in the morning, did their hair, and waited on them as they ate. Often working in proximity to paid White servants, these men and women cooked elaborate dinners, cleaned the residences, did laundry, and mended clothes. The president’s $25,000 salary was expected to cover all White House expenses, including food, wine, entertainment, furnishings, family expenses, and salaries for servants.ĭuring George Washington’s presidency, at least ten enslaved people worked at the president’s houses in New York City and Philadelphia: Austin, Giles, Hercules, Joe, Moll, Ona, Paris, Richmond, Christopher Sheels, and William Lee. presidents owned enslaved people?Īt least thirteen presidents were slave owners at some point during their lives, and they often brought their enslaved workers to the White House in order to save money and use staff who knew their preferences. Sharing this research here can shine a light on the enslaved individuals who built, lived, and worked in the White House. That’s why the White House Historical Association’s “ Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood” initiative works to tell their stories. Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, is the right moment to examine this troubling history and its impact on Black lives in the White House. Eleven of our first twelve presidents were slaveowners or relied on enslaved labor at some point during their presidency. Although free Black and White people also worked at the White House, enslaved people were key to its everyday functioning as a center of national power. Many of America’s early political leaders benefitted directly and indirectly from slavery. Watch Video: 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' gets Texas portrait
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