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Slavery in the President's Neighborhood: Primary Resource Gallery

Gallery

  • Ona Judge - Photo 1

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    This advertisement, posted by Frederick Kitt in the Philadelphia Gazette on May 23, 1796, offered a reward for the return of Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who escaped from President George Washington and First Lady Martha Washington’s Philadelphia residence. Judge succeeded in her escape, evading would-be captors and settling in New Hampshire where she died as a free woman on February 25, 1848.

    Philadelphia Gazette
  • 1792 Engraving of the City of Washington

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    This 1792 facsimile engraving depicts Andrew Ellicott’s rendition of Pierre (Peter) Charles L’Enfant’s plan for the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia. As a result of the 1790 Residence Act, the new capital city was strategically placed between the slave states of Maryland and Virginia, ensuring that slavery became essential to its construction and operation. The pool of enslaved laborers contributing to federal construction projects, such as the White House and the Capitol Building, primarily came from plantations in Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia. Their owners hired them out and collected the wages for their labor from the commissioners overseeing construction.

    Library of Congress
  • Building the White House - Photo 3

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    This payroll from May 1795 lists five enslaved people: Tom, Peter, Ben, Harry, and Daniel. Peter, Ben, Harry, and Daniel were owned by White House architect James Hoban. Tom was owned by Hoban’s assistant, Pierce Purcell. In many of the payrolls for federal construction projects, the enslaved person is listed either only by their first name, with their owner’s last name, or with a mark such as an “N” to indicate their enslaved status. Their owner typically signed for their wages on the opposite side of the ledger, allowing researchers and historians to learn more about the relationship between the enslaved and the enslaver. White wage laborers typically signed for themselves or made an X if they were illiterate.

    The National Archives and Records Administration
  • Slavery and French Cuisine in Jefferson’s Working White House - Photo 2

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    This document details President Thomas Jefferson’s account with Dr. Edward Gantt in March 1802. The first line of the account lists services provided “To Ursula” on March 22, 1802 and “To her child from April 2nd to April 13th.” These entries were for the care provided to an enslaved woman named Ursula Granger Hughes. Jefferson brought her from Monticello in the fall of 1801 to train with Jefferson’s French chef at the White House. She gave birth to the first child born in the White House in March 1802. Unfortunately, the child, likely named Asnet, did not survive and Ursula returned to Monticello later that summer.

    Library of Congress
  • Slavery in the Thomas Jefferson White House - Photo 3

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    This letter was written by an enslaved man named John Freeman to President Thomas Jefferson on March 2, 1809. In the letter, Freeman apologizes to Jefferson for refusing to return to Monticello at the end of Jefferson’s presidency. Freeman did so in order to stay in Washington, D.C. with his free wife, Melinda Colbert. According to an 1806 Virginia law, freed slaves could only remain in the state for one year after manumission. He writes, “Rather than disples you i will go and do the best I can…I shall oblige to leave [Melinda] and the children.” Jefferson eventually relented and sold Freeman’s existing contract to incoming President James Madison so that Freeman could remain with his family. He worked for the remainder of his contract, gaining his freedom in 1815. This letter is a rare example of a letter written by an enslaved person negotiating with their owner.

    Library of Congress
  • Enslaved People in Washington, D.C. 1815

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    In this drawing from around 1815, a group of enslaved people pass the United States Capitol wearing shackles and chains. Scenes like this one were common in Washington, D.C. throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. The city remained a slave trading hub until it was outlawed by the District in 1850. The new law did little to deter slave traders, who simply crossed the Potomac River and continued the trade in nearby Alexandria, Virginia.

    Library of Congress
  • Enslaved Workers on the White House Grounds - Photo 2

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    This payroll records the names of the laborers who worked on the President’s Square during June 1818. The payroll records two enslaved men—“Bennett Jarbos Isaac” and “Rich S. Briscoe Chars.” In 1818, Congress allocated money for improvements on the White House Grounds and over the next few years, enslaved laborers were hired out from local slave owners for these projects. Their owners collected the wages while they contributed the labor. These enslaved individuals worked alongside white wage laborers and free African Americans to grade the President’s Square, copper the White House roof, and repair walls and gates on the White House Grounds.

    National Archives and Records Administration
  • Enslaved Household of Monroe_6

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    This 1820 census record details the household of President James Monroe. According to this record, there were six enslaved people, two free African Americans, and three “foreigners not naturalized” at the President’s House. It provides some insight into the size and varying social statuses of individuals who worked in the Monroe White House.

    National Archives and Records Administration
  • The Enslaved Household of John Quincy Adams - Photo 2

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    President John Quincy Adams’ diary entry for February 23, 1828, notes the death of Holzey, “the black boy belonging to Johnson Hellen.” Although Adams fought for abolition during his later career in Congress, he was unable to escape slavery within his own family. His wife, Louisa Adams, came from a slave-owning family and following the death of her sister, the Adams family took in her sister’s children, Mary Catherine Hellen and Johnson Hellen. Both brought their enslaved servants into the Adams’ home, including the White House. This diary entry records the name and death of Johnson Hellen’s slave, Holzey. The other enslaved person in the household belonging to Mary Catherine Hellen, Rachel Clark, was manumitted the following day, after John Quincy Adams’ son, John Adams II married his cousin Mary Catherine.

    Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society
  • Check for Gracy Bradley

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    This excerpt from President Andrew Jackson’s account book for March 23, 1832, shows a check of $400 “to son for Negro Girl Grace.” The Grace in question was Gracy Bradley, an enslaved woman purchased by Jackson as a wedding present for his adopted son Andrew Jackson, Jr. and his daughter-in-law Sarah Yorke Jackson. In 1834, Sarah Yorke Jackson went to live at the White House after a fire damaged The Hermitage, bringing staff along with her. While at the White House, Gracy handled much of the daily domestic business of the household. She was also a skilled seamstress. Gracy went to The Hermitage after Jackson’s presidency and married a man named Alfred Jackson.

    Library of Congress, Manuscript Division
  • Abolitionist Pamphlet

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    This broadside pamphlet was issued during the 1835-1836 petition campaign to abolish slavery in the nation’s capital. The text argues for abolition and details atrocities of the slavery system. At the top are two contrasting scenes: a view of the reading of the Declaration of Independence, captioned “The Land of the Free,” paired with a scene of enslaved people being led past the Capitol by an overseer, titled “The Home of the Oppressed.” Between them is a plan of Washington with insets of a suppliant and a fleeing enslaved person with the legend “$200 Reward” and implements of slavery. On the next line are views of the jail in Alexandria, the jail in Washington, and an interior of the Washington jail with imprisoned enslaved mother Fanny Jackson and her children. On the bottom level, enslaved people in chains emerge from the slave house of J.W. Neal & Co. (left), a view of the Alexandria waterfront with a ship loading enslaved people (center), and a view of the slave establishment of Franklin & Armfield in Alexandria.

    Library of Congress
  • The Enslaved Households of Martin Van Buren - Photo 3

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    These pages from the 1840 census shows that five free and four enslaved African Americans were at the White House toward the end of Martin Van Buren’s presidency. There is no documentary evidence that the president owned these four enslaved people, leaving two possible explanations. These four individuals were either hired out or they were brought to the White House by Angelica Van Buren, the president’s daughter-in-law.

    National Archives and Record Administration, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29
  • 1844 Newspaper Ad

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    This Daily National Intelligencer article from February 28, 1844, reported a robbery at John Tyler’s White House where “a colored woman named Mary Murphy” was “charged with stealing silver table and teaspoons, the property of the United States.” It also mentioned that “a colored servant belonging to the President is also implicated in this theft.” While court records indicate that the theft occurred, it is unclear what happened to the implicated enslaved servant.

    NewsBank/American Antiquarian Society
  • The Enslaved Households of President Zachary Taylor - Journal Photo 4

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    This Alexandria Gazette newspaper clipping from August 1, 1849, details the death of Charles, President Zachary Taylor’s enslaved body servant.

    Library of Congress
  • Drawing by F. Dielman

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    This drawing by F. Dielman depicts a large crowd of African Americans celebrating the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C. on May 12, 1866. Slavery was abolished in the nation’s capital on April 16, 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln signed “An Act for the Release of Certain Persons Held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia.” After the Civil War, African Americans began commemorating the occasion with large celebrations and parades like the one pictured here.

    Library of Congress
  • SPN: Primary Sources - 1

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    President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves…shall be then, thenceforward and forever free.” Although this proclamation did not eliminate slavery in all parts of the United States, it fundamentally altered the character of the Civil War, transforming it from a sectional conflict to a war for freedom and abolition.

    National Archives and Records Administration

About this Gallery

While there are few written accounts of the enslaved and free African Americans who built, lived, and worked at the White House, their voices can be found in letters, newspapers, memoirs, census records, architecture, and oral history. In this collection, explore primary sources and learn about the enslaved individuals that built, lived, and worked at the White House and in the President’s Neighborhood.

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