Books
"The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret," George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon
In "The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret," Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, offers the first comprehensive account of those who served in bondage at Mount Vernon.
The Quanders - Since 1684, an Enduring African American Legacy
The Quanders – Since 1684: An Enduring African America Legacy introduces stories that constitute the Quander family legacy as one of the oldest consistently documented African American families in the United States.
Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery
A fresh, original look at George Washington as an innovative land manager whose singular passion for farming would unexpectedly lead him to reject slavery.
Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington's Mount Vernon
At the time of George Washington's death in 1799, more than 300 enslaved men, women, and children lived on his Mount Vernon plantation. Lives Bound Together provides fresh research on this important topic.
Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon
Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon brilliantly restores the lives and contributions of African Americans to the legacy of Mount Vernon.
George Washington's Barbados Diary 1751-52
In the autumn of 1751, at the age of nineteen, George Washington sailed with his older half-brother Lawrence from Virginia to the Caribbean island of Barbados—the one and only time that the future Revolutionary War hero and president would leave the shores of continental North America.
Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War
A gripping account of the largest slave revolt in the eighteenth-century British Atlantic world, an uprising that laid bare the interconnectedness of Europe, Africa, and America, shook the foundations of empire, and reshaped ideas of race and popular belonging.
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
The powerful narrative of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington's runaway slave who risked it all to escape the nation's capital and reach freedom
The Age of Phillis
In 1773, a young, African American woman named Phillis Wheatley published a book of poetry that challenged Western prejudices about African and female intellectual capabilities. Based on fifteen years of archival research, The Age of Phillis, by award-winning writer Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, imagines the life and times of Wheatley.
Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington’s Mount Vernon
An illuminating look at the complex relationships between George Washington and the enslaved people of Mount Vernon, and the history still being uncovered there.
George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and The Memory of the First President
In this book, the White House Historical Association's senior historian Dr. Matthew R. Costello traces the story of Washington’s tomb, whose history and popularity reflect the building of a memory of America’s first president—of, by, and for the American people.
Slavery at the Home of George Washington
This highly-readable selection of articles focuses on Washington's changing attitudes toward the institution of slavery, and his everyday relationships with the slaves who shared his Mount Vernon estate.
Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution
In Past and Prologue, Michael Hattem shows how colonists’ changing understandings of their British and colonial histories shaped the politics of the American Revolution and the origins of American national identity.