mount vernon (va. : estate)

"[A] look at the complex relationships between George Washington and the enslaved people of Mount Vernon, and the history still being uncovered there . . . using . . . primary source material and photographs of historical artifacts [to shed] light on the lives of several people George Washington owned; the property laws of the day that complicated his decision to free them; and the Cemetery Survey, an archeological dig (set to conclude in 2018) that is shaping our understanding of Mount Vernon's Slave Cemetery"--Provided by publisher.

"[A] look at the complex relationships between George Washington and the enslaved people of Mount Vernon, and the history still being uncovered there . . . using . . . primary source material and photographs of historical artifacts [to shed] light on the lives of several people George Washington owned; the property laws of the day that complicated his decision to free them; and the Cemetery Survey, an archeological dig (set to conclude in 2018) that is shaping our understanding of Mount Vernon's Slave Cemetery"--Provided by publisher.

This title gives us fascinating portraits of cooks, overseers, valets, farm hands, and more--the slaves George Washington called "my people"--interwoven with an examination of the conscience of the Father of Our Country.

Explores the role of African-Americans in creating and maintaining Mount Vernon, the home of U.S. president George Washington, in the century after his death, looking specifically at the work of Sarah Johnson, a slave who spent more than fifty years at the estate both before and after the Civil War, and who encouraged her friends and family members to continue the legacy.