You're having dinner with the president. Frank Lee, wearing a red and white uniform, stood in the foyer of Mount Vernon and wrote down your introduction. The enslaved butler has chosen a waiting place for you-either in the elegant blue front hall of Robin Egg or in the more comfortable "small living room"-when he reminded George Washington and his wife Martha of your arrival, George Washington's death showed the medical limit of his time. In the afternoon of July, the Opal haze rolled down from the nearby Potomac River. Li's wife Lucy and another enslaved chef Hercules prepared for 3 pm. Frank, with the help of waiters Marcus and Christopher Hills, I'll bring you the food. At about 6 o'clock, they took out a silver hot water tank, and you went to the porch to have coffee, tea and chat with the first family. upper

In the guest room, enslaved maids, like seamstresses Caroline Branham and Charlotte, finish their last task at dawn. They filled the kettle with clean linen. The enslaved groom at Mount Vernon examined the horse for the last time.

This is the experience of British architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe1visiting Washington Manor on July 6th, 996. During his stay, he described the place and people with his usual enthusiasm. In the first draft of La Trobe's love affair with President Washington, the silhouette of a enslaved person (probably Frank Lee) is part of the painting. But in the finished watercolor painting, he left.

Living Together: Slaves on Mount Vernon by George Washington, the new exhibition of Virginia Manor, brought Frank, Hercules, Lucy and other slaves on Mount Vernon to the forefront in the view of 20 18. This is a project that has been brewing for many years. "Our goal is to humanize people," said Susan Shure, a senior curator at Mount Vernon. "We think their personal life is very dignified."

The center of the exhibition is 19 of 3 17 enslaved individuals who worked and lived in Mount Vernon during their lifetime in Washington. The curator excavated precious material culture, artworks, farm tools and plantation records, cooperated with scholars and descendants of enslaved people, and retelled their common past through daily life materials.

"Black people belonging to George Washington have their own rights and marriage, June 65438+July 0799." (Mount Vernon Women's Association) The prototype of a enslaved man is only recognized as Tom (Mount Vernon Women's Association). A gift from Ella McCabbin, 1953) Portrait of George Washington, Gilbert Stuhr, about 1798 (a gift from Caroline H. Richardson, 1904) East of Vernon, Edward Savage,1787-. A portrait of Edmund Parker bequeathed by Helen W Thompson (1964), who wore the guard uniform of Washington Mausoleum in 1980s and 1990s. Inspector Harrison Howell Dodge of Mount Vernon painted this portrait for his memoir 1932. (Mount Vernon Women's Association) Mount Vernon Washington Kitchen in eastman johnson, 1864 (a gift from Anne Burr Jennings, Vice Regent of Connecticut, 1937), the view of Mount Vernon and the Washington family in the square, 1796, Benjamin Henry Latrobe. 20 13) Washington family /La Famille Washington, after Edward savage, 1798 (Mount Vernon Women's Association). A gift from the Robert E Wright family in memory of Dorothy Wharton Wright and Robert Edward Wright, 20 12) eastman johnson's Old Mount Vernon, 1857 (purchased by anonymous donors and the Mount Vernon grant fund, The Portrait of George Washington's Chef, Gilbert Stuart (2009). _MuseoThyssen Bornemisza, Madrid) "The map of General Washington's farm, the drawings of Mount Vernon handed over by the general," the letter written by His Excellency General Washington to arthur young ... (180 1). (Mount Vernon Women's Association) "I know they are talking again," a man named Rohulamin Quander. "These voices didn't disappear until 1799, and we didn't have any photos or recordings to record what they were going to say. But they have walked out of the grave and said to each of us, we rely on you. You must do it for us.

In his 1799 will, Washington included the slave census and the instruction to liberate slaves. His decision to do so-Martha did it soon-reflected that the President had spent nearly 70 years thinking about the impact of slavery on agriculture and families. Boldly speaking, cohabitation raises a series of thorny questions: what kind of slave owner is Washington? How and why did his views on slavery change? "

According to records, George has been a slave owner since 1 1 years old. When 1759 got married, he brought fewer slaves than Martha. Visitors to Mount Vernon gave contradictory descriptions of Washington's treatment of slaves. Flogging and hard labor are usually forms of condemnation. However, when Washington performed its military and political duties, it relied on enslaved people to take care of the family and ensure the profits of the plantation. The most fascinating letters in Washington are usually written far from home, not to other "founders", but to his farm manager. Washington turned his attention to the needs of Mount Vernon. He wrote a letter from the supervisor, which contained clear instructions:

"I ask my people to work until dark as soon as possible in bright work, and work diligently when it is almost unnecessary, because its appropriateness must shock every manager who cares about my interests, or take into account his own personality and thoughtful management. They must be convinced that the lost labor force can never be recovered, assuming that every worker (male or female) works as hard as possible within 24 hours without endangering their health, or the Constitution allows it.

Despite his increasing responsibilities on the national stage, Washington is still a shrewd businessman. David Hawes, senior editor of George Washington's editing project, said that he relied on slaves to maintain his plantation in Virginia for profit. Hoss said: "He tends to suspect that his workers are pretending to be sick and stealing, perhaps because he realizes that they may think slavery is an unnatural and unpleasant situation." . "He sold at least one fugitive to the West Indies and threatened others."

After Washington's death, in the catalogue of Mount Vernon, the butler's pantry was called "the closet under Frank's command". Mount Vernon Women's Association was originally hung at the southern end of Mount Vernon Building. This bell reminds enslaved servants that they need to complete some tasks. ("Mount Vernon Women's Association. With the generous help of John Augustine Washington III, it was transferred to Mount Vernon Women's Association and protected by Harry and Erica Liszt. 1860. Cultural relics excavated in the family house (Mount Vernon Women's Association), the restaurant of Mount Vernon Women's Association, and the restaurant of Mount Vernon. He pursued slaves who escaped from Mount Vernon. Although he was quiet, he didn't use newspaper advertisements. According to haweis, by 1792- 1793, George began to think about the idea of liberation. " It's important to tell him what he thinks about slavery and how it evolved, "Shelwell said. At the same time, he used legal loopholes to ensure that his slaves were enslaved.

Mount Vernon exhibition collects all kinds of materials to rethink/kloc-the African-American legend of the world's understanding of slavery and freedom in the 0/8th century. Through brief biographies, reinterpreted cultural relics and new archaeological evidence from the slave cemetery in Mount Vernon, 65,438+09 lives were newly studied. A new digital resource, an ever-developing slave database, allows visitors to search the name, skill or date range of the slave community in Mount Vernon.

According to Jessie, deputy curator of Mount Vernon, so far, the database has collected 577 unique individuals who lived or worked in Mount Vernon before 1799. Mcleod introduced him, and he also introduced George? Washington communicated with more than 900 enslaved people during the trip. But although it shows a thriving plantation, the database tells a different story. Mcleod said, "You can really feel how often people run away." It is occasionally mentioned in the weekly newspaper that sometimes people will be absent for three or four days. People don't always know whether they came back voluntarily or were captured. There are no advertisements in the newspaper, but we do see that they are absent from work continuously when they visit their family or friends on a nearby plantation.

In the world of museums, the reinterpretation of slavery and freedom has gained new impetus. Mount Vernon's "Living Together" exhibition reflects that historical sites turn to pay attention to the experiences of enslaved people, and at the same time explore the paradox of freedom and slavery in daily life. In recent years, historians of Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and Montpellier in james madison are rethinking how to show these stories to the public through new signs, "slave life" hiking and open archaeological excavations. A series of academic conferences sponsored by the American Institute of Early History and Culture, the National Humanities Foundation and the University of Virginia were held in the former presidential palace.

La Trobe's description of life in Mount Vernon may initially include slaves who enlivened Washington Manor, but the finished painting only tells part of the story. Life is combined to complete the picture by depicting the course of Washington people and enslaved people. "We helped build this place and make it what it is now. Sean Costel, the descendant of David and eddie jones, said in the film of the exhibition that we may not have the right to vote at that time, but we made that person, George Washington, or an outstanding person today. "