Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 16 pages.
In this lesson, students explore many of the real challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Teaching Guide. Edited by Adam Sanchez. 2019. Rethinking Schools. 181 pages.
Students will discover the real abolition story, one about some of the most significant grassroots social movements in U.S. history.

By Sudie Hofmann
At the time of George Washington’s death, the Washingtons enslaved 318 people of African descent at Mount Vernon, according to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. But you would not know it from the main tour, nor from the brochure. In fact, most visitors, including schoolchildren, can spend hours admiring the Mount Vernon mansion, fine furniture, and manicured lawns without considering that it was all paid for with forced labor.

Article. By Clarence Lusane.  If We Knew Our History Series.
Textbooks erase enslaved African Americans from the White House and the presidency and present a false portrait of our country’s history.

Book — Non-fiction. By Gretchen Woelfle. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2016. 238 pages.
Profiles of African American, free and enslaved, during the American Revolution for upper elementary to middle school.

Book — Non-fiction. By Clarence Lusane. 2010. 544 pages.
The untold story of African Americans in the White House from the 18th century to the present, including the presidents who held people in bondage.

Book — Non-fiction. By Clint Smith. 2021. 336 pages.
An examination of how monuments and landmarks represent — and misrepresent — the central role of slavery in U.S. history and its legacy today.

Picture book. By Gretchen Woelfle. Illustrated by Alix Delinois. 2014. 32 pages.
Picture book about true story of Elizabeth Freeman, a woman who challenged the legality of her enslavement.

Book — Non-fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2015. 176 pages.
Young adult biography about Emily Edmonson who was one of 77 who attempted to escape slavery in Washington, D.C.

Film. Produced by Judy Richardson, Northern Light Productions for History Channel. 2005. 100 minutes.
Documentary on the many rebellions by enslaved people and other forms of resistance.

Ona Judge escaped enslavement by U.S. President George Washington.

Hercules, the head cook at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate and slave labor camp, escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania.