An interesting, non-fiction book about Ona Judge, a woman who was one of Martha Washington‘s personal slaves until she ran away. Ona remained a fugitive for the rest of her life. This book dissects early emancipation laws in the United States and Ona’s life, as well as revealing struggles in the private lives of George and Martha Washington.
Ona was born to a black slave and a white, indentured servant. Ona and her mother were abandoned by Ona’s father after only a few years.
“Ona Judge learned valuable lessons from both of her parents. From her mother she would learn the power of perseverance. From her father, Judge would learn that the decision to free oneself trumped everything, no matter who was left behind.” pg 14
Author Erica Dunbar does a fairly good job bringing Ona Judge to life on the few details that were available. It must have been tricky to fill in the blanks on a life that wasn’t as well-documented as her famous, former owners.
“Those of us who research and write about early black women’s history understand how very difficult it is to find our subjects in the archives. Enslavement, racism, and sexism often discarded these women from the historical record, and as historians we are frequently left unsatisfied with scant evidence.” from the Author’s Note.
Because she gave two interviews to journalists towards the end of her life, Ona may well be one of the only female, fugitive slaves from Virginia to have a personal narrative that survived to exist in the historical record.
“The interviewer wrote, ‘When asked if she is not sorry she left Washington, as she has labored so much harder since, than before, her reply is ‘No, I am free, and I have, I trust, been made a child of God by the means.'” pg 187
What I liked most about this book, beyond Ona’s own life story, was the way Dunbar made George and Martha Washington into people, not just icons, in my mind. They made mistakes and would act in their own best interest. It was interesting to discover that one of the founding fathers and his spouse were just as human as the next person.
But also sad in the way they held and treated “human property.” I suppose everyone is a product of his or her own time.
(Martha Washington) had no interest in releasing the slaves at Mount Vernon, who numbered in the hundreds. Instead, she would move quickly to join her husband in New York, shielding her slaves from the contagion of liberty.” pg 31
They simply couldn’t understand why someone would want their freedom — at any cost. It seems like a no-brainer now. But, once the Washingtons discovered where Ona was hiding, they sent agents to talk to her and try to convince her to return to slavery.
“She told Whipple that under no circumstances would she return to slavery, where she could be “sold or given to any person.” She would rather die than return.” pg 144
Recommended for readers who love history, especially American history, and want to learn about another facet of the American experience.
Thanks for reading!
Here’s the History Guy script I wrote about Ona Judge:
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