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Paul Jennings was a slave in James Madison's White House, and became the first person to put his recollections of it into a memoir.
WASHINGTON — In 1809, a young boy from a wealthy Virginia estate stepped into President James Madison’s White House and caught the first glimpse of his new home. The East Room was unfinished, he recalled years later in a memoir. Pennsylvania Avenue was unpaved and “always in an awful condition from either mud or dust,” he recounted.
The city was a dreary place,” he continued.
His name was Paul Jennings, and he was an unlikely chronicler of the Madison presidency. When he first walked into the Executive Mansion, he was a 10-year-old slave.
But over the course of his long life, Mr. Jennings witnessed, and perhaps participated in, the rescue of George Washington’s portrait from the White House during the War of 1812 and stood by the former president’s side at his deathbed. He bought his freedom, helped to organize a daring (and unsuccessful) slave escape and became the first person to put his White House recollections into a memoir.
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Slave owners always like a good "slave." So what about the "40 acres and a mule?" Reparation about now would be good.
Why are we so proud of being house slaves and 3rd class family members lol. What a shame. I like it how these people try to act as if their ancestors were loved just because they were thrown a few crumbs lol.
And who said there isn't a need for an official apology and reparations for slavery and the pumping of drugs in our communities post-slavery and aparthied?
Willie Lynch lives on!
Thanks for the tip, eloring. The cite I was thinking of is "A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation" (2006) by Catherine Allgor. I haven't read that book myself.
Madison, I heard some historians on the History channel state that she was reponsible for saving that George Washington portrait.
It so funny though how white folks, many of them who passed throughout the years are so proud today to pose as descendants of Black slaves.Look whos getting new today.
Marilyn, a facsimile edition of Paul Jennings' memoir can be ordered through the Museum Shop at James Madison's Montpelier. 540-672-2728 x140. It is fascinating to read!
I was just reading a recent book about writing biographies, since I am writing a small group biography (about slaves affected by Benjamin Franklin and his family) without any idea what I'm doing. Dolly Madison had a somewhat distant relationship with the slaves that legally belonged to her husband, but wasn't completely unsympathetic. I would be interested in reading this memoir.