Paul Jennings was born into slavery on the plantation of James and Dolley Madison in Virginia, later becoming part of the Madison household staff at the White House. Once finally emancipated by Senator Daniel Webster later in life, he would give an aged and impoverished Dolley Madison, his former owner, money from his own pocket, write the first White House memoir, and see his sons fight with the Union Army in the Civil War. He died a free man in northwest Washington at 75. Based on correspondence, legal documents, and journal entries rarely seen before, this amazing portrait of the times reveals the mores and attitudes toward slavery of the nineteenth century, and sheds new light on famous characters such as James Madison, who believed the white and black populations could not coexist as equals; French General Lafayette who was appalled by this idea; Dolley Madison, who ruthlessly sold Paul after her husband's death; and many other since forgotten slaves, abolitionists, and civil right activists. Paperback, 336 pages. About the author: Elizabeth Dowling Taylor received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Over a 22-year career in museum education and historical research, she was director of interpretation at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and director of education at James Madison's Montpelier. Most recently a fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Taylor is now an independent scholar and lecturer. She lives in Barboursville, Virginia.
I recently worked on a story about the Black Chefs of the White House. Above is Zephyr Wright, who cooked for President Lyndon B. Johnson. Learn more about these forgotten chefs in a great NPR st…
When Michelle Obama referred to slaves building the White House, she gave a nod to a back story that needs to be appreciated, says Clarence Lusane, author of The Black History of the White House.
A "Freedman's Home" in Louisiana. Once "freed", many of the former slaves and their children had no where to go. These are the houses built mostly during the "Slave Years" --- before the Civil War, and Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" . *************************************** "......On Tuesday, July 30, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the institution of slavery, and the subsequent Jim Crows laws that for years discriminated against blacks as second-class citizens in American society......" NPR www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93059465&am... Okinawa_Soba has a lot original images of the descendants of slaves in America, as well as several showing actual slaves who were "freed" during the America's Civil War. To match these images, he also has a box of 19th Century and early 20th Century images of "Black Africa", showing the tribes, roots, and culture that is now a universe away from the modern day existence of "African Americans". Behind the faces of these few images I'm posting here, are lives and experiences that most White people in America will never understand -- either then, or now. [This caption is the same for all. If you have read this far, no need to do so for all the others with the same picture Title]
Cotton was 'king' in the plantation economy of the Deep South. The cotton economy had close ties to the Northern banking industry, New England textile factories and the economy of Great Britain.
The Haitian Revolution has been described as the largest slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere which succeeded in ending slavery & French control over the colony.
"Uncle Gabriel's Cabin" in South Carolina. Master in the big house in the distance. Once "freed", many of the former slaves and their children had no where to go. These are the houses built mostly during the "Slave Years" --- before the Civil War, and Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" . *************************************** "......On Tuesday, July 30, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the institution of slavery, and the subsequent Jim Crows laws that for years discriminated against blacks as second-class citizens in American society......" NPR www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93059465&am... Okinawa_Soba has a lot original images of the descendants of slaves in America, as well as several showing actual slaves who were "freed" during the America's Civil War. To match these images, he also has a box of 19th Century and early 20th Century images of "Black Africa", showing the tribes, roots, and culture that is now a universe away from the modern day existence of "African Americans". Behind the faces of these few images I'm posting here, are lives and experiences that most White people in America will never understand -- either then, or now. [This caption is the same for all. If you have read this far, no need to do so for all the others with the same picture Title]
Four hundred years have passed since the first enslaved people arrived in the US. Here are some famous buildings that would not exist without them.
During her speech at the DNC on Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama alluded to the White House's history of slave labor during the 1790s. NPR interviews Clarence Lusane, chairperson of Howard University's political science department and author of “The Black History of the White House”, who...
« We didn't come to hear a lecture on how white people treated slaves, » one plantation visitor complained in an online review. Screenshots of nasty reviews have gone viral on Twitter.
Although the ackee is not indigenous to Jamaica, it has remarkable historic associations. Originally, it was imported to the island from West Africa, probably on a slave ship.
