BACK TO LAFAYETTE SQUARE MAP
Search the Tour and Web Archive
Select from the drop-down boxes below. Searching more than one field will narrow your results to items that match ALL selected fields.
Decatur House Slave Quarters
Photograph showing the H Street side of the slave quarters at Decatur House.
Credit: Volkmar K. Wentzel Collection
[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]
Can you imagine living on the second floor of the stucco building pictured here —in a space of just about 900 square feet—with 20 other people ranging in age from eighteen months to fifty years of age? That's what it was like here for the African Americans enslaved in the household of John Gadsby, the second owner of Decatur House, who had the building constructed around 1836. An 1844 inventory of the furnishings of Decatur House included a listing of 21 slaves who likely lived in this building.
Today, very few examples remain of slave quarters in urban areas, and this structure is entirely unique as preserved physical evidence that African Americans were held in bondage in sight of the White House.
Originally, this building's only exterior doors led to an interior courtyard rather than out onto the street. This design allowed the Gadsbys to have greater control over the movements of their slaves and kept the slaves' presence and activities more hidden from public view. The first floor of this building contained the household's kitchen, laundry, and a dining room for the enslaved people. The second floor was divided into three small chambers where the enslaved men, women, and children made their homes.
Most of the people enslaved here by the Gadsby's were members of the King and Williams families. Some may have worked at Decatur House or at Gadsby's nearby National Hotel, while others may have been confined on the property prior to being sold.
Decatur-House-Wing-Elevations.pdfDecatur-House-Wing-Plans.pdf
| Enslaved People |
| Title | Description |
|---|
| Andrew Jackson Statue, Lafayette Square | A slave helps craft this statue and the Capitol's statue of freedom... |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| Dolley Madison's House | A former slave shows charity toward an impoverished First Lady. |
| St John's Church | Free and enslaved African Americans are married and baptized at the President's parish... |
| Weddings at St. John's Church | Selected entries from the St. John's Church marriage register. |
| Daniel Webster's House | A slave plans a daring escape, but has a change of heart... |
| Decatur House | Where Charlotte Dupuy takes a brave stand against slavery. |
| Ewell House | Buying, selling, and resisting. |
| Charlotte Dupuy | Charlotte Dupuy, an enslaved woman who sued her owner Henry Clay for her freedom. |
| Lafayette Square | An enslaved woman buys her freedom and changes the nation's history.... |
| Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907) | Elizabeth Keckly was born into slavery in 1818. She went on to purchase her own freedom and establish a successful dressmaking business. |
| Frederick Douglass | Revered African American leader. |
| Members of Gadsby's Enslaved Household | A list of their names and ages. |
| Paul Jennings | Paul Jennings |
| Tayloe House | Compensated emancipation, only in DC... |
| Emancipation in the President's Neighborhood, 1850 | Emancipation in the President's Neighborhood, 1850 |
| "Negro Life at the South" | A 1859 painting by Eastman Johnson depicting urban slavery. |
| "Mrs. Madison's Slaves Again" | 1848 Newspaper article about the Madison's slaves. |
| "The Negro Celebration in Washington" | 1866 article and engraving about Emancipation Celebration in Washington, DC and President Johnson's address. |
| President's House Carpenters' Roll from May 1795 | Payment record for carpenters,including five enslaved men, who constructed the President's House. |
| Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. | Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. |
| Bill of Sale for Charlotte Dupuy to Henry Clay | Bill of Sale for Charlotte Dupuy from James Condon to Henry Clay. |
| Bill of Sale for Paul Jennings from Dolley Madison to Pollard Webb | Document recording Dolley Madison's 1847 sale of Paul Jennings to Pollard Webb. |
| Charlotte Dupuy's Petition | Letter written by Robert Beale on behalf of Charlotte Dupuy petitioning the Judges to summon Henry Clay to court. |
| Decatur House Slave Quarters Floor Plans | Floorplans and architectural drawings of the Decatur House slave quarters. |
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| Emancipation in the District of Columbia - List of the Petitions Filed | Government document showing claims paid for emancipated slaves to the former owners. |
| First page of a letter from Henry Clay to his agent in Washington, Philip Fendall, regarding Charlotte Dupuy's petition for freedom | Letter written written by Henry Clay to his agent in Washington, Philip Fendall, regarding Charlotte Dupuy's bid for freedom. |
| Gadsby Slave Quarters at Decatur House ca.1937 | Photograph taken by Volkmar Wentzel in 1937 showing the H Street side of the slave quarters at Decatur House. |