Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle to Keep a Family Together
Although President Thomas Jefferson owned hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children in his lifetime, he brought only a handful...
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Social Justice
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Slavery and French Cuisine in Jefferson's Working White House
President Thomas Jefferson was widely recognized as a Francophile, embracing all things French including art, culture, and custom. While serving...
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Enslaved and Entrenched
Elias Polk was born into slavery in 1806 on a farm owned by Samuel Polk, father of the future president of...
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The Enslaved Households of President James Monroe
Considered the last “Founding Father” president, James Monroe was born in 1758 into an affluent, slave owning family in Westmoreland County, Virg...
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Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker, a free African-American man living in a slave state in the eighteenth century, never knew the weight of...
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A Friendly Voice
Marian Anderson was a successful American contralto singer known for her enchanting performances in the United States and throughout the...
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Leonard Bernstein at the Kennedy White House
In November of 1961, two Washington Post columnists hailed President John F. Kennedy as “the best friend culture has had in th...
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Picketing the White House
In the second half of the nineteenth century Americans headed west to seek greater opportunities for themselves and their families....
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Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings was born in 1799 at Montpelier, the Virginia estate of James and Dolley Madison. His mother, an enslaved woman...
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African Americans Enter Abraham Lincoln's White House, 1863-1865
The New Years’ Day reception became a White House tradition with President John Adams in 1801 and ended with President Herbert Ho...
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The Enslaved Household of President James Madison
In a single week in early 1801, James Madison experienced two major life events. On February 27, his father James Madison Sr....
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Slavery's Mark on Lincoln's White House
On a bright March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln took office as President of the United States “entirely ignorant not only of the du...