Philip Reed
Often, the accomplishments and contributions of enslaved people are lost to history—undocumented, ignored, or forgotten by successive generations. One of...
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About this Video
Video from the inaugural edition of our 2020 lecture series, White House History with David Rubenstein: Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood at historic Saint John’s Church on Lafayette Square.
Often, the accomplishments and contributions of enslaved people are lost to history—undocumented, ignored, or forgotten by successive generations. One of...
Thomas Smallwood detailed the circumstances of his enslavement and life as a free Black man living in Washington City in...
In 1868, Elizabeth (Lizzy) Hobbs Keckly (also spelled Keckley) published her memoir Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and...
Most Americans do not associate the first ladies with slave ownership. In fact, it may be surprising to learn that...
January 1, 1863 was a watershed moment in American history. That morning, President Abraham Lincoln hosted the annual New Year’s Day re...
On April 16, 1862, Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act, ending slavery in the District of Columbia and delivering long-awaited freedom to...
While there are few written accounts of the enslaved and free African Americans who built, lived, and worked at the...
While there are few written accounts of the enslaved and free African Americans who built, lived, and worked at the...
In the late eighteenth century, the original thirteen colonies dissolved and formed the United States. In 1787, delegates to the Constitutional...
As we consider life in the President’s Neighborhood, the unusual story of the Wormley Hotel and its Black founder, Ja...
On July 4, 1831, President James Monroe died after months of illness. Many Americans mourned the loss of the last “Founding Father” pres...
From 1818 to 1831, Tench Ringgold served as U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia. His home (today known as the...