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Farmer George

The connections between the first president’s commitment to agricultural innovation and his evolving attitudes toward his enslaved laborers at Mount Vernon.
by Daniel J. Kevles via New York Review of Books on January 23, 2025
Painting of George Washington among enslaved laborers working in a field.

What Florida Gets Wrong about George Washington and the Benefits He Received from Enslaving Black People

Florida’s new standards for teaching social studies include throwbacks to an interpretation of slavery as benign or inconsequential.
by Calvin Schermerhorn via The Conversation on August 17, 2023
Lithograph of William Costin.

The Mount Vernon Slave Who Made Good: The Mystery of William Costin

David O. Stewart discusses the relationship between William Costin and the Washington bloodline.
by David O. Stewart via Journal of the American Revolution on December 22, 2020

George Washington’s Twilight Years

A review of "Washington’s End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle," by Jonathan Horn.
by Michael F. Bishop via National Review on March 19, 2020

Tremendous in His Wrath

A review of the most detailed examination yet published of slavery at Mount Vernon.
by Eric Foner via London Review of Books on December 9, 2019
Lithograph of Black wet nurse nursing a white baby.

George Washington’s Midwives

The economics of childbirth under slavery.
by Sara Collini via Lapham’s Quarterly on June 19, 2019
Trump and Macron with their wives at Mount Vernon.

Trump’s ‘Truly Bizarre’ Visit to Mt. Vernon

The 45th president, no student of history, marveled at the first president's failure to name his historic compound after himself.
by Eliana Johnson, Daniel Lippman via Politico on April 10, 2019
George Washington's pewter bedpan

The Strange Saga of George Washington’s Bedpan

Even the most mundane of objects associated with the Founding Father have a story.
by Cassandra A. Good via Smithsonian on August 20, 2015
Drawings of King George III and George Washington.

Parallel Lives

King George and George Washington, featured in an upcoming exhibit.
by Julie Miller via Library of Congress Blog on February 6, 2025
Drawing of George Washington watching over a group of enslaved people working in a field at Mount Vernon.
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Even George Washington Was a Tyrant

We don't need to find heroes in our past presidents. We need to try to understand that tyranny has always been part of American freedom.
by Karin Wulf via Made By History on November 18, 2024
George Washington

The Moment of Truth

The reelection of Donald Trump would mark the end of George Washington’s vision for the presidency—and the United States.
by Tom Nichols via The Atlantic on October 9, 2024
Silhouette of a Black man's head, against a background of Lord Dunmore's proclamation.

Enslaved by George Washington, This Man Escaped to Freedom—and Joined the British Army

Harry Washington fought for his enslaver's enemy during the American Revolution. Later, he migrated to Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.
by Francine Uenuma via Smithsonian on June 14, 2023
Portrait of William Costin.

Did Martha Washington Have a Black Grandson?

Likely the child of Martha's son from her first marriage, William Costin used his position to advocate for D.C.'s free Black community.
by Cassandra A. Good via Smithsonian on June 5, 2023
Yellow house where George Washington stayed while in Barbados.

George Washington in Barbados?

How the Caribbean colony contributed to America's fight for independence.
by Erica Johnson Edwards via Age of Revolutions on January 30, 2023
Illustration of West Ford with laborers working fields in the background, by John P. Dessereau

Did George Washington Have an Enslaved Son?

West Ford’s descendants want to prove his parentage—and save the freedmen’s village he founded.
by Jill Abramson via The New Yorker on March 4, 2022

Why Martha Washington's Life Is So Elusive to Historians

A gown worn by the first First Lady reveals a dimension of her nature that few have been aware of.
by Alexis Coe via Smithsonian on February 17, 2021
George Washington's false teeth

Were George Washington's Teeth Taken from Enslaved People?

How the dental history of the nation’s first president is interwoven with slavery and privilege.
by Matthew Wills, Jennifer Van Horn via JSTOR Daily on February 25, 2020

George Washington Saw a Future for America: Mules

A newly minted celebrity to the world, the future president used his position to procure his preferred beast of burden from the king of Spain.
by Alexis Coe via Smithsonian on February 12, 2020
Portrait of George Washington with lips pursed.

George Washington's Biggest Battle? With his Dentures, Made From Hippo Ivory and Maybe Slaves' Teeth

The British were a pain, to be sure, but what really caused him trouble were his teeth.
by William Maloney via The Conversation on July 2, 2019

This Long-Ignored Document by George Washington Lays Bare the Legal Power of Genealogy

In Washington’s Virginia, family was a crucial determinant of social and economic status, and freedom.
by Karin Wulf via Smithsonian on June 18, 2019

Did George Washington ‘Have a Couple of Things in His Past’?

A historian assesses Donald Trump’s claim that the first president faced his own allegations of sexual assault.
by Cassandra A. Good via The Atlantic on September 28, 2018

When Slavery Is Erased From Plantations

Some historical sites have struggled to reconcile founding-era exceptionalism with the true story of America’s original sin.
by Talitha L. LeFlouria via The Atlantic on September 2, 2018
Drawings of George Washington

His Highness

George Washington scales new heights.
by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on September 20, 2010
Collage combining photograph of pets with the White House in the background.

The Best (and Worst) Presidential Pets in American History, Ranked

A cat named Miss Pussy! A racist parrot! Benjamin Harrison’s possums, which he later ate!
by Matthew Dessem via Slate on January 31, 2021
Charles Milton Bell, Apsáalooke Delegation, 1880.

Apsáalooke Bacheeítuuk in Washington, DC

A case study in re-reading nineteenth-century delegation photography.
by Wendy Red Star, Shannon Vittoria via Panorama on October 1, 2020
French military marching in practice for the Bastille Day Parade.
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The American Founders Celebrated the Storming of the Bastille

They understood that revolution means dismantling old power structures, violently if necessary.
by Zara Anishanslin via Made By History on July 14, 2020
Portrait of George Washington bathed in light while his enslaved personal servant, William Lee, is behind him in the shadows.

George and Martha Washington Enslaved 300 People. Let’s Start With Their Names

The man who supposedly never told a lie figured out how to stretch the truth when it came to human bondage.
by Michele Norris via Washington Post on June 26, 2020

How Historic Preservation Shaped the Early United States

A new book details how the young nation regarded its recent and more ancient pasts.
by Karin Wulf, Whitney Martinko via Smithsonian on May 14, 2020
George Washington on the cover of Alexis Coe's "You Never Forget Your First."

A New Book About George Washington Breaks All the Rules on How to Write About George Washington

A cheeky biography of the first president pulls no punches.
by Alexis Coe, Karin Wulf via Smithsonian on February 4, 2020

Slavery in the President's Neighborhood

Many people think of the White House as a symbol of democracy, but it also embodies America’s complicated past.
by Lina Mann, Callie Hopkins, Matthew Costello, Louis Keene via White House Historical Association on October 22, 2019
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