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Quest for Freedom: The President's House Commemorative Site
Honoring the memory of George Washington's nine slaves
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President's House
Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC
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Underground Railroad Connection
Slated to debut in December 2007, The President’s House Commemorative Site, to be erected just steps away from the Liberty Bell Center and Independence Hall, will serve as a permanent, outdoor installation that honors the memory of the people enslaved here during George Washington’s presidential tenure.
The forefathers fought hard to attain freedom for “We the People” but in identifying the people who would enjoy those freedoms, they refused to directly address the question of slavery. And so in one of our nation’s great paradoxes, Washington kept nine enslaved Africans in the President’s House he lived in from 1790 to 1797. That this occurred only steps from Independence Hall is all the more contradictory.
As of July 31, 2007, the President's House site is closed in order to preserve the fragile remnants of the house.
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