Slavery at Mount Vernon: Exhibit tells stories from George Washington's estate

The names of people who were enslaved on George’s Washington’s Mount Vernon estate are inscribed on the walls of what was their home: Tom Nokes. Vina. Barbara.

Their names are grouped together by family on the walls of a building that was once a residence for enslaved people at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. Their names are part of a new, permanent exhibit called “Lives Bound Together” that will open to the public on Juneteenth.

Director Doug Bradburn spoke with News4 about the importance of the exhibit.

“It’s critical in America that we tell full stories of our heroes, without whom we wouldn’t have a nation,” he said. “But on the other hand, he wouldn’t have been the man he was if he hadn’t depended upon enslaved labor, and those peoples’ lives were very important, and we can recover them in ways that you can’t typically do on an 18th century plantation estate.”

Information on the life and family of a woman named Doll is part of the exhibit. She arrived at Mount Vernon in 1759 at age 38. She was the matriarch of a large family who Washington would enslave into various jobs across his five farms.

In many cases, family members were split up and spread so far apart they would rarely be able to see each other.

“Bringing out their individuality and their humanity is something critical for us to do in this exhibit – something so important to the descendants of enslaved people here who worked with me on this exhibit,” a curator said.

The exhibit includes artifacts from digs, interactive media screens and oral history interview clips.

“It’s an ongoing thing. This isn’t something that you do once and then you’re done,” Bradburn said. “It’s an effort really to always do research, always find ways to make the stories impactful for people and to do it in a way that’s responsible and helps people understand.”