Philadelphia — Old City & Independence
President’s House Site
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
Listen
Transcript
Begin with a house that is no longer here. From 1790 to 1800, while Philadelphia served as the temporary national capital, presidents George Washington and John Adams lived on this site. The modern installation makes visible what older versions of the founding landscape often left out: Washington brought enslaved people into the executive household.
At least nine enslaved people associated with Washington’s household lived or worked here during his presidency. Pennsylvania had adopted a gradual abolition law, and Washington took steps to avoid provisions that might allow enslaved people to establish legal claims to freedom after extended residence.
One of them, Ona — often recorded as Oney — Judge escaped from the presidential household in 1796. Washington sought her return. She remained free in New Hampshire but lived for years knowing that the most powerful man in the country considered her his property.
The story changes the meaning of the nearby Liberty Bell and Independence Hall without canceling them. The revolutionary generation’s language of liberty was real and transformative. So was the legal and personal system of slavery in which many founders participated.
Starting here establishes the rule for the rest of the walk: do not separate ideals from the people excluded by the first version of those ideals.