On Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021 students in grades 2-5 joined together on Zoom to meet Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar, a scholar, professor, and the author of Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge and several other books. Dr. Dunbar joined us to share Ona Judge’s story, paint a picture of that time in history, and answer our many questions. In reflection about our time together, Siana shared, “I really like history a lot so I really found the conversation interesting.”
Ona Judge began her life as a slave in George Washington’s family, staying with the family for many years, including when he was president. At twenty-two, she fled the Washington’s house and made the long, treacherous journey to New Hampshire. Vivaan explained her escape in his own words, sharing, “It was very dark outside the night she escaped, and she used money from when she was enslaved to leave. She managed to get on a boat to safety.” Although the Washingtons tried twice using their connections to have her brought back after she arrived in New Hampshire, she remained free, albeit in hiding, for the remainder of her life.
After debriefing, many students shared that they never knew that George Washington or any president had slaves. Celine shared, “I never knew that Ona Judge escaped from the Washingtons. That’s kind of amazing!” Even after the presentation, students still had questions about Ona Judge’s story, including Cole, who questioned, “How did she avoid getting discovered when she was on the boat?” while he pondered her incredible journey.
Kannon recapped, “We learned that she lived in the woods and she escaped slavery and that people only found her after she was dead.” We also learned that she lived in New Hampshire in hiding, and we hope she had a peaceful life even though she always had to remain in hiding. If you are looking for more information about this story, we encourage you to take out Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge from your local library. Thank you Dr. Dunbar, for sharing Ona’s story with our school!