During President George Washington’s final months in office, a woman named Ona Marie Judge was enslaved in the household of the First Family. In the spring of 1775, she sought her freedom, escaping from the Washingtons’ executive mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and making her way to Portsmouth. On this tour, you will hear the true story of Judge’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the waterfront where she lands and visit the properties of some of America’s most famous families: the Langdons, Whipples, and Lears, whose stories were also bound to hers.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Dariya Steele