In Intertwined Stories, we’re taking a deeper dive into the history behind the podcast Intertwined: The Enslaved Community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon by bringing you extended versions of some of the interviews with the series' contributors.

Throughout Intertwined, archaeological research helped us uncover the lives of Kate, Doll, Frank Lee, Neptune, and hundreds of other people enslaved at Mount Vernon.

While we can learn many important details about the past from letters, account books, or maps, equally important answers lay just beneath the surface. 

To help us better understand how archeology can help us recover landscapes and the meaning people gave to them, we talked to Dr. Jason Boroughs, who currently works as the research archaeologist at George Washington's Mount Vernon.

Intertwined's co-creator Jeanette Patrick served as the lead interviewer for our conversation with Boroughs, joined by co-creator Jim Ambuske. 

Intertwined is narrated by Brenda Parker and is a production of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and CD Squared. Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies for Intertwined are available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

In Intertwined Stories, we’re taking a deeper dive into the history behind the podcast Intertwined: The Enslaved Community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon by bringing you extended versions of some of the interviews with the series' contributors. 

In Episode 5 of Intertwined we encountered Hercules Posey, a man enslaved by the Washingtons, worked as their chef, and who self-emancipated from Mount Vernon in February 1797. For over 200 years, we had little idea of Posey’s whereabouts after he left the plantation. But thanks to recent research, now we do.

To learn more about Hercules Posey, we talked to Ramin Ganeshram. She’s a chef herself, historian, and the Executive Director of the Westport Museum for History and Culture in Westport, Connecticut.

Intertwined’s co-creator Jeanette Patrick served as the lead interviewer for our conversation with Ganeshram. We pick up the story with Posey’s flight to freedom in February 1797. And you won’t believe what happens next.

Intertwined is narrated by Brenda Parker and is a production of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and CD Squared. Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies for Intertwined are available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Intertwined is a story about the entangled lives of Mount Vernon’s enslaved community, the Washington Family, and the legacies of slavery at the historic plantation today. The stories we tell in the series are stories of a shared past that continues to shape us all.

Music was an essential part of life in eighteenth-century America. It remains so our in own time. Music helps us to experience collectively life’s great joys and its darkest moments in a way that generations past would still recognize.

The soundtrack for Intertwined captures the spirit of each individual episode and the journey we take together over the course of the series. We’ve assembled a collection of artists whose modern work and vocal performances draw us into the past from the perspective of our present. We invite you to listen here.

All music, except for "Sit Down Servant, Sit Down," was sourced from Artlist.io. "Sit Down Servant, Sit Down" is a production of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. 

Intertwined is narrated by Brenda Parker and is a production of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and CD Squared. Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies for Intertwined are available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 8: "Legacies" 

Interpreting slavery at Mount Vernon was not part of the mission of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association when the organization purchased the estate in the mid-nineteenth century. Over time, however, investigating the people enslaved at Mount Vernon and educating the public about their lives and legacies has become central to the Association’s work. In our final episode, we look at how interpreting slavery has become intertwined with interpreting the Washingtons at Mount Vernon, and collaborative efforts by the Association and the Descendants Community to tell a story of lives bound together. 

Featuring: 

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 7: “Preserving”

Edmund Parker never knew George and Martha Washington, but he knew Mount Vernon and the Washington Family very well. Parker was one of the many enslaved people who labored on the plantation in the nineteenth century after the Washingtons’ deaths. Later, as a free man, Parker was among Mount Vernon’s first interpreters when the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association purchased the property. In this episode, we explore what happened to the Mount Vernon landscape in the nineteenth century and various efforts to preserve the estate and George Washington’s memory as the nation headed for civil war.

Featuring:

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 6: “Leaving”

Nancy Carter Quander was just a child when George Washington died in December 1799, but his death changed her life forever. Washington’s decision to emancipate his enslaved people in his will had consequences for Mount Vernon’s enslaved community and their descendants that persist into our own time. In this episode, we look at the meaning of freedom for a community intertwined through marriage and kinship, its continued evolution after Martha Washington’s own death in 1802, and how members of the descendent community are recovering their family histories.

Featuring:

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 5: “Resisting”

In May 1796, Ona Judge self-emancipated by fleeing from President George Washington’s Philadelphia home. Her escape was just one example of the many ways that Mount Vernon’s enslaved community resisted their bondage. Some acts were subtle and easy to miss, others were much more dramatic, regardless the threat of punishment was ever present. In this episode, we follow Judge’s flight to freedom, and explore the stories of Hercules Posey and Harry Washington, to examine how enslaved people defied George and Martha Washington’s authority.

Featuring:

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 4: “Living”

Kate, her husband Will, and their children lived and worked on Muddy Hole Farm. When her family suffered a tragedy, they drew strength from the kinship ties and friendships they shared with other members of Mount Vernon’s enslaved community. In this episode, we examine daily life, culture, and religious practices of the enslaved people at the plantation. We also explore how on-going archeological work at Mount Vernon helps us piece together the enslaved community’s lived experience and recover their voices when the written record falls silent.

Featuring:

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 3: “Revolutions”

William Lee was George Washington’s trusted enslaved valet. For over two decades, he attended Washington from early morning until nightfall. In times of peace and war, Lee rode with Washington through Mount Vernon’s fields, out to his western lands, and into battle against the British. In this episode, we follow Lee’s journey to investigate revolutions in Mount Vernon’s agricultural life, American politics, and Washington’s views on slavery.

Featuring:

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.

Episode 2: “Laboring”

As an overseer, Davy Gray was entrusted by George Washington with the management of the enslaved laborers on Dogue Run Farm. His weekly reports to Washington revealed progress toward Washington’s goal of transforming Mount Vernon into a model of British agriculture. But Gray was also enslaved, just like the men, women, and children he oversaw. In this episode, we explore Gray’s complicated story to learn about the daily labor of Mount Vernon’s enslaved community and Washington’s relentless quest to make his plantation into a self-sustaining enterprise.

Featuring:

Full transcripts, show notes, and bibliographies available at www.georgewashingtonpodcast.com.