Mount Vernon's African American History

This memorial marks the site where enslaved people were buried in the 18th and 19th centuries, usually without identifying markers.

In 2014, Mount Vernon's archaeologists began a multi-year project to create a map showing where individuals are interred on the ridge just southwest of Washington’s tomb. This work documents the location of each grave, and will not excavate any remains buried in the burial ground.

View the reconstructed Women's and Men's bunkrooms of the Greenhouse Slave Quarters, a space that housed many of the enslaved people who worked on Mansion House Farm.

Reproduction clothing, tools, furniture, cookware, ceramics, toys, and personal accessories help depict enslaved people's living conditions and experiences.

Visit the reconstructed blacksmith shop located on the site where enslaved blacksmiths Nat and George completed work that was essential to the running of Mount Vernon.

Chat with history interpreters to learn more about the blacksmithing trade and the lives of enslaved craftsmen.

In the wash house, Dolsey, Vina, and other enslaved laundresses worked up to six days a week washing and drying clothes for the Washingtons, their guests, and Mount Vernon’s hired white workers.

Learn about how enslaved men and boys, such as Peter Hardiman, were responsible for caring for and breeding Mount Vernon’s 21 horses at the coach house and stables. 

The Farm offers visitors a chance to learn more about the lives of the enslaved individuals who put Washington’s agrarian ideas into practice.

Observe historic trades interpreters as they demonstrate many of the skills that would have been performed by those assigned work at one of the outlying farms like hoeing fields, harvesting crops, or threshing wheat.

The replica cabin allows you to see the living conditions of many of the enslaved families who lived and worked on George Washington’s outlying farms. On each farm, several cabins would be built in a cluster near the overseer’s house.