Slave Memorial

Opened in 1983, the Mount Vernon Slave Memorial commemorates the lives of the many enslaved men, women, and children that lived and toiled at Mount Vernon. The memorial is placed near the location of Mount Vernon's African American Burial Ground. The bodies of enslaved individuals who worked on the Mansion House Farm were laid to rest here, on a quiet wooded hillside above the Potomac River.

Enslaved persons were buried in coffins made on the plantation. Ground-penetrating radar indicates that the graves are oriented on an east-west axis; while this is the customary Western model for placing bodies, a tradition in the local African American community has it that the bodies were laid this way so they could face toward Africa—symbolizing a desire to return home. As of 2025, archaeologists have documented 87 burial sites, and research is ongoing.

In 1929, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association erected a modest memorial to enslaved persons buried on the estate—the first of its kind in the nation. Partnering with Black Women United for Action, the MVLA dedicated a new slave memorial in 1983, designed by students at the architecture school at Howard University. It features a granite shaft in the center of a small circular plaza. The words Love, Hope, and Faith—drawn from biblical scriptures that helped sustain African Americans in slavery—are inscribed on the memorial’s steps. Annually, the Association holds ceremonies at this spot in tribute to the generations of enslaved people who lived and worked at Mount Vernon.