Existing comment:
Mount Vernon Piazza with Child
This early photograph captures a child sitting by the mansion's east front. At this time, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association managed the estate and employed guides who intimately understood life at Mount Vernon. Many of these people, perhaps this child's parents, were free blacks who were once owned by the Washington family. These formerly enslaved individuals articulated their experiences to probably exclusively white audiences.
Unknown, carte de visite photograph, c 1870 |