Existing comment:
Always Spinning:
In 1797, George Washington assigned ten enslaved women to spinning. These women were unable to do regular field work due to childbirth or old age. Spinning wheels were stored in the loft over the greenhouse, but the women may have spun here. They twisted raw fibers of wool and flax into thread which indentured and hired weavers wove into cloth for slaves' clothing. Since it required hundreds of feet of thread to make a simple garment, spinning was an endless task.
Charlotte's Story:
A talented seamstress, Charlotte made clothes for the Washingtons as well as the enslaved population. In 1793, while the Washingtons were away during the Presidency, the white farm manager reported whipping her for "impudence." Charlotte threatened to "tell Lady Washington when she comes home." (We do not know whether she actually did.) The incident underlines what Charlotte learned: that slaves were never completely safe from those who held power over them. |