Speaker Series #5: “Slave Labor in The Capital: Building Washington's Iconic Federal Landmarks"

Speaker Series at Sotterley

Sotterley Plantation is proud to partner with The Boeing Company in announcing our fifth presentation of the 2015 Speaker Series entitled:

Bob Arnebeck

“Slave Labor in The Capital:

Building Washington’s Iconic Federal Landmarks”

Wednesday, September 23, 2015
7:00 p.m. in the Barn

In 1791, President George Washington appointed a commission to build the future capital of the nation. The commission found paying masters of faraway Maryland plantations sixty dollars a year for their slaves made it easier to keep wages low for free workers who flocked to the city. In 1798, half of the two hundred workers building the two most iconic Washington landmarks, the Capitol and the White House, were slaves. They moved stones for Scottish masons and sawed lumber for Irish carpenters. They cut trees and baked bricks. These unschooled young black men left no memoirs. Based on his research in the commissioners' records, author Bob Arnebeck describes their world of dawn to dusk work, salt pork and corn bread, white scorn and a kind nurse and the moments when everything depended on their skills in his book entitled, Slave Labor in The  Capital: Building Washington’s Iconic Federal Landmarks.

This event is FREE to the public. Advance reservations are required due to limited seating. Call 301-373-2280 to make your reservation.

Because of the generous grant and continued support from The Boeing Company, Sotterley Plantation is able to offer this important community outreach, fulfilling its mission to preserve, research, and interpret Sotterley Plantation’s diverse cultures and environments and to serve the world as an educational, cultural, and community resource.