On October 18, 1759, two “new negroes” (recently arrived from Africa), named Isaac and Sarah, escaped from Robert Peter (July 22, 1726 – November 15, 1806), a prominent Scottish-born merchant then living in Georgetown. On December 6, 1759, Peter placed the following advertisement in the Maryland Gazette: “Ran away from the Subscriber, on Thursday, theContinue reading ““Talks in her own language very fast”: In search of Sarah and Isaac, escaped from Robert Peter, October 1759.”
Tag Archives: black-georgetown
In search of Richard Low, “Perfectly Black”
Yesterday, at the joint celebration of the sculptor Allen Uzikee Nelson and Paul Robeson, in front of the “Here I Stand (in the Spirit of Paul Robeson)” sculpture in Paul Robeson Triangle Park in Petworth DC, we had the great pleasure of hearing local poet CeLilliane Green recite her poem, “I am Perfectly Black”, inspiredContinue reading “In search of Richard Low, “Perfectly Black””
In Search of Pattie (Patsy or Margaret B) Brooks and Harry Brooks, Enslaved and Free in Georgetown, District of Columbia
The 1836 register of the Methodist Episcopal Church (later Mount Zion Church) in Georgetown, District of Columbia, lists as a member “Pattie Brooks”, recorded just below the name of Gracie Ducket, who was enslaved by Samuel Whitall, who leased the property known as Belle Vue (later known as Rittenhouse Place, and after that, Dumbarton House).Continue reading “In Search of Pattie (Patsy or Margaret B) Brooks and Harry Brooks, Enslaved and Free in Georgetown, District of Columbia”
In Search of Moses Boone’s Ancestors and Collateral Descendants
My Mount Holyoke College students and I have been fascinated, moved, and deeply distressed by the story of the African American child Moses Boone, 1902-1904. After his death at the age of 21 months, at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC, his brain was extracted by physical anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička to be included in theContinue reading “In Search of Moses Boone’s Ancestors and Collateral Descendants”
Mark Auslander 