Today we visited Mount Vernon, where we spoke with a panel of museum professionals about how the historic site talks about the difficult topic of slavery. We walked through their newest temporary exhibit, “Lives Bound Together.” This exhibit focuses on the lives of the enslaved people who lived at Mount Vernon and touches on Washington’s shifting views on slavery. I think the most powerful part of the galleries was the way the enslaved people were portrayed. While Mount Vernon has very detailed records of the enslaved workers, there are gaps in the story. To represent these people, the exhibition team crafted silhouettes, shadowy in nature and symbolic of the partial information available to them. They also had digital interactives set up next to each of the silhouettes with a timeline of the records they have related to each of the enslaved people. It was interesting to be able to trace some of their stories.

In recent years, Mount Vernon has taken the initiative to change the way they talk about and represent the people that lived and worked at Mount Vernon. Instead of using the word “slave” they use the language “enslaved people.” I noticed this not only in the temporary exhibit gallery, but also in the mansion and around the plantation.

They also talked to us about the public archeology project they are working on in the slave graveyard. They are working on locating the graves that have lost their markings over time, and have the descendants of the enslaved persons highly involved in the process. It’s wonderful to see them working so hard to make sure that those people are included in such an important and personal project.

Ewes and their Lambs at Mount Vernon