The President's House

In the spring and summer of 2007, Archaeologists excavated a historical plot of land at Sixth and Market Streets, the site of the house where the slave-holding George Washington and the anti-slavery John Adams conducted their presidencies in the 1790s.

Officials hope to preserve the site in a way which commemorates the duality of the first president's life and recognizes the enslaved Africans who toiled in the face of American freedom.

Video

Shards of history: The artifacts

August 28, 2007

Silent no longer: Voices from the dig

August 1, 2007
Protecting the history: The dig ends

July 31, 2007

Chronicling the dig: Three wells and a privy

May 29, 2007
Chronicling the dig: Uncovering a well

May 22, 2007

Chronicling the dig: Remains of walls

May 14, 2007

Image Gallery: View site diagrams, floorplans, and excavation photos
Audio: Archaeologist Douglas Mooney talks about dating the artifacts

Your views

How should the site be commemorated?

Links

National Park Service | Site links and news
US History.org | The President's House
phila.gov | Site information and news

Beneath Independence Mall, story of early free black America 07/02/2008: Robert Venable most likely came to Philadelphia a slave, shipped from Barbados as a little boy and ultimately bought and used by merchant Hugh Donaldson in the late 1740s.
Piecing together bits of treasure from President's House 08/29/2007: Scientists are puzzling over the 10,000 artifacts dug up from beneath the President's House. And the public can watch the work.

The hole is filled in and the revealed intimacy of presidential power and powerless slavery has disappeared back underground. But while foundations for George Washington's great bow window and enslaved Hercules' kitchen are temporarily invisible at the President's House site on Independence Mall, it is still possible to view some long-buried secrets.
President's House remnants receive protective covering 08/07/2007: Workers began covering the excavation at the President's House site yesterday, placing a special fabric over the foundations of the great bow window installed by George Washington; wrapping the foundations for the kitchen, where some of his nine slaves toiled; and protecting the foundations of the subterranean passageway that ran between the kitchen and the main house.
Ceremony marked place of freedom, bondage 08/01/2007: Under a hot July sun, droplets of water drawn from the Nile soothed baked Philadelphia clay at the bottom of a great pit at Sixth and Market Streets - a blessing for the earth and for the dead. River water was followed by ancient Nile sand, glistening grains of the African continent trickling down onto the hard New World.
A new Phila. story: Escape from slavery 06/20/2007: As the summer tourists flock to the city, Philadelphia officials yesterday announced a new project, Quest for Freedom, linking more than 20 sites that tell the tale of the Underground Railroad in the region - a venture to raise awareness about the African American experience and to boost tourism.
'Walk with the ancestors' 07/04/2007: An archaeologist speaks of a life-transforming experience at the President's House dig

Following is the text of a speech presented this morning in front of Independence Hall. It was given by Cheryl Janifer LaRoche, historical archaeologist and cultural heritage specialist for the URS Group team conducting the Presidents' House archaeological dig.
A somber memorial at a site of slavery 07/05/2007: Outside Independence Hall yesterday, flags were waving and the crowd was snazzy in red, white and blue. But the nation's 231st birthday took on a somber note as speakers invoked a painful chapter in the nation's history.
'Funeral' honors legacy of Washington's slaves 07/04/2007: After a eulogy, black helium balloons were released from cardboard caskets.

Nine Philadelphia slaves received their proper funeral yesterday, some 200 years after their deaths. Nine Africans, held in bondage by President George Washington when Philadelphia was the capital of the nation and slaves toiled all over town, were eulogized by nine children brought together to honor and remember them.
Should President's House findings stay on view? Should memorial proceed? 06/03/2007
Annette John-Hall | Slavery in Phila. is her obsession 06/01/2007: Twice a week, sometimes more, Irene Coard treks from her North Philly home to the site of the President's House excavation at Sixth and Market.
Changing Skyline | Let's not throw dirt on the city's history 05/25/2007: Through ignorance, apathy and neglect, Philadelphia has demolished most of the house in which George Washington and John Adams learned to run the world's first modern democracy. Now, we're on the verge of obliterating from view the little that remains of the storied mansion where the Father of Our Country both nurtured a nation and enslaved nine individuals.
City to hail activist who refused to let slaves' history stay buried 05/24/2007: Michael Coard, trial lawyer, hip-hop aficionado, amateur historian, and sometime talk-show host, must be one of the city's most elegant activists.
Dig at President's House yields bit of racial history 05/18/2007: Archaeologists excavating the site of the nation's first presidential mansion have found a trove of 19th-century clay pipe fragments, including one bowl depicting a stereotyped African head.
Slavery laid bare: A historic platform for dialogue on race 05/20/2007: The stone is as harsh and unremitting as the hot sun. The story is as obdurate and hard as Pennsylvania granite.
A window with its place in history 05/09/2007: In a completely unexpected discovery, excited archaeologists say they have uncovered the foundation wall from a bow window designed by George Washington for the rear of the President's House on Independence Mall.
Many surprises in dig at first presidents' house 05/04/2007: Among discoveries at President's House are foundation walls and a "mystery building."

Six weeks into the excavation of the site where George Washington and John Adams lived and conducted their presidencies, archaeologists have unearthed significant portions of the original President's House - the nation's first "White House" - including foundation walls of the house kitchen, where Washington's enslaved chef Hercules conjured up many a memorable meal.
Digging deeper into slavery 04/11/2007: By John Haigis The significance of the archeological dig going on near the site of the President's House at Sixth and Market Streets in Philadelphia goes well beyond artifacts and place. It can be considered a major milestone in coming to grips with the inconvenient and uncomfortable truths of slavery. It can also tell the story of the beginnings of the regional resistance to slavery, which later became known as the Underground Railroad.
How much do we really know about slavery? 04/02/2007: The 200th anniversary last week of the end of the British slave trade, the ongoing controversy over George Washington's slave quarters at the President's House site at Sixth and Market Streets, and the proposed demolition of a house outside Princeton containing slave quarters ("N.J. slave quarters threatened," March 26), bring to mind how little we know (or have been taught) about slavery.
Uncovering a slave history 03/22/2007: At groundbreaking for memorial, a chance to be close to the past.

It was nothing more than a handful of earth, freshly turned and wet from the spring thaw. And it didn't matter that it was probably topsoil trucked to Independence Mall four years ago, and that the soil around whatever is left of the first President's House was really 10 to 15 feet below her feet.
Dig starts at president’s house site on mall 03/21/2007: Calling it the first step in "digging for the truth," Mayor Street and National Park Service officials this morning broke ground for the memorial to the first presidential residence - and to the slaves who lived there serving the first president.
Historical record was cherry-picked for a PC moment. 03/13/2007: The National Park Service has chosen a design for the memorial on the spot now known as the "President's House." Before being known by that name, this site had been known for more than 200 years as the location of Robert Morris' mansion. Morris, often called the "Financier of the Revolution," helped form this nation's banking and defense systems. But he and his life's work of creating economic freedom for all Americans have been unceremoniously shoved aside.
Those who preserved history played a key role. 03/13/2007: On Feb. 27, a news conference was held at Independence Visitors Center to announce that Kelly/Maiello Architects & Planners of Philadelphia would create and build the long-awaited commemorative installation at the site of President's House on Independence Mall.
Editorial | President's House 03/02/2007: Honoring other founders

Even though he was president of the new United States, George Washington had to be careful not to quarter his nine slaves for more than a few months at a time in the capital city of Philadelphia.
Designer chosen for national monument 02/28/2007: A memorial here to slaves, two presidents

INQUIRER CULTURE WRITER Almost five years after controversy flared over the ignoring of George Washington's old slave quarters on Independence Mall, a designer for a memorial to those slaves and to the presidential house they lived in was announced yesterday.

Advertise Here