Never Caught

De: Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Narrado por: Robin Miles

A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, Never Caught is the powerful story about a daring woman of “extraordinary grit” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation’s capital. In setting up his household he brought along nine slaves, including Ona Judge. As the President grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn’t abide: Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state. Rather than comply, Washington decided to circumvent the law. Every six months he sent the slaves back down south just as the clock was about to expire.

Though Ona Judge lived a life of relative comfort, she was denied freedom. So, when the opportunity presented itself one clear and pleasant spring day in Philadelphia, Judge left everything she knew to escape to New England. Yet freedom would not come without its costs. At just twenty-two-years-old, Ona became the subject of an intense manhunt led by George Washington, who used his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.

“A crisp and compulsively readable feat of research and storytelling” (USA TODAY), historian and National Book Award finalist Erica Armstrong Dunbar weaves a powerful tale and offers fascinating new scholarship on how one young woman risked everything to gain freedom from the famous founding father and most powerful man in the United States at the time.

Why the choice was freedom or death

I thought the power of this book was the narrative of a Black woman. As was noted in the book, far too often, these were the stories erased from history. The book was descriptive in documenting the horrors of slavery and why people who escaped were not ever quite free unless they moved beyond U.S. borders. I was expecting more in terms of an unrelenting pursuit, only because it sounded as if they were on Ona's trail until the day she died. In reality, it was the burden of escaped who needed to stay on the fringes something that had deep consequences on well-being in other ways. This book also made me curious about Portsmouth N.H.

Great book!

This book provided insight into the complicated institution of slavery. Ona’s story is fascinating and remarkable.

my first historical book

a great story and a good insight into African-American life in slavery a true unsung hero

A Twist on the Historical Washingtons

I became aware of the book by listening to the Ben Franlink’s World podcast. Erica (the author) painted such a vivid picture of early American slave women, that I HAD to go read this book. The story of Ona Judd was super interesting, more so b/c I hadn’t previously known about George and Martha Washington’s detailed history and participation in slavery! This story gives real insight into the facts of slavery as well as the known words of Ona, AND the informed supposition of what Ona and other slave women during this time might have experienced.

easiest way to read a book for college

I had to read this book for my history class and college having an s on Audible made things so much easier