A Historic Clash of Slavery, Liberty
PHILADELPHIA — In October 1795 an African named Joe, who was born a slave and died a slave, arrived here from Mount Vernon, Va. He accompanied the presidential coach of George Washington, who called him "Postilion Joe," for Joe was a postilion, or footman.
Joe worked at the Robert Morris house, which served as the presidential residence during Philadelphia's decade as the new nation's capital. Many historians believe he slept in slave quarters behind the mansion, now known as President's House.
Today, the place where Joe and Washington's other slaves once worked and lived is a few feet from the entrance to a new building housing the Liberty Bell, which opened in October 2003 as part of the redesign of Independence National Historical Park.
The National Park Service spent $300 million on a decade-long project improving the park but did not provide a memorial for the slave quarters -- or, for that matter, the so-called first White House. The oversight outraged descendants of slaves, who formed the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition (ATAC -- pronounced "attack"). It also drew the ire of a crusading Philadelphia historian whose discovery of Postilion Joe, announced last month, has reignited the 2-year-old dispute.
Historian Edward Lawler Jr. has demanded a commemorative display to include an outline of the slave quarters marked in brick or stone. He accuses the Park Service of engaging in "machinations" to avoid addressing slavery.
"In order to enter the Liberty Bell Center, you can't avoid stepping on the very place where Washington's slaves were housed," Lawler said. "More than a million people have walked right past without any indication that a slave quarters once stood there."
The 45-acre park in downtown Philadelphia includes 19 historical structures, including Independence Hall, Congress Hall and the new National Constitution Center.
Michael Coard, an African American lawyer and ATAC leader, said the federal government has known for 25 years that Washington kept slaves at President's House. "Yet they pretty much ignored the fact that there was slavery inside America's first White House. It's historical hypocrisy," Coard said.
ATAC, Lawler and others have pressured the Park Service to formally commemorate the slave quarters and President's House. Responding to complaints, park officials proposed in January 2003 a $4.5-million commemorative project that included an outline of President's House but not one of the slave quarters.
