President’s house
Morning, folks!
Some Philly news this morning:
After years of controversy, a memorial near the Liberty Bell marking the spot where George Washington lived as president with a number of slaves is scheduled to be dedicated this week.
The opening had been planned for Independence Day, and officials even hoped that President Obama might attend, but the opening was pushed back to allow further revision of interpretive materials to better portray slavery in the nation’s early days. Now, the site will be dedicated with a simple ribbon-cutting on Wednesday.
The project called “President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in Making a New Nation” has been much debated as officials tried to balance describing the home of presidents George Washington and John Adams and the stories of the nine slaves Washington kept there.
During hour two of WHYY’s Radio Times today, we’ll talk with an independent documentary filmmaker who co-designed a site-specific video installation focusing on nine of the slaves. We’ll also talk with a local historian to put all this into the American historical perspective.
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