Never Caught

By: Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Narrated by: 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.

Well done

Fantastic book! Brings you into the world of Ona Judge, the free and enslaved black communities, and the enslavers — George and Martha Washington. Dunbar brings out the politics of the day and clearly illustrates the lengths the Washingtons went to to maintain slavery as abolitionist voices increased. More than anything, this book brings the courageous story of Ona Judge to the foreground. Like good books of history, Dunbar helps you understand the time period better. Highly recommend.

Informative

I learned a great deal about the early United States and slavery but wish the book included much more material from the Ona Judge interviews.

excellent source of history

Very well narrated. Learned a lot I never knew before or was taught in school.

The HERstory we get to learn now

All I ever knew of Washington and the slaves he owned was that upon his death, they were all given their freedom. Now with this story, you learn that the majority of the slaves were owned by Martha Washington and what they did during their time in Philadelphia to keep all of their slaves. I've been telling everyone about this story. Everyone should know this story!

so good

This is the first book in many years that I have finished in a under a month