James Madison's Montpelier We the People Fall 2014 | Page 6

We The People

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Expedition participants Sherry Williams and David Szady work together to excavate 18th-century layers in a 5’ x 5’ excavation unit. Ms. Williams
participated in Montpelier’s recent slavery interpretation workshop and returned to spend three weeks assisting archaeologists over the summer
in their efforts to uncover 18th-century slave quarters in the South Yard adjacent to the Madisons’ home.

The enslaved community worked the land to ensure
that a good crop went to market and toiled in the
mansion and kitchens in care of the Madisons. It was
these people who ferried innumerable communications
between Madison and Jefferson, who made possible
Dolley’s famed hospitality, who tended to the Father of
the Constitution when he was ill and sat by his bedside
when he died.
Yet, the story of Montpelier’s African American
community does not end with the death of James and
Dolley, or even with the sale of Montpelier. As the 19th
century wore on, the Madisons’ slaves were sold and
dispersed to several different owners, until they were
ultimately freed at the end of the Civil War. Their story
illustrates the arc of citizenship through American
history, which is interpreted through Montpelier’s
enslavement sites, the Reconstruction-era Gilmore Farm,
and the segregated 1910 Train Depot.
Since its founding, The Montpelier Foundation has
pursued documentary research and has conducted
numerous interviews to identify individuals within
this community and what happened to them and their
families. Much of what has been discerned has been
pieced together using census records, tax records,

wills, inventories, personal letters, visitor accounts, oral
histories, and the archaeological record.
Archaeological research—discovering glass, ceramics,
nails, bone, and building foundations sometimes only
inches below the surface—helps tell the story of how the
slaves lived, including what they ate and wore. Thanks to
a decade of philanthropic support, including a prestigious
grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities,
Montpelier archaeologists have surveyed hundreds of
acres across the property and excavated over 1,200 units
to locate and uncover slave sites.
With the help of the public at large and student
archaeologists working side-by-side with professional staff
in expeditions, internships, and accredited field schools,
the team has identified the South Yard (where domestic
slaves lived and worked), field slave quarters, tobacco
barns, and locations of slave cemeteries. These “citizen
scientists” are a hallmark of Montpelier’s commitment to
engaging the public in its work and are key contributors to
the success of this research. The Montpelier Foundation
will be accelerating the reconstruction of enslaved
community sites beginning in 2015 thanks to the
generosity of David M. Rubenstein and his $10 million
investment announced November 1, 2014.