James Madison's Montpelier We the People Spring 2014 | Page 9

t e l l ing a m o r e c o mp l e t e a m e ric a n st o ry
Montpelier celebrated Black History
Month with the addition of an online,
annotated version of Paul Jennings’
personal memoir, A Colored Man’s
Reminiscences of James Madison, the
first “insider’s memoir” of life in the
White House.
Born a slave at Montpelier in 1799,
Jennings served as Madison’s personal
manservant and traveled to Washington
with James and Dolley during
Madison’s presidential years (18091817). Jennings’ work illuminates a
watershed period in American history,
encompassing slavery, abolition,
Reconstruction, and segregation.
Originally published in 1865 but long
out of print, Jennings’ extraordinary

narrative is now free and available
online at ConText, Montpelier’s
groundbreaking digital library that
provides a platform for historians,
politicians, theorists, educators, and
the public to crowdsource notes on the
history, philosophy, and interpretation
of America’s most important founding
documents.
The Jennings’ project has been
made possible with the support of
the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation,
which has been instrumental in The
Montpelier Foundation’s research
efforts to bring voice and name to the
individual slaves who lived and worked
at Montpelier.
After Jennings, depicted in this ca. 1850 daguerreotype,
became a free man, he worked in the U.S. Department
of Treasury and produced his memoir about life in the
President’s house. (The Montpelier Foundation, courtesy of
the Sylvia Jennings Alexander Estate.)

“A beacon of light”
CELEBRATING madison

On March 16, The Montpelier Foundation celebrated the
263rd anniversary of James Madison’s birth with its annual
service in the Madison Family Cemetery. The United States
Marine Corps presented a 21-gun salute and honored Madison’s
memory by laying a ceremonial wreath on behalf of President
Obama. Marine Colonel David Maxwell reflected that Madison
thought like a man of action and acted like a man of thought.
In recognition of Madison’s distinguished service to our nation,
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe issued a proclamation.
Michael Signer, J.D., Lecturer at the University of Virginia and
Visiting Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University, delivered a keynote address and shared a preview
of his upcoming book, Becoming Madison: The Making of an
American Statesman, which will be published in 2015.

Read these speeches on the Montpelier blog at
www.montpelier.org/blog.

CONTEXT
Read Paul Jennings’ memoir online at ConText.org, Montpelier’s groundbreaking tool that brings together political theorists,
historians, educators, and the public to crowdsource America’s founding documents including the U.S. Constitution and
Madison’s Notes on the 1787 Federal Convention. Start your immersion today at http://context.montpelier.org/.

We The People

paul jennings

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