Discuss Never Caught, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Please join us Tuesday, February 18 for our first book discussion of the year! A 2020 book list is not yet posted on the site, but we do have the books chosen; I will post them on the site after I have them scheduled. In the meantime, we chose February's book at our January meeting, so we can get started now.

February's book is a nonfiction one: "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge," by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, "Never Caught" is the powerful narrative of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington’s runaway slave. When George Washington left Mount Vernon for then-capital Philadelphia when he became president, he brought several of his slaves along. But Pennsylvania law required slaves to be set free after six months residency. Rather than comply, Washington sent his slaves back to Virginia every six months, just as the time was about to run out. When one of them, Ona Judge, risked everything to escape to New England rather than go back, she became the subject of an intense manhunt led by Washington himself, who used his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.

With impeccable research, historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar weaves a powerful tale and offers fascinating new scholarship on how one young woman risked it all to gain freedom from the famous founding father.

Please RSVP so we know how many to expect. If you can't make it at the last minute, that's OK; just let us know by changing your RSVP on the site.

I try to arrive early but can't always. If you arrive first, please choose a spot and pull some tables together, depending on how many RSVPs we have.

(Alexandria Book Circle does not charge for membership or attendance. But with Meetup's recent rate increase -- now $15 a month -- it is necessary to put a collection box on the table at our discussions, for any small and completely voluntary contribution you'd like to make, to help defray the cost. Even the change you get back from buying your meal is appreciated.)

Hope to see you there!