On May 21, Philadelphia will celebrate a new holiday. City Council passed a resolution last month recognizing the date as “Ona Judge Day.”
Born to Betty, an enslaved seamstress, and Andrew Judge, a white indentured servant, Ona “Oney” Judge inherited her mother’s status as a slave under Virginia law and worked on the estate of George and Martha Washington in Mount Vernon.
When Judge was a pre-teen, she was assigned to serve as Martha’s personal maid. Despite the trust and responsibility required for this role, her enslaved status did not change. When George became president of the United States, the household moved to New York and later Philadelphia, bringing nine enslaved workers with them. Judge was among those moved to Philadelphia without a choice, leaving her mother and family behind.
Living in Philadelphia, Judge was exposed to the free Black and Quaker abolitionist communities working to abolish slavery. While inspiring, Judge was in a precarious situation. Pennsylvania’s Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 allowed slaves to claim freedom after six months of continuous residency, but Washington got around this by rotating his enslaved workers between Philadelphia and Virginia to prevent them from qualifying. Judge did not risk leaving.
That all changed when Judge, in her 20s, learned the Washingtons were planning to transfer her to Martha’s granddaughter as a wedding gift. It was time to go.
In a 1845 newspaper interview, Judge said: “Whilst they were packing up to go to Virginia, I was packing to go, I didn't know where; for I knew that if I went back to Virginia, I should never get my liberty.”
On May 21, 1796, Judge slipped out of the president’s mansion during a dinner party. With the assistance of the free Black community, Judge escaped by ship to Portsmouth, N.H. Two days after her escape, the Washingtons paid for an advertisement demanding her capture, offering a $10 reward.
Judge would remain in New Hampshire, where she later married John Staines, a freed Black sailor with whom she had three children. The Washingtons never found her, and Judge lived to about 75.
Visitors at Independence National Historical Park could literally walk in Ona Judge’s footsteps. At the former site of Washington’s home, footsteps are embedded in the pavement, replicating the path she took to her escape.
But an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year demanded the removal of materials from national parks, museums, and monuments that “inappropriately disparage Americans.” Several panels from the President’s House that referenced slavery were removed and later partially restored as a court battle between the Trump administration and the city drags on.
🎧 Yet the inaugural Ona Judge Day ensures that her legacy will not be forgotten. Learn more about the Ona Judge Coalition’s efforts to preserve her story on today’s episode of City Cast Philly.
