Virginia first lady Pamela Northam talks to visitors in the mansion's original kitchen. (Photo by Jay Paul)
One of the country’s oldest continuously used governor’s residences, the Virginia Executive Mansion has a well-documented history of the governors and their families who resided there. Much less is known about people who worked at the mansion, including those who were enslaved. First lady Pamela Northam wants to change that. Inspired by James Madison’s Montpelier estate, which opened a permanent exhibition on slavery in 2017, she hopes to find descendants of the enslaved workers so that their ancestors’ stories can be respectfully told.
“We want to start a conversation,” she says. “We are excited to work with the Library of Virginia and the Valentine museum for this educational opportunity.”
For many years, tours of the mansion focused on the house and the governors’ families who have lived there since it was completed in 1813. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe and his wife, Dorothy, were surprised to discover that information about the enslaved workers was sparse. With the help of historians, community advisors and Virginia Commonwealth University students, the McAuliffes discovered a few names, including Hannah Valentine, who wrote (or dictated) heartfelt letters to her husband, Michael. He and some of their children lived at the mansion beginning in 1838, during Gov. David Campbell’s term, while she remained at the Campbells’ home in Abingdon. Dorothy McAuliffe had the letters made into plaques and installed a memorial garden in September 2017.
Northam hopes to learn more. “Even how the letters came to be is a mystery, because it was illegal for enslaved people to be educated on how to read and write,” she says.
The McAuliffes also restored a 200-square-foot kitchen, one of three original buildings on the site. When the Northams moved in, the first lady was drawn to the kitchen, where cooks prepared meals for the governor, his family and their parties. “There were two rooms that would have anywhere from 10 to 20 people living there,” she says.
When school groups visit the mansion, Northam says, “we talk about what life was like then, even for the [enslaved] children who had to get up at dawn to empty the chamber pots. The cooks would work in long dresses complete with layered petticoats around a fire, even in the summer. And there was no inside plumbing, so water had to be retrieved.”
A former elementary and high school teacher, Northam also plans to develop virtual tours and teaching curriculum for the Executive Mansion’s website. “We want to bring 21st-century skills ... to engage children,” she says.
