Ona seeks the help of the Jacks once again, but still she is forced to indenture her daughters into servitude to a local white family in order to make ends meet. Oney "Ona" Judge, a 22-year-old slave, escaped in 1796 and was one of the slaves Washington had with him in Philadelphia (the nation's capital at the time). eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University. In the process, the book describes the struggle the new nation had with slavery and how different states and different individuals dealt with the matter. What makes Never Caught uniquely interesting and important is that this is one of the rare narratives from a black woman slave. This tracing is bookended by details about the circumstances into which Judge was born and the effect her life had on her family after her passing. On its publication, the biography was well-received; however, some readers argue that the parts of the book that showcase how Ona felt during her enslavement and escape are largely based on assumptions and generalizations. Richie’s Picks: NEVER CAUGHT, THE STORY OF ONA JUDGE: GEORGE AND MARTHA WASHINGTON’S COURAGEOUS SLAVE WHO DARED TO RUN AWAY by Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve, Aladdin, January 2019, 272p., ISBN: 978-1-5344-1617-8 “There’s a river running sweat right through our land. Oney "Ona" Judge, a 22-year-old slave, escaped in 1796 and was one of the slaves Washington had with him in Philadelphia (the nation's capital at the time). Soon after, she’s forced to flee alongside the Washingtons from a devastating outbreak of yellow fever. Ona lived a relatively comfortable life in Philadelphia. Never Caught: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis Next. Never Caught Themes Freedom and the Myth of the “Noble Slaveowner” Dunbar reiterates over and over again throughout Never Caught that human bondage is always wrong, no matter how supposedly lenient a master might be. In 1789, as Washington ascends to the presidency, the 16-year-old Ona—now in the personal employ of Martha Washington as a seamstress and handmaiden, charged with outfitting the first lady in finery each day—accompanies the Washingtons northward to New York, the nation’s temporary capital. 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 who risked it all to escape the nation's capital and reach freedom. While the capital is being constructed, the nation’s new temporary capital will be centered in Philadelphia—a place which, due to its Quaker roots, is even more progressive than New York. Narrative and Historical Erasure. Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, which is a finalist of the National Book Award, will be adapted as a film. Ona had a difficult time staying anonymous, as many people knew her face. In Portsmouth, Ona keeps a low profile as she secures housing and a domestic job through the small but close-knit network of free Black men and women living in the port town. In September, Washington enlists the help of federal slave-catching agents to try to bring Ona back to Virginia—he believes she has been lured away by a Frenchman, unwilling to even entertain the notion that she has run away of her own free will. Thus, on the evening of May 21, 1796, while the Washingtons peacefully ate their supper, the twenty-two-year-old Ona escaped from their mansion. The book is written by historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar. Born into slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation—but technically owned by Washington’s wife, Martha Custis Washington—Ona was pledged to the first lady and eventually came to … 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 who risked it all to escape the nation's capital and reach freedom. Summary … The weather reflected the unsettling events at Mt. Costin dedicated his life to purchasing and immediately emancipating slaves from the Washingtons’ Mount Vernon estate and other nearby plantations. Ona, Dunbar writes, likely knew nothing of her sister’s fate—a sad but necessary casualty of Ona’s pursuit of freedom above all else. In New York, as Ona caters to the nervous, recalcitrant Martha, she encounters for the first time communities of free Black men and women living communally and autonomously. Never Caught: The Washington’s’ Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge By Erica Armstrong Dunbar Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction Lecture: October 9, 2018 Book Summary A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, Never Caught is the powerful Publisher's Summary. Ona escaped to freedom in 1796, absconding from Philadelphia to New Hampshire. Never Caught Quotes Showing 1-3 of 3 “Both Lear and Washington held fast to paternalistic assumptions about African slavery, believing that enslaved men and women were better off with a generous owner than emancipated and living independent lives. Never Caught is a historical text which centers the story of Ona Judge Staines. The tumultuous weather of June 1773 included hot, humid days typical of the area for that time of year, but also snow. When Martha decided to give Ona as a wedding gift to her granddaughter Eliza and her somewhat aggressive husband, Ona was determined to take control of both her life and her fate. Never Caught is a historical text which centers the story of Ona Judge Staines. At the large Executive Mansion on High Street in Philadelphia, Ona finds herself living in a house stuffed to the gills with members of the Washington family (and administration), white indentured servants, and enslaved Black people alike. Ms. Dunbar, the author of “Never Caught,” first came across Ona Judge in the late 1990s, when she was a graduate student at Columbia researching free black women in Philadelphia. Never Caught Chapters 8-10 Summary & Analysis Chapter 8 Summary: “The Fugitive” Dunbar opens Chapter 8 with a lengthy speculation about Judge’s thoughts and feelings shortly before she is to be sent back to Mount Vernon, to become Eliza’s property. The daughter of Betty, one of Martha Washington’s “dower slaves,” or human “property” from her first marriage, and a white indentured servant from England named Andrew Judge, Ona was raised primarily by her mother after her father departed alone once his tenure of servitude at Mount Vernon expired. Never Caught Chapters 8-10 Summary & Analysis Chapter 8 Summary: “The Fugitive” Dunbar opens Chapter 8 with a lengthy speculation about Judge’s thoughts and feelings shortly before she is to be sent back to Mount Vernon, to become Eliza’s property. Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge is a 2017 historical biography written by American author, historian, and lecturer Erica Armstrong Dunbar. In 1773, Oney Maria Judge—known as Ona—was born into slavery on the Mount Vernon plantation as the property of Martha and George Washington. You'll get access to all of the Never Caught content, as well as access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. While still enslaved, Philadelphia married a free Black man named William Costin—believed by scholars to be related to Martha Washington, Costin was a prominent and relatively wealthy member of the burgeoning free Black community in the fast-growing District of Columbia.