Press Release
Who Is Ona Judge?
Immersive Video Exhibit · Juneteenth – Labor Day
Founders Gallery, African American Museum
The Ona Judge Coalition (TOJC) is proud to partner with The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) to debut the immersive Who Is Ona Judge? video exhibit. AAMP’s Founders Gallery will feature three screens that bring Ona’s experience to life and connect her journey to the social challenges that persist today.
- Screen One will introduce you to Ona Judge and her story of bravery and determination.
- Screen Two you will explore Ona’s flight and the ongoing quest to secure freedom.
- Screen Three will ask you to consider what Ona’s legacy means for us today.
Who Is Ona Judge?
Ona Judge was an enslaved woman who escaped the presidential household of George and Martha Washington in 1796. At twenty-two years old, Ona fled from Philadelphia’s Arch Street wharf aboard the ship Nancy, aided by the city’s free Black community of sailors, dock workers, and networks of Black women, and spent the rest of her life free in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, despite relentless efforts by the Washingtons to capture her. The exhibit connects Ona’s courage and resistance to the social challenges that persist today, and to the broader mission of preserving her legacy at the President’s House Site — recently listed among the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2026 America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
TOJC is committed to preserving the accurate and authentic history of slavery through immersive technology, scholarship, community engagement, public discussions, and permanent and virtual exhibitions.