Ann Chinn was invited to the Tudor Place for her daughter’s classmate’s birthday party years ago. When the child’s mother asked if she needed directions to the historic home, Chinn responded, “No, that was our family home.” The mother looked upon her strangely; she didn’t know Chinn is the descendant of a multigenerational legacy of enslaved African women at Tudor Place.
For most of her life, Chinn knew she was the descendant of Hannah Pope, one of the enslaved women who lived and worked at Tudor Place, in what is now the Georgetown area of Northwest D.C. While Chinn explained slavery’s historical significance has long been overlooked, from Feb. 6 until April 21, Tudor Place will show the perspectives of enslaved and free Black people who lived and worked at the site.
Throughout the 1800s, the historic home and garden was home to generations of the Peter family, descendants of Martha Washington. Chinn and other descendants took the leading role in creating the narrative of the new installment, “Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place.”
The advisory committee included Chinn, Karl Haynes, and his cousin Jerolyn Cole, who are both descendants of John Luckett. Luckett was a free Black man with a lasting presence at Tudor Place as the gardener for 40 years.
The other committee members were Director Lisa Fager and President Neville Waters, both from the Black Georgetown Foundation. The group collaborated on archaeological findings, oral histories, and emotional connections to tell their families’ story at Tudor Place. Both Chinn and Haynes emphasized the necessity to tell the full truth of the legacy of slavery at Tudor Place.
“I believe that those of us who are descendants of the enslaved have got to be a part of the decision-making. We can’t be the sideline commentaries. And I think that’s what’s occurred at Tudor Place,” said Chinn.
Chinn’s ancestral matriarch is Sal Twine, who, along with her children, were enslaved by the Peter family on their Maryland plantation. Sal’s daughter, Barbary, was forcibly separated from her mother to work under Martha Custis Peter, the granddaughter of Martha Washington.
Barbary was the first generation of women in Chinn’s family to connect her to Tudor Place. Barbary’s daughter, Barbara Cole Wiliams, also lived and worked at Tudor Place. At any time, there were 12 enslaved people who were forced to live and work at Tudor Place.
According to Tudor Place’s research, Barbara was sexually assaulted by a member of the Peter family, and later gave birth to Hannah Pope and her twin sister, who died at birth. This made Hannah Pope a descendant of Martha Washington, but it did not change her status from enslaved. She was forced to live and work at Tudor Place as property to her known relative, Britannia Peter Kennons.
“I resent the fact our family is only reflected as property. But that’s because we’re dependent on people of European descent defining us and placing us in the narrative,” said Chinn.
Highlighting and Curating the Black History at Tudor Place
Chinn explained that although the preservation of her family’s legacy at Tudor Place was fragmented, she created their livelihood in her mind. She said she felt a real connection to her ancestors during the curation process, and used the emotional connection to interpret the human response to harsh conditions.
Tudor Place’s curation shifts the narrative exclusively to the people of African descent who were at the home. Their enslavers are rarely mentioned by name.
Rob DeHart, curator at Tudor Place, said the focus of the narrative is more on these individuals’ experiences rather than their labor, and the descendants played crucial roles in the storytelling.
DeHart emphasized that the experience goes beyond the physical artifacts that will be shown, which were used or owned by the enslaved Africans. What’s most important, he said, are the stories that were passed down through generations.
In 2022, historians at Tudor Place found evidence of a former enslaved dwelling located in what is the North Garden today. The structure appeared to be a workspace and living quarters for the enslaved people at Tudor Place.
DeHart estimates that it stood from the first half of the 19th century to shortly after the Civil War, but there is no mention of this structure in the Peter family records. The curator explained that despite the significant contributions to Tudor Place, the Peter family only regarded the enslaved people as property.
John Luckett: A Visionary Family Whose Legacy Lives on Today
The garden that adorns the Tudor Place today would not exist without Luckett’s cultivating hands.
Part of the installment centers on Luckett, a Black man who self-emancipated in 1862 and freed his wife Amanda and their children from their former plantation in Virginia.
Haynes, his descendant, said the journey towards learning his family history began after making a small family tree through Ancestry.com. Three years later, he got a message from a DNA relative who was also searching for her ancestral legacy.
In an effort to help, he started digging into his mother’s background and discovered Luckett, his third great-grandfather. After finding Luckett’s obituary from 1906 and a tribute from Brittania’s grandchildren, Haynes learned of Luckett’s presence at Tudor Place.
Later, DeHart reached out to invite Haynes to visit Tudor Place. His cousin, Cole, came along for the tour, and ancestral connections were made. Cole and Luckett were both left-handed and heavily involved in the church. Haynes said these links contributed to the surrealness of the visit.
The cousins learned that Luckett refused to live at Tudor Place and instead made a home for his family in Southwest D.C. on Capitol Hill. The thriving neighborhood was made up of formerly enslaved people who cultivated their freedom and community-building. Luckett became a Sunday teacher at Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, which still stands today.
He would take a three-mile walk to Tudor Place every day from his neighborhood in Southwest D.C.
“I’ve walked some of the same streets he’s walked. It was a sense of completion, amazement, and wonder that he did what he did and emancipated himself,” said Haynes. “Because of the steps this man took 160 years ago, I’m here now.”
When it comes to recollecting his family history, Haynes said he’s just getting started. He said he’s always been a child of history, and he hopes that the archival collaboration will inspire others to take up the mantle and begin their own journey into their family history.
Haynes emphasized that he wants people to realize that enslaved people left legacies behind. Chinn said that she urges Black people to ask their family members about their history so that they too can forge a familial landscape of legacy.
“Your ancestors’ memories live in your DNA. Memories are important – it’s better than relying on other people to interpret and talk about you and your family. It is so important that we tell our own stories,” Chinn told The Informer.